Indigenous Programs

"I saw Aboriginal women in the Victorian Public Service who’d completed a Master of Social Work, and I thought 'Why can’t I do that?'

"My long-term goal is to work as a clinician with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander youth – I believe as a demographic we are strong, resilient and community-minded."

"I have always been interested in ways to engage with people, particularly around the challenges that confront their lives.

"I’m now 17 years into my business and my interest continues to be developing an alternative approach to community development and community building. A Masters and now a PhD are part of that journey for me."

Rachel Joyce is a PhD student at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute who first joined the Institute as an honours student after completing a Bachelor of Biomedicine at the University of Melbourne.

"There are very few people working in breast cancer prevention specifically for Indigenous populations, and this is an area I would like to be able to contribute to."

"Being a mature aged student and not having many in my family who have completed university degrees, enrolling in the Bachelor of Oral Health was a big step. I previously studied a year of business in my hometown in Queensland. That was a good experience and gave me the confidence to apply for the course that I aspired to study, even if it meant relocating interstate."