The other kids, seeing an Aboriginal child, wouldn't move over to let her sit and called her 'abo' or worse.

"As I got older I realised something must be happening in their lives for them to be so full of hate," Ms Brown said.

During these years in the 1960s, Ms Brown was living without running water and electricity with her eight sisters and relatives in Tumut, west of Canberra.

Her childhood saw her carting water from the river nearby and hiding in the bush when the welfare department came by.

"They were living out on the Tumut Plains because of the seasonal work: fruit picking and things like that," Ms Brown said.

Racism prevented her family getting any higher paid work and they were often isolated from the community.

Now 60, Ms Brown is the Elder in Residence at the University of Canberra and credits learning community development in her 30s with lifting her out of poverty.

Ms Brown is one of the faces of ACT Council of Social Service and Red Cross ACT's Anti-Poverty Week.

Organisers said this week was about helping the public understand the causes of poverty and to promote research to address its causes.

Almost 35,000 Canberrans, including 9000 children, are living below the poverty line according to ACTCOSS.

Executive director Susan Helyar said high utility costs were one of the biggest drivers of poverty in the capital.

"There wasn't much around, not like today. There's more support but for some reason people are still poverty stricken," Ms Brown said.

She said poverty and racism can become linked when minorities are unable to find work.

"As soon as people found out you're Aboriginal it would lessen your chances of employment," she said.

"Because I'm fair skinned, I'm very proud of my Aboriginality and family. I always tell people I'm Aboriginal and you just see the changed look on people's faces."

Ms Brown wasn't always as proud her experiences growing up made her feel like she was less than human.

"People saw us as the bottom of the human barrel and saw it was their right to attack us," Ms Brown said.

When Ms Brown and the siblings were told to hide, she was warned by her grandparents if the welfare departments caught her they'd be sent to 'The Homes'.

One day when she was 12, Ms Brown was caught and taken away from her mother, who was also sent away.

The home Ms Brown was sent to lived up to its notorious reputation, there she faced extreme abuse as a young child.

She was eventually released into the care of her non-Indigenous stepfather, a local farmer, in the early 70s.

"He was just a good soul," Ms Brown said.

Her family had worked for her stepfather and both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Tumut respected him.

Ms Brown's stepfather would talk highly of Aboriginal people and their respect for country.

She remembers eating an icecream once and throwing the stick out of the window of the car.

"Oh boy did I get an ear bashing," Ms Brown said.

"He told me off about the planet and littering."

Ms Brown said she was still a difficult child growing up.

"I was mad. I can't pretend I was perfect," she said.

She can't quite remember why things changed for Aboriginal people but said it became less difficult to find work in the 80s.

"Things just changed, it was a different society, it became more open and more modern," Ms Brown said.

She was still living pay cheque to pay cheque for most of her 20s and 30s before she started to study community development at 38 at the University of Canberra.

"Through education I improved myself. I got empathy to help other people: Ngunnawal people, other Aboriginal people and non-Indigenous people who might need a hand," Ms Brown said.

She hasn't yet got her degree, but from there Ms Brown has made a career of representing the Aboriginal community in the ACT.

Ms Brown played a key role in starting the Ngunnawal bush healing farm, was a member of the ACT Indigenous Elected Body and now helps Aboriginal students at the university.

Despite the way society has changed, Ms Brown said racism still exists in Australia.

"The racism is at all levels, it's in your face or it's subtle and it's hidden from good white people," she said.

"There is more good white people in the country than angry people like that."

Ms Brown said more mental health support needed to be made available for those experiencing poverty and there needed to be more respect for the less fortunate.

"Just have respect for other people, no matter who they are. Even if I see people outside the shops begging it's sad," Ms Brown said.