Subiaco

Distinguished and Famous people from Subiaco

📚 Bob Hawke

Bob Hawke attended Perth Modern School in Subiaco from 1942 to 1946, before university, union leadership and national politics. His surviving school record is a reassuring document for anyone whose teachers were not always impressed: comments questioned his steady application and described some results as mediocre. He nevertheless went on to study at the University of Western Australia and became a Rhodes Scholar. The school years connect Subiaco with the formation of a future prime minister, while the report card supplies a useful reminder that later public achievement is not always obvious from the classroom paperwork.

🔬 Fiona Stanley

Fiona Stanley helped establish the Western Australian Research Institute for Child Health and became its inaugural director in 1990. Working with paediatrician Lou Landau, she envisaged a place where scientists, clinicians and researchers could investigate the causes, prevention and management of childhood disease and disability together. The institute's new building at 100 Roberts Road, Subiaco, opened in 2000 after a major fundraising effort supported by state and federal governments. Known for many years as the Telethon Kids Institute, the organisation made child health research a significant part of Subiaco's professional life before its later move to Nedlands.

🏏 Adam Voges

Adam Voges was born at Subiaco in 1979 and became an Australian international cricketer after a long domestic career. His teams included Western Australia, the Perth Scorchers and several English county sides. Across twenty Tests he scored 1,485 runs at an average of 61.87, an unusually productive return from a comparatively short Test career. His wider playing record also crossed one-day and Twenty20 cricket. Subiaco is his birthplace; the teams and grounds associated with his later career stretch considerably further afield, reflecting the varied opportunities of professional cricket.

🏉 Keith Barker

Keith Barker played Australian Rules football for Subiaco Football Club in 1917, his final year at Scotch College. He was head prefect and an accomplished all-round athlete, and sport continued to occupy much of his adult life. Tennis brought State doubles titles with his brother Tom and, later, Harry Hopman; golf brought two runner-up finishes in State championships. He also became a sporting-goods agent and served in sporting administration. The Subiaco connection is his documented playing involvement, one part of a sporting life that eventually found room for football, tennis, golf and competitive shooting.

🎖️ Ralph Honner

Ralph Honner boarded at Subiaco while continuing his schooling in Perth, his family still living far away at Three Springs. A reserved and studious boy, he later developed into a capable athlete at university and qualified first as a teacher and then as a solicitor. During World War II he commanded the 39th Battalion in Papua and received the Distinguished Service Order. Subsequent public responsibilities included pensions appeals and an ambassadorship in Ireland. His Subiaco association is the documented boarding arrangement that supported his education, before a remarkably varied working life.

🎭 Nita Pannell

Nita Pannell taught at Subiaco State School in 1926–27, serving as assistant to the headmaster. She learned through classroom observation and taught eurythmics, folk dancing, music and acting. Her later professional life carried those performance interests into theatre: she helped found the Company of Four and became nationally known through The Shifting Heart and The One Day of the Year. Patrick White also wrote challenging parts that suited her versatility. The Subiaco appointment gives a precise early connection to an actress and director whose career would extend far beyond Western Australia.