Real stories

Ngiare Brown, Doctor
Ngiare is one of the first Aboriginal doctors in the nation – as well as a vibrant, committed and passionate advocate for quality patient care and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health policy, research, workforce and education. More about Ngiare

Amy Walker
Amy completed her midwifery course at Broome, one of the first stops on the 4WD holiday. Her husband got a job teaching in Fitzroy Crossing, and Amy went too, joining the local community health team as a nurse. More about Amy

Dione Jacka, Dietitian
Dione is regional senior dietitian at the Kimberley Population Health Unit in Broome, in outback Western Australia. She sees a range of patients – little kids who are failing to thrive, people with allergies, coeliac disease or cancer, and people who are overweight or obese. It’s a job with great challenges – but also, increasingly, a rewarding job as Dione’s nutrition advice is taken up by more and more locals. More about Dione

Fiona Wake, Nurse
Fiona is the Clinical Manager for Remote Area Health Corps (RAHC), which recruits health professionals for short-term placements in remote communities in the Northern Territory. Fiona also works with ear, nose and throat specialists and audiologists in communities in places such as Kintore, which is 530 kilometres west of Alice Springs. More about Fiona 

Hugh Heggie, General Practitioner
After 20 years as a GP in Victoria, Hugh Heggie moved his family to 300 kilometres north-east of Alice Springs to work with a remote community spread over 15 outstations across 5,000 square kilometres. Other roles in Central Australian and West Arnhem Land communities followed. Now based in Darwin, Hugh flies up to 1,500 kilometres each week managing chronic disease, providing emergency care and diagnostic ultrasound and radiology assistance to patients. More about Hugh 

Jenny Poelina, Senior Aboriginal Health Worker
Born in Derby, Western Australia, Jenny is executive manager of the Centre for Aboriginal Primary Health Care Training, Education and Research, Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services Council Inc. Having worked in the health sector since 1975, she dedicates much of her time to finding new and better ways in how Aboriginal health workers are recruited, trained and supported. More about Jenny

Joel Wenitong, Medical Student: Future chopper doctor
For medical student, Joel Wenitong, working in health is a family thing and now, he says: “health is my future.” Joel’s grandmother was one of the first Aboriginal Health Workers and his father is prominent doctor Mark Wenitong, the former head of the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association. More about Joel

Karla Canuto, Women’s health and fitness expert
Karla, a Torres Strait Islander, has developed a fitness program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and is researching its impacts as part of her PhD at the University of South Australia. More about Karla

Monica Lawrence, Nurse
In her current role as Principle Advisor of Clinical Services Development in Aboriginal Health for the Southern Local Health Network, Monica is responsible for ensuring that cultural considerations are included in clinical practice. More about Monica

Nathan Trist, Student doctor
Student doctor Nathan Trist says he wants to “let medicine take me where it can.”
And it’s already taken him to Katherine in outback Northern Territory, where he recently completed his first rural clinical placement at Katherine Hospital – “a fantastic experience that definitely left an imprint on me, whatever field of medicine I go into. More about Nathan

Nola White, Nurse
Nola White, a registered nurse, encourages young people to get into Aboriginal and Torres Strait health and experience the good and the bad, the happy and sad. A member of the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses, she is always trying to recruit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses. More about Nola

Stanley Ozies
After attending a men’s health conference in Adelaide with two workmates, Stanley decided that a career in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health was for him. Today, he is a fully qualified Aboriginal health worker – and he knows he has made the right choice. More about Stanley

Trevor Holcombe and Bruce Newman, Paediatric Dentists
When Trevor and Bruce aren’t working together at the Kingston Oral Health Care Centre in Brisbane, they are in the Top End treating Aboriginal children from remote communities for dental work. More about Trevor and Bruce

Zarica Sebastian
Zarica is just months away from graduating with a Diploma in Healthcare, following a 10 year break from education to raise her three children.  Zarica works for the Derby Aboriginal Health Service, which rotates its Aboriginal Health Workers through its clinic to expose them to patient care as well as health promotion and community engagement work. More about Zarica