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SBS Australia
6 days ago
- Health
- SBS Australia
The pioneering nurse behind one of our longest running medical services
Dulcie Flower's work in healthcare stretches back decades, when she established one of the longest-running Aboriginal healthcare centres in the country. In a reflective interview on Living Black with Karla Grant, the veteran nurse, activist and 2024 NAIDOC Lifetime Achievement Award winner reflected on her decades of advocacy - from the referendum campaign to helping establish the Aboriginal Medical Service in Redfern. A proud Meriam woman, Flower was the first Torres Strait Islander to receive the national honour. Dulcie Flower - Helping Our People 'I think it was the biggest compliment I've ever been [given],' she said. In the 1960s, Flower worked closely with leaders like Faith Bandler, Pastor Doug Nicholls and Joe McGinness as part of the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI). Their campaigning helped deliver the 1967 referendum — a landmark moment that saw over 90% of Australians vote to remove two discriminatory clauses from the Constitution. 'It meant that women could have child endowment, there could be a pension given to widows. It meant people could bank money,' she said. 'They could not control their own money. They could not leave wills. They were considered, uh, not having the capacity to make wills. So all this sort of restrictive legislation had to be done away with. And it was.' But despite that victory, she says the same systemic injustices remain today. 'We were working hard to ensure that their health was looked over,' she said. 'But they were being sent back into the same environment, which had not changed.' She described a system still failing to meet the needs of First Nations people - fragmented, underfunded, and not up to scratch. 'It's still piecemeal. It's a bit here and a bit there,' she said. Flower was also a founding member of the Aboriginal Medical Service in Redfern, alongside Mum Shirl, Gordon Briscoe and others. The clinic opened in the evenings, and she recalled those early nights when no one came. 'They'd poke their heads in the door, and we explained what we... Mum Shirl rounded up some people, mainly family... gradually people came. We had families and uh, and so on it went.' The service became a culturally safe haven — especially for people who had been rejected or mistreated elsewhere, including members of the queer community. 'I'll never forget the first lot of young men who decided they were going to change over to being female,' she said. 'There was nowhere else for them to go... but they were very welcome. They were made to be part of the family... Nobody judged them there. And they'd come and be treated in exactly the same way as other people.' She also played a key role in mentoring and training Aboriginal nurses and health workers, helping to build an Indigenous health workforce where none had existed. Now in her 80s, Auntie Dulcie says the future is still full of possibility — if the work continues. 'We're in a time of change,' she said. 'We'll lose a few battles, but we'll win too.' Living Black airs Mondays at 8.30pm on NITV, replays on Tuesday 10.35pm on SBS and is available on SBS On Demand. Interviews and feature reports from NITV. A mob-made podcast about all things Blak life. The Point: Referendum Road Trip Live weekly on Tuesday at 7.30pm Join Narelda Jacobs and John Paul Janke to get unique Indigenous perspectives and cutting-edge analysis on the road to the referendum. Watch now
ABC News
10-06-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Paediatric cardiologist under 'intense pressure' in Far North Queensland
Medical advocacy groups and a national charity are backing a call from parents for a second paediatric cardiologist to be appointed in Queensland's vast far north. Some patients are waiting almost a year to see a paediatric cardiologist in the region, where the rate of rheumatic heart disease in children under 14 is about 30 times higher than the state average. Doctors' groups say the far north's sole paediatric cardiologist, Ben Reeves, is under "intense pressure and stress" to provide care to children across a region that stretches more than 1,000 kilometres to Cape York and the Torres Strait. HeartKids chief executive Marcus Sandmann said his organisation was supporting hundreds of families in north Queensland, many of whom were travelling more than 200km for an appointment. "We've had some families that we've worked very closely with over the years that have had to relocate to Brisbane just based on the need to have better levels of care for their child," he said. "That's obviously quite daunting and confronting for families to have to do that." Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service chief executive Leena Singh said the far north needed an additional paediatric cardiologist to meet demand. The hospital service has been developing a business case to secure the funding needed to bolster its paediatric cardiology care with an extra specialist and more allied health workers and nurses. "I believe the paediatric cardiologist, as a sole practitioner there, must be under intense pressure and stress," Queensland paediatrician Nitin Kapur said. Professor Kapur, who until recently was president of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians' (RACP) paediatric and child health division, said many children had chronic care needs. He said long wait times led to poorer health outcomes, particularly as GP care was also increasingly hard to access. The lack of adequate paediatric cardiology services in Cairns, one of the largest centres in northern Australia, has led to calls for more incentives to lure specialists to the regions. Professor Kapur said more accommodation support, childcare, and the ability to work part-time could help address the situation, as well as a streamlined pathway for overseas doctors to take up positions. "A lot of our paediatric workforce nowadays is female … and it's difficult for part-time work," he said. Professor Kapur said the RACP's advanced paediatric training was the only college pathway that mandated time in a regional area. He said the college would accredit any funded training positions in regional hospitals but a decision to employ a full-time consultant specialist was entirely up to each individual public hospital service. The Australian Medical Association Queensland (AMAQ) branch has also called for more state government investment in attraction and retention incentives. AMAQ president Nick Yim said a workforce plan was needed to identify which regions had specialist shortages, and where the health system was losing professionals. "We know that burnout unfortunately leads to doctors leaving the profession, so we do need to ensure they have sustainable workloads," Dr Yim said. Professor Kapur said paediatricians "have let ourselves down in not strongly advocating for more support as well". "Probably the government doesn't see this as a priority because outpatient-based, subspecialty medicine-based medicine doesn't grab attention," he said. Professor Kapur said two new consultant paediatric cardiology positions had been created in Townsville in recent months. In February, the Queensland government scrapped the Workforce Attraction Incentive Scheme, which offered health workers up to $70,000 to take critical roles in regional areas. In a statement, a spokeswoman for Health and Ambulance Minister Tim Nicholls said the government was committed to delivering 34,200 extra clinicians by 2032, labelling the former government's scheme as "ineffective". "The Crisafulli government is undertaking significant local, national and international recruitment activities to attract key medical professionals to help address short, medium and long-term workforce needs across the hospital and health system," she said. "Our hospital rescue plan is investing in health infrastructure across the state, including building new staff accommodation which will go a long way in attracting skilled workers to the regions that need it most."
