Bel Lui

Bel Lui was born on 5 September 1944 at Darnley Island in the Torres Strait. He moved from there to Mackay in 1970 seeking employment. Born to a family of ten children (five brothers and five sisters) and now married with five children (four sons and one daughter), Bel’s first job was teaching at the Darnley Island school. Other jobs held during his working history include: a crewman on a fishing boat, QGR worker, truck driver and mining labourer.

INDUCTED 2009

Bel became interested in health after seeing an advertisement in the local newspaper. He applied for the position as he had a desire to work with his people. Bel commenced duties as a Health Worker with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service Mackay Ltd in May 1981, retiring finally in February 2007. He was a dedicated worker for the Service and community of Mackay. Amongst his many passions, he wanted to assist his community who had moved from the Torres Straits to Mackay to settle into their life on the mainland. This included assisting with language barriers and cultural differences; not only when accessing healthcare, but other important social services such as housing, employment, education and legal matters. Bel assisted the late Mick Miller and Dr Sharon O’Rourke to setup the AIHWEP. He then went on to become one of the first to enrol. He has diplomas in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Primary Health Care and Advanced Diplomas in Health Sciences. In addition to other roles and responsibilities, he was the president of the Health Service Union from 1994 to 2006. Bel has played a vital role in advocating for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to access healthcare, communicating the importance of understanding their illness and receiving the appropriate level of care.