Our stories: Career profiles of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Donisha Duff

OFFICE OF ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER HEALTH DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND AGEING, BRISBANE OFFICE

I was born and grew up on Thursday Island (TI), Torres Strait. I am of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent. My mother's father's people are from the Yadhaigana people from the Shelbourne Bay region, Cape York and my mother's mother's people are from St Paul's, Moa Island, Torres Strait. My father is of Anglo-Celtic descent from England.

I started school education on TI, before my father was transferred to Bundaberg with the Queensland Ambulance Service. Prior to this, we had travelled to england twice so I was used to moving around. Schooling on the mainland was a very different experience to TI. I was often one of only a few Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander kids at school. This continued through high school, when we moved to Brisbane.

Looking back now, I felt that high school was generally an unpleasant experience. I was still one of few Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander kids at school. I did however manage to achieve above average grades and make some good friends through playing basketball. While I was in high school, I had the opportunity to study overseas in the USA as an exchange student. I spent 1990-1991 studying grade 11 in Wellington, Ohio. It was one of the best and most challenging experiences. I was only 15 at the time and it was the first time I had travelled by myself and lived in a foreign country.

After completing high school, I was accepted into griffith University, Brisbane through their alternative entry scheme. University was a totally different experience from high school and I met other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students who had been through the same experiences. I was again one of only a few Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in my degree program. It was not an easy achievement at first, but I learned to discipline myself and excelled in my studies. In 1998, I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) in History and Society.

In 1999, I was accepted into the then Department of Health and Aged Care's Graduate program. I was the only Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander graduate within that intake. With the support of the department's National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Staff Network, I completed the program and was successful in winning a position as Senior Project Officer within the Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (OATSIH). During this time, I was also elected into the position of Deputy Chairperson of the Network from 1999-2001, and held executive responsibilities with two Torres Strait Islander community organisations in the ACT. I was also the ACT Board member of the National Secretariat for Torres Strait Islander Organisations Limited.

I am currently working in OATSIH in the Queensland Office and thoroughly enjoy working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organisations. I have been able to get this far only through continually challenging my abilities, a determination (often seen as hard-headed) to achieve my goals and the support of family and friends I have made along the way.