▶️ WATCH ABOVE: Interview with Captain Mona Shindy on ‘Uncommon Ground’

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A young girl and her older brothers play on a street in Mascot with other neighbourhood kids, in a game that’s getting competitive. When a comment is made about the little girl’s family — their darker skin, their broken English, their strange ways — the little girl doesn’t shrink back or let the other kids win. She steps forward and fights alongside her brothers to defend her family.

Fast forward 50 years, and that little girl’s tenacity, loyalty and resilience are just as evident. But she’s now Captain Mona Shindy, the highest-ranking Muslim woman in the Australian Defence Force’s history.

How does a fiery young Egyptian-Australian, who thought she would grow up to be a dentist, become a captain in the Australian Navy and among the first troops deployed to the first Iraq war?

As Captain Shindy shares with Professor Talal Yassine in a recent episode of Uncommon Ground, through a combination of grit, tenacity, loss and the enduring influences of both her mother and father.

Twin influences: Compassion and adventure

Her family immigrated to Australia from Egypt in the late-70s when Mona, then the youngest of three, was just a toddler. Before arriving in Sydney, her mother, a kind, empathetic, deeply intelligent woman, had worked as a social worker, while her outgoing, adventurous father was a lawyer.

Mona’s life and career are marked by countless moments of her mother’s intelligent compassion. As a teenager, she walked out of her high school in solidarity with her brother when he was no longer welcome.

When her father passed away suddenly when she was only 14, Mona took on part-time jobs to help her mother. After high school, she enrolled in dentistry, in part to help her family financially.

The no-holds-barred adventurousness of her father also left endless impressions. When her brother told her about his electrical engineering degree, she quickly decided dentistry wasn’t for her and followed him into engineering.

When that same brother joined the Royal Australian Navy and began sending postcards home from exotic ports, she applied for a cadetship herself. “That changed my direction and got me looking towards a military career. For the fun, the adventure… [But also] that love for Mum drove a lot of the decisions. How could I help? How could I be part of making her life happier and easier?”

Blazing trails: From lecture halls to warships

When Mona stepped into her first engineering lecture at university and found herself among only five women in a class with more than 400 men, she received an unexpected glimpse into her future. Not only was she destined to be one of only a handful of women in most rooms throughout her career, but she would also always be the only Muslim.

In fact, at just 20 years old, she enlisted as a trainee weapons engineer and became the first Muslim woman to ever serve in the Royal Australian Navy. Then, almost three decades later, she became the first member of any Australian Defence Force to wear a hijab.

At just 23, she was one of three women — the first ever — to serve on an Australian warship, spending six months at sea with 220 men, “on a ship that wasn’t ready for us, in so many ways.”

There was nowhere for them to sleep or shower and their uniform was ill-fitting at best, never designed for their bodies. Deep-rooted misogyny meant she and the other women were ignored and mocked, missed out on mentoring that was given to male counterparts, and worked twice as hard, only to be called half as competent.

But instead of accepting the status quo, Mona began facing every obstacle as an opportunity for improvement, if not for her, then for those who would come after. “With each challenge, you learn, you adjust, you give feedback, things improve. You’re part of improving systems and structures.”

Education and representation: “Is she a good one? Is she a bad one?”

There were, however, times when the obstacles felt too big to overcome. In 2003, Mona and her husband had two young children when her ship was deployed to Iraq. At the time, she was one of many Australians, Muslim and otherwise, wondering whether the country should be involved in the conflict at all. But her faith made her a target of distrust.

During a weapons training session, she glanced at her instructor for guidance and saw colleagues diving for cover. “Here I am, leaving my family, doing whatever I could to support the team and there was a fear that I could be a sleeper or a threat… Is she a good one? Is she a bad one?”

Soon after, she was approached by the Chief of Navy and asked to work as the Islamic cultural affairs advisor. He wanted to increase the Navy’s capability by encouraging diversity, and while Mona agreed, she also saw an opportunity of her own — one that appealed to her parents’ twin influences — and would allow her to break new ground in a very traditional organisation while leaving things better for those who came after her.

Again, she was vastly outnumbered in rooms full of men, only this time as an educator, breaking down common misconceptions about Muslims. She explained the importance of fasting and prayer and was instrumental in making changes to accommodate Muslim sailors, such as Halal food options, prayer spaces, and uniform choices, including the hijab.

A new chapter: “I don’t regret any of those difficult times”

Perhaps the Australian Defence Force wasn’t entirely ready for a change of this magnitude, because when Mona herself began to wear the hijab, she became a very public target. The Navy was accused — loudly and repeatedly — of being “tokenistic and woke” by a group of veterans via a very public campaign.

Social media, talkback radio, newspapers and politicians driving their own agendas picked up the story, and eventually, the campaign worked. Mona’s distinguished career stalled, and when it was made clear she wouldn’t rise further up the ranks, after more than three decades, she retired.

But even in the crushing disappointment, the tenacious, loyal little girl remains. Mona still fights, only now, on her own terms. “I don’t regret any of those difficult times because I know that over a period of time, it makes a huge difference to other people and will make a difference to those that follow.”

She established The Mona Shindy Foundation, providing leadership programs and financial support to people from diverse backgrounds. Their mission? That soon, girls like Mona can walk into a room and not be outnumbered.

You can listen to the full Uncommon Ground interview by clicking on the link at the top of this article.