Helen Bayes

Helen Celia Bayes is an English-born activist who won the Australia's Human Rights Medal in 1999.

Early life

Bayes was born into a Quaker family in Northern England and migrated to Australia in 1966, at the age of 22. She has four adult children and eight grandchildren. She holds a BA in Social Work and BA in Social Administration, and had a 15-year career in the National and State Public Service in the areas of Social Policy and Community Services.

Human rights activism

Two decades ago, Bayes resigned from the Public Service and set up an international child rights advocacy NGO called the Australian Section of Defence for Children International. She has served that organisation in Australia, in Geneva, and on the International Council. She was awarded the Australian Human Rights Medal for this work in 1999.

Quakers

Bayes' concern for the rights of children grew into a fascination with early Quakerism. As Eva Koch Fellow at the Quaker Study Centre">Quakers">Quaker Study Centre, she researched the views of the earliest Quakers on the nurturing and guidance of children and young people. She was the James Backhouse Lecturer in 2003, entitled Respecting the Rights of Children and Young People: A New Perspective on Quaker Faith and Practice.