Dr Gemma Johnston and her mother Leah Bonson, the Director of Aboriginal Health at Child and Adolescent Health Service
It’s a case of keeping it in the family for Dr Gemma Johnston, daughter of Leah Bonson, the Director of Aboriginal Health at Child and Adolescent Health Service (CAHS). Gemma has started work at Fiona Stanley Hospital, and is one of a few Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander doctors to qualify in Western Australia.
Gemma, a recent graduate of the University of Western Australia and the NAIDOC Tertiary Student of the Year 2015, is in her first year of her medical internship at Perth’s flagship new hospital.
Gemma said she wants to be a role model for other Aboriginal people thinking about university and doing a degree.
Gemma has followed in her mother’s footsteps into the health world. Leah has worked for CAHS promoting and increasing Aboriginal workforce across the health service and managing a range of initiatives. She brought her vast range of knowledge and experience to WA Health when she was appointed first Director of Aboriginal Health in 2012 in CAHS.
Wendy Casey, the Department of Health’s Director of Aboriginal Health, said the development of WA Health’s Aboriginal workforce is central to the WA Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing Framework 2015-2030.
“Both Leah and Gemma represent the many possible pathways that Aboriginal people can take to gain employment in WA Health,” Wendy added.
“WA Health’s Aboriginal Workforce Policy has put in place a number of initiatives to promote Aboriginal employment, working towards achieving a target of Aboriginal staff members amounting to 3.2 per cent of the entire workforce.
To achieve this, WA Health set itself the goal of recruiting 100 additional Aboriginal employees each year, Wendy said.
She added that both Leah and Gemma demonstrate that there is a bright future for WA Health providing strong role models for Aboriginal people across WA. This, combined with initiatives such as traineeships, cadetships and graduate pathways, shows there are many employment opportunities for Aboriginal people to enter the health sector.
For more information, refer to the WA Health Aboriginal workforce policy frequently asked questions document (PDF 79KB) or call the Aboriginal Workforce team on 9222 2478 or email Aboriginal.Health@health.wa.gov.au.