Speak Out August 2020 DIGITAL EDITION

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee

Meet Shari Fuller

Shari is a Jirrbal woman whose family are from North Queensland. She grew up on Larrakia Country in Darwin. With no Speech Pathology degree offered in the Northern Territory Shari moved to Adelaide and studied Speech Pathology at Flinders University. After completing her degree she moved home to Darwin to work at the Royal Darwin Hospital. Currently Shari lives and works on Mparntwe country (Alice Springs), traveling to remote communities to provide speech pathology services to Aboriginal people living in their homes.

My vision would be for speech pathology services to

align with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s culture, connection to country, languages and world views.

She is employed within the Adult Allied Health Team of the Central Australian Health Service. She joined the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee in January 2020. We asked her three questions – here are her responses. Why did you decide to join the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee? As an Aboriginal speech pathologist in the Northern Territory I have the privilege to work closely with Aboriginal people every day. Aboriginal people living remotely have limited access to health care and poorer health outcomes yet are often forgotten. I joined the committee because I wanted their voices to be heard by Speech Pathology Australia, with the hope that as a profession we can strive to deliver a culturally responsive service that everyone can access. What is your vision for speech pathology services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples? My vision would be for speech pathology services to align with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s culture, connection to country, languages and world views. Doing the same thing we have always done is not going to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. I would like us to re-think the way we deliver services to centre around our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander client’s worlds. What is your vision for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of Speech Pathology Australia? My vision is to see increased communication and collaboration between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members so that we can work together on goals that are important to our people’s wellbeing, with Aboriginal people at the centre. I would also like to see increased research by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members and non-members that focuses on the strengths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander peoples to reshape the way we practice.

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Speak Out | August 2020