Coralie Ober

Coralie Ober

INDUCTED 2013

Coralie Ober dedicated her life to improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. Coralie was a Registered Nurse and a registered teacher. She has worked in the field of Alcohol, Tobacco & Other Drugs at a state and national level, and also internationally, in the World Health Organisation (WHO) on the Global Project on Indigenous Peoples and Substance Use.

Coralie wrote her PhD thesis as a Research Fellow at the Queensland Alcohol and Drug Research and Education Centre (QADREC) UQ. On joining QADREC, Coralie held the position of Principal Consultant Indigenous Training Education and Research Queensland Health—up-skilling Indigenous Alcohol & Other Drugs Community Workers. Coralie delivered this project at QAIHC in Brisbane and Apunipima Cape York Health Council in Cairns.

Prior to joining QADREC, Coralie was Principal Advisor Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Programs in Queensland Health. She was then appointed to Queensland Corrective Services after the Kennedy Review into Corrections in Queensland. During her time in Corrections, Coralie was seconded to the School of Population Health with Dr Peter Hill to write the undergraduate program for Indigenous Primary Health Care. It was after working in Corrections that Coralie went back to Queensland Health working in Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Services (ATODS). While in ATODS Coralie was seconded to the Fitzgerald Cape York Justice Study.

Coralie gave her time and expertise to numerous committees over the years and even though she had recently retired, she was still an active community member in various academic focus groups on matters of concern to Indigenous people.

Through dedication to her community, she had seen the establishment of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Medical Centre in Hervey Bay and Maryborough.

Sadly, Coralie Ober passed away in 2015. The National Indigenous Drug and Alcohol Conference instated the Coralie Ober Honor Roll to acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals who made a significant contribution over at least 10 years, to reducing the harmful effects of drug and alcohol use among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.