General News
27 March, 2025
'Wimmera's Brockovich' an inspirational example
Margaret Millington OAM is well known in Nhill for her boundless energy and tireless community work.
She spoke candidly about life, achievements and hopes at the Horsham East Rotary Club special meeting honouring International Women's Day on March 5.
Ms Millington was born in Beechworth, by profession was a teacher and is often called the "Erin Brockovich of the Wimmera" for her perseverance in the causes she supports.
She was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 2015.
When Ms Millington moved to Nhill from East Gippsland in 1983 she committed only to a 12-month stay, but 42 years later she is a pillar of the community, a change-maker and an inspirational leader, all of which she attributes to her faith, the love and support of her husband and family, and the encouragement of her close family, friends and community.
However Ms Millington and her husband John (who supports her many causes) have experienced loss that would stop many in their tracks.
Instead they turned that grief into supporting others.
One of her greatest achievements was the implementation of SafeScript after the couple lost their son Simon to an accidemtal overdose of precription medication for pain relief for injuries sustained in an accident in 2010.
Ms Millington had campaigned since 1994 for SafeScript as a tool for doctors to help monitor prescription medication.
It was trialled in 2020 and it became mandatory in 2021.
"I wrote to Heath Ledger's dad because he lost his son to prescription medication and I thought he'd support my campaign," she said.
"People said to me 'You can't write to him' and I said 'Why not?'"
Ms Millington said she believed people were generally good and wanted to help others, so with that premise in mind she knocked on as many doors as she had to in order to implement a program that would save lives.
"Our son Simon described the effect the prescribed medication had on him was like it took away his soul," she said.
It was this tragedy and the statistics that showed more Victorians had died from overdose involving prescription medicines in recent years than from illicit drugs or on the roads that drove her to prevent others experienceing the same tragedy – and so SafeScript was born.
SafeScript is computer software that provides doctors and pharmacists with a comprehensive history of high-risk medicines patients prescribed to patients to help medical professionals to make better decisions about future care and keep them safe.
It tracks the medication used so that professionals can watch for signs of dependency.
Only doctors and pharmacists involved in the patient's care are permitted under law to view information in SafeScript.
"If this saves lives, our son Simon's death will not have been in vain," Ms Millington said.
At about this time the Karen community began to move into the region.
Ms Millington said she was unsure about getting involved at first but, looking back, she can see they were sent to her and John at that time for a reason: "They brought us love and they trusted us," she said.
The Millingtons have been a force in the successful resettlement of the refugees in Nhill.
"They've brought skills to the community, they've helped build a workforce and many have bought homes, albiet with the deposit in a shopping bag in the early days due to their mistrust of banks," she said.
Ms Millington said many of the refugees had lost their savings in their homeland before coming to Australia during a change of government, and it had taken time to correct that mistrust in their new country.
The Karen people are indigenous to the border region of Thailand and Myanmar/Burma.
They began arriving in Australia as refugees in 2003, settling mostly in Victoria.
Ms Millington has become a regular at medical appointments, at banks helping in applications for home loans, in hospital waiting rooms supporting patients coming out of surgery or after giving birth, and for everyday tasks to help them settle into the community.
"They've been here 15 years now and we love them," she said.
Ms Millington credits her husband John in everything she has achieved as without him she could not have done as much, she says.
She says good health is a major contributor to their achievements.
As an early riser, she works solidly through the day until the planned jobs – along with the unexpected – are all done.
In the four decades she has been in Nhill she has worked with the church and schools, Friends of Rotary, Wimmera Drug Action Task Force, Road Trauma Services Victoria, the Karen refugees, saving the Overland and Nhill station, Farmer Wants a Healthy Life and Nhill Airshow and has encouraged women who have made a difference to speak about their experiences and achievements, including former Premier Joan Kirner and Police Commissioner Christine Nixon.
The Millingtons have ben married for more than 50 years and have been blessed with five children and six grandchildren.
Both have been awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for their decades of service to the community.