Tanya Plibersek’s daughter Anna Coutts-Trotter handed special award
IT would be easy for Anna Coutts-Trotter to live in the shadow of her parents. But the 17-year-old Randwick Girls High pupil is forging her own path.
Southern Courier
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IT would be easy for Anna Coutts-Trotter to live in the shadow of her parents.
Her mum is none other than Federal Opposition deputy leader Tanya Plibersek and her dad is Department of Family and Community Services director-general Michael Coutts-Trotter.
But the 17-year-old Randwick Girls High pupil is forging her own path.
She has dedicated countless hours to others, which has resulted in her receiving the John Lincoln Youth Community Service Award.
Her volunteering work started when history teacher Benny Kaplinski encouraged students to visit the local Montefiore home and speak to holocaust survivor residents.
“It was difficult hearing those stories, it was very confronting” she said. “But very important and everyone was so kind.”
So moved by the experience Anna decided to continue visiting the home and has been going every week for more than two years.
She plays piano, calls the bingo numbers and has even devised a trivia game. “They are like extra grandparents to me.”
Much of her volunteering work is done with dementia patients — something she says she finds incredibly difficult but also very rewarding.
But her volunteering work doesn’t stop there.
Last Christmas she created care packages for homeless people in Kings Cross.
“I grew up round there so I saw many people I recognised. That was tough.
“But the whole experience was so rewarding. They were hugging me and were just so thankful.”
She also campaigned to get flag poles for the Aboriginal and Torres Island flags at school.
But where does this drive to help others come from?
“I think my parents, they are both social justice advocates and have been my whole life.
“Since a baby I’ve been going to mum’s events and meetings. So from a young age I’ve known I need to do the right thing.”
While she hasn’t ruled out following her mum into politics, she wants to do things her own way. “I want to help make a difference so I’ve thought about social work. We’ll see.”
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