1 minute read
membership hits the First Nations member milestone
We are thrilled to announce the QNMU now has more than 1000 members who identify as First Nations nurses and midwives!
The milestone was reached in the final weeks of January with QNMU records for February 1 showing 1009 members had identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people. QNMU Councillor and First Nations Branch Delegate Kelly Trudgen described hitting the milestone as a “very emotional, spinetingling” moment.
Advertisement
“I was a member of the original First Nations Reference Group back in 2016/17 before I moved overseas, and now seeing the Branch come to fruition and achieving such a milestone with membership, I feel being a little emotional is just reflective of how proud I am that we have the opportunity to identify and be valued as First Nations nurses and midwives,” she said.
“This is also an important milestone for the QNMU as a whole, demonstrating that our branch members have chosen to be affiliated with a state-wide branch that represents First Nations nurses and midwives across all sectors of the health system, and with a focus on First Nations people first.
“As Branch Delegate, I am encouraging all our First Nations Nurses and Midwives to help continue this growth in numbers so we can empower each other and eradicate racist attitudes and behaviours in health; embed a culture of belonging, support and mentoring to ‘grow our own’ dedicated health workforce; and, to foster and achieve key activist goals such as supporting the “YES” vote for a Voice to Parliament.
“This is only the beginning,” she said.
If you have not identified as an Aboriginal and/ or Torres Strait Islander member with QNMU and wish to do so, simply log into your member profile via our website at www.qnmu.org.au and update your details.
First Nations members can also choose to be part of their local branch or to join the QNMU First Nations Branch.
To change or check your branch affiliation contact our Member Connect team on (07) 3099 3210 or 1800 177 273 (toll-free outside Brisbane).
