In 1975, I took advantage of the Whitlam government’s education policy which made university education free. I needed to get Year 12 results that would qualify me for university, so I enrolled myself at Monbulk High School as a mature age student. I planned to go to Monash University because they had a Linguistics Department, and I was very keen on languages. My plan was to major in French.

I studied English Expression, English Literature, French and Legal Studies. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and I was stimulated by the younger students. They, in turn, seemed to appreciate the perceptions of an older person.

By the second term, I was pregnant, the baby being due in October. The other students were quite solicitous of me, which was rather sweet, but I thrived during pregnancy and didn’t really need special consideration.

The baby’s due date was October 10, which coincided with the October Tests – a big deal in Year 12. I discussed this with a couple of my teachers, and with my doctor. I didn’t want to risk going into labor during an exam as it would be a distraction for the other students. My doctor at that time was Ray Perraton, and I asked him if I could have the baby induced early. There was some concern about the baby’s size, as Dion had weighed only 4lbs 13oz at birth even though he wasn’t technically premature, but he agreed to have me induced on October 3rd. That would give me time to establish the baby’s routine before the first exam.

Juliette weighed in at a whopping 5lb 11oz when she was born in the evening on October 3, which meant I got a good night’s sleep, despite being woken up to feed her during the night. In those days, you were kept in hospital for about 5 days after the birth. When I went home, I felt quite well and confident I could cope.