Speak Out April 2021

Branch News

Lorraine Randall has recently joined the Royal Darwin Hospital Speech Pathology Department as an Allied Health Assistant. Lorraine is a proud Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara woman, born and raised in the Northern Territory with family connections to Uluru, Mutitjulu, Badu Island and Pearce Point regions. Lorraine grew up in Uluru until she was 6-years-old when she moved to Darwin to live so that she could attend school and have access to more opportunities. Lorraine finished year 11 feeling disengaged with school. The following year, Lorraine commenced training with the Indigenous Allied Health Australia (IAHA) Academy and ended her final year at Palmerston College having successfully completed year 12 and graduating with a Certificate III in Allied Health Assistance through a fully supported school-based traineeship which involved on the job training and wrap around support for an individual learning program. As part of her training, Lorraine completed 3 months working at Palmerston Regional Hospital with an Allied Health Assistant. Following this, Lorraine was successful in her application for her first full time job in the role of Allied Health Assistant with the Speech Pathology Department at the Royal Darwin Hospital. Lorraine has been working in this role for a few months now and is an asset to the department. Working across the lifespan, she has assisted the speech pathology department with a range of clinical work from completing early communication screens with infants to conducting mealtime reviews for adults. Of her time in the department so far, Lorraine says: “The speech team at RDH has been a great support with my training and has helped me to transition to working full time as an Allied Health Assistant. I love working with everyone around me to help patients get in a better condition. I enjoy being surrounded by children and doing language development and even just to sit and talk. Seeing what it’s like working in the health department has helped me feel confident about wanting a future in health. My goal in life is to work out on remote communities to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people close the gap in Aboriginal health.” Lorraine maintains strong connections with past teachers and students from IAHA who continue to support her in a variety of ways including provision of mentoring. Speech pathology teams across the Top End Health Service hope to continue supporting future graduates of the Indigenous Allied Health Australia Academy through work placement and employment opportunities. Find out more about Indigenous Allied Health Australia: IAHA’s National Academy IAHA NT Academy Graduation and Awards event 2020 National Academy Facebook Page IAHA Academy graduate joins speech pathology department

Northern Territory

NT 79 members as at March 2021

Lorraine Randall

Jess De Bolfo Speech Pathologist, Royal Darwin Hospital

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April 2021 | Speak Out