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Wherever She Wanders

The Ormond scandal in the #MeToo age
by
ABR Arts 12 November 2021

Wherever She Wanders

The Ormond scandal in the #MeToo age
by
ABR Arts 12 November 2021
Emily Havea as Nikki Faletau in Wherever She Wanders (photograph by Brett Boardman)
Emily Havea as Nikki Faletau in Wherever She Wanders (photograph by Brett Boardman)

On the evening of Wednesday, 16 October 1991, after the annual Valedictory Dinner at Melbourne University’s august Ormond College, the Master allegedly made unprovoked sexual advances to two female students. These reported incidents led to a scandal which rocked the Melbourne establishment, caused the exit of the Master (whose conviction on charges of indecent assault was overturned on appeal), and became the basis of Helen Garner’s hugely controversial exploration of sexual politics, class, and power, The First Stone (1995).