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United Nations Award befitting a true champion of her people by Stephen Hagan 1 November 2013
O
n receiving her United Nations Association of Australia Queensland Community Award in recognition of service to public health, in particular HIV Aids, contribution to Australian Universities, and consultation to the World Health Organisation, Professor Gracelyn Smallwood (pictured) humbly deflected attention by acknowledging the huge contribution from her family to her achievements. “I would like to mention that all of my political achievements in advocating in the area of health and human rights has been passed on from my amazing parents, Archie and Grace Smallwood, and my eldest sister Dorothy Savage,” Professor Smallwood told First Nations Telegraph. “Their advocacy for the rights of Indigenous peoples was at a time when it wasn’t sociably acceptable to be outspoken.” Professor Smallwood was presented with her ‘mainstream’ award by the Governor of Queensland, Her Excellency Penelope Wensley AC, at Government House in Brisbane last week. Professor Smallwood’s outstanding achievements are made all the more remarkable considering the colossal obstacles she’s had to overcome in her distinguished journey of advocating for better living conditions for her people. “I grew up in a tin house with a dirt floor, 18 siblings (14 of us in one family, five more when my father re-married) of whom I am the third eldest,” Professor Smallwood
said. “My father was one of the Stolen Generation; stolen from his family in the North Queensland town of Ayr and banished to the notorious Palm Island dormitories, for the ‘crime’ of having brown skin instead of black skin. “Brown babies were proof of the relationships the white men of small towns were having, so the children were removed to spare the white men’s embarrassment. We lived under the threat of the Aboriginal Protection Act in North Queensland.” The accomplished academic had to overcome racism at school and the low expectations from her
teachers and the mainstream society in general to gain her trajectory in her varied careers. “I struggled at school as did many Indigenous kids, because many of us thought sport would pull us through, and we felt disengaged until a dynamic and caring Indigenous teacher made us realise we couldn’t rely on sport as a career move. Back in 1967 there were few options for Aboriginal girls, so I trained to be a nurse,” Professor Smallwood said. “In 1973, I became a registered nurse and used my qualifications to work in communities such as Alice Springs, Palm Island, remote Western Australia and South Page 1
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Australia. I was a foundation member of the Townsville Aboriginal and Islander Health service in 1974, and worked as a volunteer Registered Nurse with two volunteer Doctors. “Later I became a registered midwife and worked with the Remote Emergency Nursing Services, which took me all over remote Australia delivering babies in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with no benefits of modern technology. I have also worked in remote Australia with the late Dr Fred Hollows on the National Trachoma and Eye Health Program. “I was awarded the Queensland Aboriginal of the Year in 1986 and an Order of Australia in 1992 for service to public health, particularly HIV-AIDS education,” she said. Although experiencing racism at an early age at school Professor Smallwood developed an impressive academic and professional resume. “In 1993, I was the first Indigenous Australian to receive a Masters of Science in Public Health (JCU) for my work on HIV education in North Queensland Indigenous communities. “I have been employed as an advisor to the World Health Organisation on HIV-AIDS and Indigenous communities; the Queensland Health Minister Ken McElligot and Queensland Minister for Family Services Ann Warner because of my expertise on health and domestic violence inequalities. “My representations to the Minister for Families resulted in culturally appropriate domestic
and family violence policies and positive development of the Domestic and Family Violence Act 1989 (Qld). “In 1994 I became the first woman, first Indigenous person and first non-paediatrician to receive the Henry Kemp Memorial Award at the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. “I completed a Diploma in Indigenous Mental Health, and have worked with acute and chronic psychiatric patients, Indigenous and Non-Indigenous, for many years,” Professor Smallwood said. One of the highlights of her international travels was the meeting of President Nelson Mandela in 1997. “I was invited to be special guest for the then South African President, Mr Nelson Mandela in 1997, and used the time speaking with activists including the sons of the late Steve Biko, and giving HIV-AIDS prevention talks and workshops. “I was one of the small group of health practitioners who understood the risk of HIV-AIDS in Indigenous communities, and we devised the now mainstream and famous Condoman to promote safe sex in a culturally appropriate way.” Although Professor Smallwood acknowledged awards is not what she sets out to achieve when advocating for her people, she did express her appreciation and said, “they were welcomed”. “In 2007 I had one of my greatest achievements, the Deadly Award for Outstanding Lifetime
Achievement in Indigenous Health. I was especially delighted with this award, as it is peer- and community judged. “From 2007-2011 I held a parttime role as Special Advisor to the Vice Chancellor on Indigenous Matters at James Cook University where I was given the task of improving relationships between the University and the Indigenous community.” In 2011 Professor Smallwood climbed her mountain peak when she completed my PhD Thesis Human Rights and First Australians Well-being. Professor Smallwood also acknowledged her Aboriginal and South-Sea origin on receiving the United Nations award from Her Excellency Penelope Wensley AC. “I am a Birrigubba, Kalkadoon and South-Sea Islander woman born in Townsville in 1951. I have been advocating against the racism and violation of human rights against my people for the past 45 years and prior to this my parents for 50 years, and my grandparents for another 50 years before that,” she said. “I have dealt with almost every disease, both nationally and internationally, however I have never been able to come to terms with the ugly disease of racism.” Professor Smallwood is the keynote speaker at Wantok 2013 Australian South Sea Islanders National Forum at the State Library in Brisbane today where she will deliver a paper titled Community Cohesion and Activism.
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