Our Board Chair, Ms Ella Kris would like to pay tribute to an amazing and inspirational woman who dedicated her life to improving health services for First Nations people right across Far North Queensland.
Aunty Rose Richards, a proud Kuku Yalanji and Tagalaka Elder from Far North Queensland, passed away at Cairns Hospital on 9 October, aged 92.
She was always passionate about improving the health and wellbeing of babies, young children, and mothers.
Many of our First Nations women and children from across Cape York, the Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula Area have benefitted from the work Aunty Rose has done over her decades of public service.
In the late 1970s, while working at Cairns Hospital as its first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Hospital Liaison Officer, Aunty Rose recognised the unique challenges faced by First Nations people who had to leave their communities and families on Cape York, the Torres Strait, and Northern Peninsula Area to travel to Cairns for medical treatment.
Along with her sister Aunty Esme Hudson and Aunty Bonnie Simpson, Aunty Rose began taking expectant and new mums into their homes in Cairns and giving them culturally safe accommodation and care.
With the assistance of local Aboriginal leaders in 1983, the trio went on to establish “Rosie’s Farm” facility as a hostel for First Nations women awaiting the births of their babies in Cairns.
In 2010, Rosie’s Farm developed into a custom-designed facility at Edmonton, south of Cairns, known as Mookai Rosie Bi-Bayan, meaning “Aunty Rosie’s place’’.
Mookai Rosie Bi-Bayan is Far North Queensland’s only Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s accommodation service run and staffed by First Nations women and Australia's first Indigenous community-controlled corporation that specialises in health care services for women and children.
As well as safe accommodation, Mookai Rosie Bi-Bayan offers mothers advice on nutrition and provides prenatal and postnatal care and support.
Over the years, it has been a temporary home for hundreds of First Nations women and their children when travelling to Cairns to access medical care.
Throughout her life, Aunty Rose fought tirelessly to achieve culturally safe services at a time when it wasn’t easy to bring about positive change in service delivery culture.
Today, Queensland’s health system recognises and values the importance of delivering culturally appropriate health care to help achieve health equity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, families, and communities.
As well as her involvement in Mookai Rosie Bi-Bayan, Aunty Rose also was involved in establishing the Wuchopperen Medical Service and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Medical Service in Cairns.
Aunty Rose, whose maiden name was Grogan, is the aunt of Queensland’s Chief First Nations Health Officer Haylene Grogan.
Now and in the future, Aunty Rose’s legacy will continue to inspire and benefit First Nations people right across Far North Queensland.
She will always be remembered in the hearts of her family, her friends and the many people whose lives she touched over the years.