Thank you to the sponsors and supporters of the Purple Bush Medicine Leaves Bursary Program!

In recent weeks, in the lead up to the Referendum on the Voice to Parliament we have profiled the four Purple Bush Leaves Medicine Bursary Recipients for 2023:

Ms Natalie Gordon, a Ngunnawal woman, from rural NSW with multiple qualifications within and outside of her medicine studies
Ms Megan Shuttleworth, a Yugambeh/Torres Strait Islander, student AIDA representative, mentor and artist
Dr Julia- Rose Satre, a Yawaru (Broome, Western Australia) medical woman and aspiring Rural Generalist, now pursuing internship in Far North Queensland
Dr Alicia Veasey, a Torres Strait Islander medical woman who is completing specialist FRANZCOG training with sub-specialty qualifications in Paediatric and Adolescent Gynaecology (IFEPAG).

We are grateful to our sponsors and supporters, and welcome the Healing Foundation (watch the Healing Foundation Story) as a new sponsor in 2023. In the context of the forthcoming Referendum, please see these important links from the Healing Foundation website:

Updated Resources for the Referendum on the Voice to Parliament

We encourage AFMW members to also review the Updated Resources Page for the Referendum on the Voice to Parliament.

The Quarterly Essay (June 2023) written by Megan Davis entitled “Voice of Reason – On Recognition and Renewal”, has been recommended by Natalie Gordon, 2023 Purple Bush Medicine Leaves Bursary recipient.

“This is what the Uluṟu Statement stands for. It is a beginning. It is about recognition, and it is about renewal. It is a hand of friendship extended to the Australian people, an invitation to come and meet with us. In issuing the statement to all Australians, the First Nations hope to bypass the ritual cynicism of Australian retail politics and ask Australians of all religions, cultures and political persuasions to read the Uluṟu Statement and hear, in our own words, the logic for change:

We seek constitutional reforms to empower our people and take a rightful place in our own country.

We call for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution.”

Healing Foundation – Timeline of Trauma and Healing in Australia:

“This timeline looks at some of the events, trauma and healing that’s taken place in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities over the last two and a half centuries.”

Healing Foundation – Make Healing Happen