Kay Mundraby

INDUCTED 2012

Aunty Kay Mundraby served in many roles during her more than 25 years’ service at Kambu Medical Center. She worked tirelessly as the Aboriginal Health Worker responsible for the Diabetes Support Program. She was also a committed supporter of her many clients within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community of the Ipswich and West Moreton Region.

Amongst her many attributes, Kay Mundraby has a unique ability to engage with people of all backgrounds. She displays a passion for ensuring that people get the support that they need. This includes the elderly in our communities who are sometimes living independently and experiencing isolation, mothers anxious about their baby’s health and wellbeing, or lending a kind ear to those less fortunate who are struggling with life’s challenges. Kay Mundraby is affectionately known as ‘Aunty Kay’ to many young people in her Ipswich community including those she weighed as babies or as children of the mothers she supported in the early days of coming home with their new bubs. Aunty Kay holds a wealth of knowledge in the community and was a ‘specialist’ when it came to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and the sector she represented. She was highly regarded and respected by her clients and peers for the professional and ethical work she undertook over the course of her career. She generously visited clients in her own time on weekends or after work to see that all is okay. As a health worker Aunty Kay saw many changes and worked with many people over the years, prompting the following descriptions: ‘like a fine wine that gets better with time’, or ‘like a fine fiddle-there are many strings to this bow, and she has played them all’. Although she is several years retired, Aunty Kay is still held in the deepest esteem by her Kambu family. Kambu Medical was undoubtedly enriched by the services and presence of such an esteemed lady who achieved so many goals in her quiet humble way. Aunty Kay helped pave the way for another generation of health workers who will support the community-controlled health sector to further assist clients in taking control of their own health care.