She also campaigned with success against mandatory retirement from the workforce at 65. Personal life Briggs married Kenneth Briggs in 1952. They became foster carers early in their marriage and had two children of their own. Death Briggs died at the Royal Adelaide Hospital on 6 April 2016 at age 85. Awards and honours Briggs was the inaugural recipient of the Australian Humanitarian Award in 1998. She was named Senior Australian of the Year in 2000 and became an officer of the Order of Australia in 2005. She was also a recipient of the Anzac Fellowship Award, the national Centenary Medal, the Jean Denton Memorial Fellowship and the Creswick Fellowship Award. In 2009, Briggs received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from the University of Sheffield for outstanding research, publications and contributions to education relating to child abuse and child protection. Selected publications Books PUB L 169. Book chapters Journal articles References 1930 births 2016 deaths Officers of the Order of Australia Child welfare in Australia Australian women academics Australian of the Year Award winners Recipients of the Centenary Medal University of South Australia faculty Alumni of the University of Warwick 20th-century Australian writers 20th-century Australian women writers 21st-century Australian writers 21st-century Australian women writers English emigrants to Australia Alumni of the University of Sheffield Women Metropolitan Police officers Children's rights activists Metropolitan Police officers