John Maris

INDUCTED 2010

John Maris is a descendant of the Muruwari People from Goodooga/Brewarrina region of north-west New South Wales. He was born in Charleville and lived some of his younger years in Brisbane. Intent on moving to Darwin, John brought his young family back to Charleville to say goodbye. While there, John was offered a job and the move was cancelled. The rest is history. John has spent the past 45 years living and working in Charleville and South West Queensland.

John was Chairperson of CWAATSICH for approximately six years and a director of the organisation for the past 25 years—and epitomises CWAATSICH’s vision of ‘caring, sharing, and respecting our communities’. Both John and his wife Madonna are heavily involved in the community. In 1993 John started with the original organisation as a Transport Aboriginal Health Worker. Since then, he has left and held positions within the Management Committee (Board of Governance). John’s Community Project & Senior Resource Officer role with Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Services, allows him to work directly with local Aboriginal and Islander communities to develop governance and community plans to better outcomes for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People within the region. John is seen as a mentor and a role model within the community. He is considered an institution in the South West among not only Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups, but among local councils, government departments and communities in general. John became involved in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health after seeing members of his family struggle with chronic disease such as diabetes. He has also seen the effects of ill health on the community he loves. “I believe with a strong and competent health service it can only contribute to the wellbeing of the Indigenous community,” he said, adding that he knows his work is helping to close the gap regarding healthy lifestyles and the healing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the area. John gets a lot of personal satisfaction from his volunteering role and devotes at least 25 hours a month to working with CWAATSICH. As a relatively new proponent of ongoing education, he has pushed for skill development and quality training for all staff. “I have always had that political motivation, but once, education to me was never a priority. My priority was survival. But now that I have walked on that side of the fence, I can appreciate the quality and value of education. Our goal at the moment, and mine in particular as an Indigenous leader in our community, is to better the education and health standard for all of our community so there is no segregation, there are no missed opportunities.”