Mr Couzens, who died this month at the age of 84, was raised at Framlingham Aboriginal Mission when its housing was mainly humpies in the bush.

He was active in Aboriginal affairs over more than 40 years and was instrumental in founding the Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative in Geelong andthe Koorie Teacher Education Program which later became the Institute of Koorie Education (IKE) at Deakin University.

He also served on the board of the Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages (VACL) and worked to preserve his Gunditjmara language, helping to produce the ‘Keerray Woorroong and Related Dialects Dictionary.’  

As a respected cultural leader, he wore a cloak of possum skins, made by his daughter Vicki Couzens and grand-daughters Yarran, Jarrah, Marlee, Niyoka and Kirrae Bundle. at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

Mr Couzens was born in 1932, the sixth child of nine siblings. 

His childhood on the Framlingham Aboriginal Mission included hunting for food as well as helping with farm work, running away whenever government cars came and hearing the Old People talk in aboriginal language. 

His father Nicholas was secretary of the Framlingham Progress Association that was part of a push for better housing on the mission. 

The first 12 houses on the reserve were built in 1938 and Mr Couzens’s family was the first to move in. 

Each house had four hectares (10 acres) attached for the families to farm but after two years of trying to develop the land with no support, the Couzens moved off the mission to a share farm nearby in protest at mission life and being controlled by the Aboriginal Protection Board.

Mr Couzens left school at 13 and worked in various jobs before getting a job with his older brothers as part of a bridge building gang for the Country Roads Board in the south-west.

He was an accomplished sportsman, as were many of his brothers, and cycling and golf were among his interests. However it was in football where he particularly excelled, playing through to the age of 42.

He played for South Warrnambool and his football career included several best and fairest and a few premierships. 

After playing at South Warrnambool he played for Bushfield in the Warrnambool and District League, and also captained coached there for a number of years. 

He met his future wife Joy Bolden at the Palais dance hall in Warrnambool and they overcame racism to marry in 1958. 

For some of the early years of their marriage, they lived in the cricket clubrooms at Harris Reserve, which had been formerly occupied by Mr Couzens’s parents. The site is now occupied by the Gunditjmara Aboriginal Cooperative.

Mr Couzens also became active in aboriginal affairs in Warrnambool during the 1960s and had a part time job as Community Liaison for the Aboriginal Affairs Ministry. In that role, he provided advocacy for the Aboriginal community to the government and the work began his lifelong commitment to Aboriginal affairs.

He continued the work after moving with his CRB job to Geelong, where many of his extended family had relocated.

In Geelong during the 1970s, Mr Couzens met several non-Aboriginal families who had adopted Aboriginal children and wanted to keep their children connected to their culture.

This led to his move for an Aboriginal organisation dedicated to cultural revival and connection and he became the driving force for the establishment of Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative which is now located in North Geelong. He was instrumental in securing the funding for Wathaurong and was the cooperative’s administrator and for many years a board member.

He also had a vision for a cultural learning centre that was carried on by others and eventuated into the Narana Aboriginal Cultural Centre at Grovedale.

Part of his vision was to have an aboriginal studies campus and Mr Couzens was among the founding members of the Koorie Teacher Education Program which later became the Institute of Koorie Education (IKE) at Deakin University, based at Waurn Ponds. 

IKE has indigenous students throughout Australia and its community-based delivery mode gives them access to higher education while still allowing them to maintain family and community obligations. Mr Couzens was employed at IKE for several years and left a lasting legacy there.

After almost 20 years in Geelong, Mr Couzens and his wife moved in 1990 back to Warrnambool where he worked at the Gunditjmara Aboriginal Cooperative, taking on the roles as manager and later as cultural officer.

In his work as cultural officer Mr Couzens spent time teaching in schools and presenting to community groups. He also did survey work on Country to record and protect sites. It was during this period his passion for the reclamation of his mother tongue, the Gunditmara language, became stronger.

He secured funding to employ a linguist student who worked with him to produce the ‘Keerray Woorroong and Related Dialects Dictionary’ in 1996, one of his proudest achievements.

The language has since been used by local aboriginal song and dance groups and continues to be taught with the help of a language worker in the region. 

Mr Couzens also served on numerous other aboriginal boards including the Aboriginal Housing Board, and the Kuuyang Maar and Eastern Maar native title groups.

While he was active as a campaigner, he was also a deeply committed family man who nurtured the wider Couzens clan.

His family said Mr Couzens was a true gentleman and a mentor but also a man with a great sense of humour who could always make them laugh.