Wendy Brooke, Senior Aboriginal Health Liaison Officer

20 March 2025

Today marks National Close the Gap Day, a day that advocates for health equity of Australia's Indigenous Australians and educating the public about the health issues and barriers to wellbeing faced by them.

To honour this day, we sat down with Wendy Brooke, the Senior Aboriginal Health Liaison Officer at Ngarra Jarra Aboriginal Health Unit who is committed to Closing the Gap, to find out more about her work.

What does Close the Gap Day mean to you?

The day has so many different meanings to me. It is an emotional day, as this is a day, like many other days that I think about the many community members we have lost way too young through the inequalities and injustices of the health system. While there have been some improvements in the provision of health service to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, there is still a long way to go.

Professor Tom Calma AO, in his role as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, created the Social Justice Report 2005, In the report, Tom urged Australian governments to commit to achieving equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in health and their life expectancy.

As an action from this report, the Australian government developed a National Indigenous Health Equality Campaign to better the health and wellbeing for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their communities. However, when data shows us that the health and wellbeing of our people is not getting better, then it shows that something is not working.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health is not just about looking at the physical health of a person but looking at everything that affects an individual, and more importantly engaging with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people when it come to their health. ‘Nothing About Us, Without Us’ is something that everyone needs to understand. You cannot deliver a service without working with us.

Wendy with Professor Tom Calma AO

Which Austin Health value do you feel you live out daily in your work?

All of our four values I’d say - Our actions show we care, we bring our best, together we achieve, and we shape the future.

We are constantly engaging and listening to our community about their experiences here at Austin Health this informs our daily work practices. This is something that we live and breathe here at Ngarra Jarra.

In a year from now, what is the one most important thing you would like to achieve in your role?

That we have been able to improve the services, health and wellbeing outcomes, and the cultural safety of the environment here at Austin Health for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members so that they feel safe, respected and that Austin Health is a place for them to heal.

We work each day to tackle the disparity and remove the systemic barriers which exists for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members in the hope to create a world where everyone can access the support they need to live healthy, happy and fulfilled lives.