A complaint about a policeman ended Dulcie Flower's stint in a hospital emergency department. But it started a long career focused on improving the health outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Dulcie Flower was just a few months into her nursing career when she encountered a patient she knew had suffered a grave injustice.
But far from stunting her career in health care, it set the then 18-year-old on the path to bringing about great change in the way First Nations people are looked after. "The health system just didn't seem to look after the people in the north in the same way that they did the people of the south," Aunty Dulcie says.Even decades later, Aunty Dulcie was shocked to see photographs on the walls of a Cairns Hospital ward showing Torres Strait Islanders who'd had legs amputated because of diabetes.
"It was … saying, 'OK, the mainstream is not doing things, there's a need for a special health approach for the Aboriginal people'." Aunty Dulcie says the training program began in a small hut, and she beams with pride at what its alumni have gone on to achieve. "A fire burns within our people and our struggle will be continued from a new and sturdy horizon — we will not be held back."Aunty Joyce has spent decades standing up for her regional community — her latest fight is more personal
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