The Australian
06-06-2025
- General
- The Australian
Two new cases of malaria detected in Queensland, brings infection total to 71
An outbreak of a potentially fatal disease continues in the Sunshine State as authorities race to investigate two more locally acquired cases, bringing the total number of infections this year to 71. Queensland Health confirmed a second locally acquired infection was recently identified in the Torres Strait Islands local government area. Ninety-seven per cent of the cases this year to date have come from overseas, predominantly Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. There are now 71 cases of the potentially deadly disease recorded in the Sunshine State to date this year. Picture: WHO It is a major increase in numbers, with 69 infections recorded in the same period in 2024, 50 in 2023, 20 in 2022 and only four in 2021. The presence of floodwaters is believed to be a key reason for the spike. Malaria is preventable and curable, and is not able to be passed from person to person, but rather spread through the bites of some infected Anopheles mosquitoes. 'We don't have mosquitoes capable of passing malaria on all throughout the country, but certainly in the more tropical parts of our country, the Northern Territory and northern parts of Queensland,' Mater Health infectious diseases director Paul Griffin said. 'That's why in those areas we need to give people that advice to make sure we reduce the chance of local transmission. Mater Health infectious diseases director Paul Griffin said it was important to advise Australians on how to avoid being bitten. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brenton Edwards 'With more significant types of malaria, the severe consequences can be involvement of the brain, so cerebral malaria and even death,' he told ABC News. 'It is something that we do need to take seriously and make sure we take steps to limit how much it is able to be passed on in our country.' According to the World Health Organisation, the most common early symptoms of malaria are fever, headache and chills. They typically start within 10 to 15 days of getting bitten by an infected mosquito. Hannah Wilcox Cadet Reporter Hannah Wilcox is part of News Corp's National Cadet Program's 2024 cohort. She has previously written for both digital and print publications. Hannah Wilcox
Daily Mail
05-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Urgent outbreak alert as life-threatening disease surges in one Aussie state as wet weather fuels spike in cases
Two more cases of malaria have been recorded in Queensland with residents warned the potentially deadly disease can lead to seizures and long-term cognitive issues. Queensland Health are investigating two more cases of locally acquired malaria, bringing the number of infections in the state this year to 71. The second locally acquired infection was recently found in the Torres Strait Islands local government area. The vast majority of cases (97 per cent) this year have come from overseas, mainly Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. But it's a worrying trend given just four cases were recorded in the same period in 2021. Twenty were recorded in 2022, 50 in 2023 and 69 in 2024. Recent wild weather in Far North Queensland has played a role in the spike in cases. Autumn was one of the wettest in Queensland's history, beating 100-year records with floodwaters a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Malaria is preventable and curable and can't be passed from person to person and is spread through the bites of infected Anopheles mosquitoes. Mater Health infectious diseases director Paul Griffin told ABC the outbreak would be contained to the far north of Australia. 'We don't have mosquitoes capable of passing malaria on all throughout the country, but certainly in the more tropical parts of our country, the Northern Territory and northern parts of Queensland,' he said. 'That's why in those areas we need to give people that advice to make sure we reduce the chance of local transmission.' The last cases acquired on mainland Australia were during an outbreak in north Queensland in 2002. 'Malaria used to be something that we had transmitted within Australia, but due to a host of different interventions locally, acquired malaria has not been something that we have really dealt with for some 40-odd years,' Mr Griffin said. Mr Griffin did however warn that those at risk of catching the disease needed to take the threat seriously. 'With more significant types of malaria, the severe consequences can be involvement of the brain, so cerebral malaria and even death,' he said. 'It is something that we do need to take seriously and make sure we take steps to limit how much it is able to be passed on in our country.' The most common early symptoms of malaria are fever, headache and chills and they usually start within 10 to 15 days of getting bitten by an infected mosquito.
News.com.au
04-06-2025
- Health
- News.com.au
Two more cases of malaria detected in Queensland, brings infection total to 71
An outbreak of a potentially fatal disease continues in the Sunshine State as authorities race to investigate two more locally acquired cases, bringing the total number of infections this year to 71. Queensland Health confirmed a second locally acquired infection was recently identified in the Torres Strait Islands local government area. Ninety-seven per cent of the cases this year to date have come from overseas, predominantly Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. It is a major increase in numbers, with 69 infections recorded in the same period in 2024, 50 in 2023, 20 in 2022 and only four in 2021. The presence of floodwaters is believed to be a key reason for the spike. Malaria is preventable and curable, and is not able to be passed from person to person, but rather spread through the bites of some infected Anopheles mosquitoes. 'We don't have mosquitoes capable of passing malaria on all throughout the country, but certainly in the more tropical parts of our country, the Northern Territory and northern parts of Queensland,' Mater Health infectious diseases director Paul Griffin said. 'That's why in those areas we need to give people that advice to make sure we reduce the chance of local transmission. 'With more significant types of malaria, the severe consequences can be involvement of the brain, so cerebral malaria and even death,' he told ABC News. 'It is something that we do need to take seriously and make sure we take steps to limit how much it is able to be passed on in our country.' According to the World Health Organisation, the most common early symptoms of malaria are fever, headache and chills. They typically start within 10 to 15 days of getting bitten by an infected mosquito.
