Robin Miller DicksPrint Page

The monument which is a representation of her Mooney aircraft, commemorates pilot and nurse Robin Miller Dicks who was known as "The Sugar Bird Lady."

Robin Miller (1940 - 1975), known as "The Sugarbird Lady", was an Australian aviatrix and nurse. The name "The Sugarbird Lady" was given to her by outback Aboriginal children during her work combatting polio. She died of cancer at the age of 35.

After obtaining a private pilot licence and a commercial flying licence while training as a nurse, she approached the Western Australian Department of Health to ask permission to fly to northern Western Australia in order to carry out a vaccination programme. Permission granted, she borrowed money for a Cessna 182 and set out on her first flight on 22 May 1967. After travelling to remote communities, she would treat children with the Sabin vaccine in sugar lumps. She later flew with the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia (RFDS), after carrying out nine aircraft delivery flights for them. In 1973 she was sponsored along with Rosemary de Pierres to compete in the 1973 All Women’s Transcontinental Air Race across the United States, a.k.a. The Powder Puff Derby, finishing sixth past the finishing post.

In 1973 she married Harold Dicks, the director of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, and became Robin Miller Dicks. After her death, Dicks set up a AUD$50,000 memorial foundation to help nurses get flying licences.  Robin Miller Dicks was the daughter of writer and historian Dame Mary Durack and pioneer aviator Horrie Miller OBE.

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