Bidjidal elder Vic Simms released the first-ever album recorded in an Australian prison and has toured with music legends. He's found a new purpose sharing his cultural knowledge with first-year medical students.
Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the name and images of a person who has died.
Best known for his music career, which included releasing the first-ever album recorded in an Australian prison in 1973 and touring with Jimmy Little, Uncle Vic began teaching at the university 15 years ago.Since then he has taught more than 1,200 students at the Faculty of Medicine and Health. "My father used to carry golf clubs for rich white people to put a loaf of bread on the table," he remembers.
At just 11 years old, he performed at the Manly Jazzorama Music Festival and was soon singing alongside the likes of Shirley Bassey, Johnny O'Keefe, Col Joye, and Robie Porter — even being on the same record label as Elvis Presley.But by the early 70s, he feared his music career was over. Describing his life as a "fractured fairytale", he credits music with taking him around the world and "showing me a better life".
"By undertaking specific training in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing, medical students are better prepared to deliver culturally appropriate care, address significant health disparities, and fulfil their professional responsibilities to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients can access health care that is free of racism," Dr Biles says.
Teaching Indigenous History Indigenous Culture Goodnews Uncle Vic Simms University Of New South Wales Honorary Doctorate Music In Prison
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