insights from
a changemaker

Dr Kerrie Jones

Insights from a
changemaker

Dr Kerrie Jones

You could peer into Dr Kerrie Jones’ CV and see the achievements, the accolades, the conscious geographic reorientation, but it’s about as illuminating as a desk lamp pointed at the night sky.

The Clinical Director of Katherine Hospital’s emergency department is empowered by her achievements in medicine, but far from defined by them. With disarming honesty, she describes a rejection of injustice as a driving force behind her decision to study medicine.

“To be honest, the reason I got into medicine was that I was committed to women being represented in the workforce and having power, and I thought I wouldn’t have power in a range of different roles, but I would if I studied medicine,” Kerrie says.

“I did have a vague idea about wanting to help people, but I didn’t know a lot about medicine really. There were no medical people in my family and when I grew up in the 60s and 70s, you didn’t have a lot to do with doctors, but they had this status in the community.

After enrolling in medicine at Flinders, it was an elective in Alice Springs that changed her world.

“I spent four months on placements across the NT and that was the beginning of my long-term love affair with the Territory. It also sparked my passion for Aboriginal health,” Kerrie says.

“When I got to Alice Springs, I was honestly really shocked at what I saw – the discrimination and power imbalance both on the medical side and in what I was witnessing outside the medical environment.

“I felt this was a part of Australia I knew nothing about. The poverty, the way people were being treated really shocked me.

“I started to educate myself, reading some background books about colonisation and talking to people who were working in the area and began to understand the huge difference between the two cultures, as well as all those socio-economic determinants of health that needed to be challenged.”

“You see a lot of open-hearted generosity and a willingness from Aboriginal people to keep working on health outcomes, despite the fact that colonisation of Australia caused a lot of these issues.”

With two small daughters and a need to finish training, it took a few more years for Kerrie to move to the Territory. Before long she found herself in Darwin, becoming the first Territorian to qualify as an emergency specialist in the NT, the first woman to become Clinical Dean of the Northern Territory Medical Program and the first Clinical Director in Katherine Hospital’s Emergency Department. She also managed to fit in a couple of years in Canada working with First Nations doctors, and has earned the respect of thousands of patients, hundreds of colleagues, and dozens of students, whom she mentors and teaches.

It’s clearly a position of power, with the ability to drive detailed and large-scale change for the better in Indigenous health, but after decades in medicine, it is clear that Kerrie isn’t motivated by power, but rather a passion for improving the health of Territorians through pursuing improvements to the quality of emergency care.

“You see a lot of open-hearted generosity and a willingness from Aboriginal people to keep working on health outcomes, despite the fact that colonisation of Australia caused a lot of these issues,” Kerrie says.

“That’s what’s really humbling, and what motivates a lot of us working in Aboriginal health to keep working here."

“The NT is an amazing place to live and work – it’s both edgy and relaxing at the same time, and the opportunities are all there. It’s very satisfying to be a part of building a stronger, more equitable health system here.”

“I’m not outspoken or unusual amongst people who work in Aboriginal health in identifying colonisation, racism and inadequate resources and support for Aboriginal people as primary causes of health issues.

“One of the strengths of Flinders is that when I went there 35 years ago to study medicine they really emphasised the social determinants of health and that is still a key part of Flinders’ education now.

“That is certainly one of the strengths of the Northern Territory Medical Program – meeting people on their own terms, not trying to always impose our way of doing things.

“Just giving people antibiotics and sending them on their way doesn’t help. We need a community-wide approach, and one of the great things over the past few decades is that Australians have recognised that, but I don’t think we have been able to make enough change to impact upon health.

“Until we address the impacts of colonisation, the breakdown of Aboriginal society and culture, we are going to make some good changes, but some profound changes will still be unattainable.

“One of the good things we are doing is training more Aboriginal doctors through the NTMP. We clearly need more Aboriginal medical staff in the Territory, they are still very under-represented, so it is good to be a part of a program working to change that.

“The NT is an amazing place to live and work – it’s both edgy and relaxing at the same time, and the opportunities are all there. It’s very satisfying to be a part of building a stronger, more equitable health system here."

Celebrating doctors across the NT