DOCTOR Gracelyn Smallwood does not have time to retire.
“Some people my age would be sitting by the beach, drinking pina coladas,” she said with a laugh.
“Not me, there’s too much work to do.”
The 71-year-old Indigenous health and human rights advocate spoke at the Red Rose Domestic Violence fundraiser luncheon at Victoria Park Golf complex on Friday September 9.
“I had to cram about 200 years of knowledge into a 15-minute speech,” Dr Smallwood joked.
Founded in 2016 by chief executive Betty Taylor, the Red Rose Foundation worked to address the impact of domestic and family violence in Australian communities.
The national charity provided holistic medical, legal and trauma counselling support to victims of “high-harm and high-risk” domestic violence such as strangulation.
Mrs Taylor said Red Rose was honoured to host Dr Smallwood as their keynote speaker.
“Gracelyn is an absolute champion of diversity and inclusivity,” Mrs Taylor said.
Regarded as one of the most prominent First Nations health and justice experts, Dr Smallwood was a published author, a former consultant to the World Health Organisation, and the recipient of the 2022 Queensland Greats Awards.
The Bindal elder grew up in Townsville and was the first Indigenous Australian to receive a Masters of Science in Public Health at James Cook University.
“When I was five years old, I had the immediate intuition I would be a healer,” Dr Smallwood said.
“Healing was everywhere in my family.”
Dr Smallwood recalled her grandmother’s green ant and castor oil remedy for chest infections and remembered witnessing smoking ceremonies to “detox the body”.
“I really wanted to combine my ancestral knowledge of healing with Western medicine to pursue my passion for healthcare,” she said.
With over 50 years’ experience as a registered nurse and midwife, Dr Smallwood was passionate about the impacts of domestic violence on families.
“Many people don’t realise that perpetrators of domestic violence are actually victims of abuse themselves,” she explained.
“It’s a constant cycle of transgenerational trauma that has no end, unless we do something about it.”
The ongoing Queensland Police Domestic Violence Inquiry revealed many Indigenous women were victims of law enforcement inaction and were regularly misidentified as perpetrators of domestic violence, The Guardian Australia reported.
Dr Smallwood would like to see compulsory domestic violence educational training implemented in the police force.
“The police are there for the public, not the other way around,” she said.
“There must be a cultural shift in how we perceive domestic violence.”
Mrs Taylor echoed Dr Smallwood’s pleas for more education and community awareness, especially for violence involving strangulation.
“I don’t think people realise the deeply dynamic and pervasive nature of domestic violence,” Mrs Taylor explained.
“People hear stories of abuse and say, ‘If it’s so bad, why don’t women just leave’.
“They don’t release the extent of fear victims feel.”
Mrs Taylor revealed women who were strangled or choked during abusive periods were 800 per cent more likely to die from domestic violence homicide.
“The Red Rose Foundation is determined to break the cycle and change the ending for these women.”
Dr Smallwood said she had no plans to slow down and would continue to advocate for those “less fortunate and vulnerable”.
With a self-described “memory of an elephant”, Dr Smallwood wrote in her diary everyday for 55 years.
She would graduate soon from another Master’s degree in First Nations Mental Health at Central Queensland University.
“We should all share our wisdom,” she said with a laugh.
“That’s all we have”.
For more information please visit the Red Rose Foundation https://www.redrosefoundation.com.au/
To reach out for domestic violence support please call 1800RESPECT or visit https://www.1800respect.org.au/help-and-support/telephone-and-online-counselling
