Dr Sally Goold OAM Photo: CATSINaM
On 28 June, trailblazer nurse, educator and proud Wiradjuri woman, Dr Sally Goold OAM passed away.
Dr Goold (nee Bamblett) was founding director of Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives (CATSINaM) and the first Aboriginal nurse in New South Wales.
Determined from a young age to become a nurse, at sixteen Dr Goold commenced her nursing training at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in NSW where she overcame discrimination and the pressure of being the first Aboriginal nurse.
‘Although I was aware that racism was alive and well, it didn’t seem terribly important to me. I had a goal, and I focused on it’, she later recalled*.
Later she undertook midwifery training at King George V Memorial Hospital where she discovered a knack for teaching. Upon completion, she worked in a variety of roles, slowly rising to senior.
‘I noticed that, as soon as you started to climb the ladder, things become a little testy and the barriers go up with some non-Aboriginal nurses joining forces to keep you out and in ‘your place’. I had a few problems in overcoming those barriers, but they were not insurmountable.’
In 1971, Dr Goold was approached by Torres Strait Islander nurse Dulcie Flower AM to help set up and run the Redfern Aboriginal Medical Service, which was the first Aboriginal community-controlled health organisation.
She completed further postgraduate studies and lectured at QUT, where she organised community visits for students to increase their awareness of cultural issues, safety and respect. As part of her master’s degree, she researched the structural issues underpinning why there were so few Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander registered nurses and midwives.
‘I found many reasons for this; mainly, student-to-student and academic-to-student racism and discrimination, as well as inadequate, or a lack of, support systems for students. I thought there was no point in having this knowledge and not doing something about it, so I left QUT because I believed that there were other things I needed to do. The system needed to be changed!’
She was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 1985 for service to nursing education and Aboriginal health.
In August 1997, during a forum attended by 28 Indigenous registered nurses, the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses (CATSIN) (later becoming CATSINAM) was formed with Dr Goold as Executive Director.
‘Aunty Sally has been instrumental, an inspiration to many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous nurses and midwives. In a recent yarn with her we reflected on her years of leading CATSIN, and she expressed how unapologetic and proud she was of her efforts to raise the profile of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives’, said CATSINaM CEO Dr Ali Drummond.
‘She believed in the strength and resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses, midwives and students to overcome racism, despite its certainty along the education and employment pathway. She believed that we must and will persist, because our prize is better outcomes for our people. Aunty Sally was a visionary and a relentless advocate for our people’, added CATSINaM President Vanessa Browne.
Our deepest condolences to her family, friends, colleagues and CATSINaM family.
‘We as Aboriginal nurses have to work that bit harder for what we achieve, and yes, you will have to walk the extra mile.
You cannot be ‘as good as’, you have to be ‘better’ than others, to make your mark, because being as good as is not enough for those who judge you.
How fair is that? It’s not fair, but life isn’t always fair, is it? It is not easy. It is certainly not easy to move up the ladder in the mainstream arena, because there are forces at work to keep you down. You need to be a strong person and to rise above those issues and the barriers that are placed in front of you.
The best advice I can give is for you to ‘keep your eye on the prize’, and what a wonderful prize it is to achieve your dream!’
