'Some of us pushed forward and let the world see what could be done': Aboriginal Australian nurses and midwives, 1900-2005

Abstract

This paper locates the voices of Aboriginal nurses and midwives which only emerged in publications from the 1950s onwards. It seeks to privilege the voices of Aboriginal nurses and midwives, and recognise their contributions to the nursing aqnd midwifery professions. It identifies two key developments in Australian history that influenced the acceptance of Aboriginal women into a career in nursing and midwifery: the gradual decline of policies of protection, segregation and assimilation, and the shift of nursing education from hosiptals into the tertiary sector.