Sally Sophia Goold (née Bamblett) is a

Wiradjuri The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales, united by common descent through kinship and shared traditions. They survived as skilled hunter-fisher-gatherers, in family groups or clans, a ...

woman who became the first Aboriginal nurse in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Goold was awarded the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

on 1986 and named the Senior Australian of the Year in 2006.

Early life and education

Goold was born in

Narrandera Narrandera ( ), until around 1949 also spelled "Narandera", is a town located in the central Riverina region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The town lies on the junction of the Newell Highway, Newell and Sturt Highway, Sturt highwa ...

, New South Wales. After moving to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

as a child, she went to St Peters Public School. When Goold was 14, she dropped out of school to work in retail. At 16 years old, she began her nursing training at

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (abbreviated RPAH or RPA) is a large teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Missenden Road in Camperdown. It is a teaching hospital of the Central Clinical School of the Sydney Medical School at the ...

and became the hospital's first Aboriginal nursing student. Later after finishing her training, Goold extended her studies by earning a

nurse education Nurse education consists of the theoretical and practical training provided to nurses with the purpose to prepare them for their duties as nursing care professionals. This education is provided to student nurses by experienced nurses and other me ...

diploma and went to

Queensland University of Technology The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point, Brisbane, Gardens Point ...

for a

Bachelor of Applied Science A Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS or BASc) is an undergraduate academic degree of applied sciences. Usage In Canada, the Netherlands and other places the Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc) is equivalent to the Bachelor of Engineering, and is cl ...

. Her highest education was a Master's degree in nursing at

Flinders University Flinders University, established as The Flinders University of South Australia is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across a number of locations in South Australia and ...

Career

Upon completion of her training, Goold started her career working for the King George V Memorial Hospital and Royal Prince Alfred Hospital while becoming the first

registered nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a healthcare professional who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized ...

working in New South Wales. In 1971, Goold was a co-founder of the

Aboriginal Medical Service Aboriginal Medical Services Redfern, known as AMS Redfern, formerly the Aboriginal Medical Service (AMS) is an Aboriginal Australian health service in the Sydney suburb of Redfern. Established around 1971, it was the first Aboriginal community- ...

. Following establishment, Goold moved to teach at the Queensland University of Technology's nursing school. While teaching, she led Aboriginal health services for

Queensland Health Queensland Health is the public health system in Queensland, Australia, comprising sixteen statutory Hospital and Health Services (HHS), the Department of Health and Queensland Ambulance Service. Each HHS provides health services to its local ...

. After teaching for six years at the university, she influenced the creation of the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses in 1997 and named the congress's executive director. Other hospitals Goold taught at include the St Andrews War Memorial Hospital and

Prince Charles Hospital Prince Charles Hospital () is a district general hospital in Gurnos, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. It is managed by the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board. History Construction of the first phase of the new hospital began in 1972 and it was off ...

. In 2007, Goold became part of the inaugural

National Indigenous Council The National Indigenous Council (NIC) was an appointed advisory body to the Government of Australia, Australian Government through the Minister for Indigenous Affairs (Australia), Minister's for Indigenous Affairs' Taskforce on Indigenous Affair ...

for the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

Awards and honours

In 1986, Goold was presented the

at the 1986 Queen's Birthday Honours. In 2006, Goold was named the Senior Australian of the Year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goold, Sally Australian nurses Australian women nurses Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Australian of the Year Award winners Year of birth missing (living people) Wiradjuri people Living people