Sally Sophia Goold (née Bamblett) is a

Wiradjuri The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , ...

woman who became the first Aboriginal nurse in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Goold was awarded the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

on 1986 and named the

Senior Australian of the Year The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Governmentowned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the State and Territo ...

in 2006.

Early life and education

Goold was born in

Narrandera Narrandera ( ) until around 1949 also spelled "Narandera", is a town located in the Riverina region of southern New South Wales, Australia. The town lies on the junction of the Newell and Sturt highways, adjacent to the Murrumbidgee River, and ...

, New South Wales. After moving to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

as a child, she went to

St Peters Public School ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy ...

. When Goold was 14, she dropped out of school to work in retail. At 16 years old, she began her nursing training at

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (abbreviated RPAH or RPA) is a major public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Missenden Road in Camperdown. It is a teaching hospital of the Central Clinical School of the Sydney Medical School ...

and became the hospital's first Aboriginal nursing student. Later after finishing her training, Goold extended her studies by earning a

nurse education Nurse education consists of the theoretical and practical training provided to nurses with the purpose to prepare them for their duties as nursing care professionals. This education is provided to student nurses by experienced nurses and other med ...

diploma and went to

Queensland University of Technology Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The univ ...

for a

Bachelor of Applied Science The Bachelor of Applied Science, often abbreviated as B.AS., BAS, BSAS, BASc, B.A.Sc., or BAppSc, is an undergraduate degree. There are also ''Bachelor of Arts and Science'' and ''Bachelor of Administration Science'' undergraduate degrees, also a ...

. Her highest education was a Master's degree in nursing at

Flinders University Flinders University is a public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across 11 locations in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Founded in 1966, it was named in honour of British navigator ...

Career

Upon completion of her training, Goold started her career working for the

King George V Memorial Hospital The King George V Memorial Hospital for Mothers and Babies is a former hospital, exclusively for mothers and babies, in Sydney, Australia. It is located on Missenden Road in Camperdown, directly opposite the main buildings of the much larger Roy ...

and Royal Prince Alfred Hospital while becoming the first

registered nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a nurse who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized licensing body to o ...

working in New South Wales. In 1971, Goold was a co-founder of the

Aboriginal Medical Service Aboriginal Medical Services Redfern, known as AMS Redfern, formerly the Aboriginal Medical Service (AMS) is an Aboriginal Australian health service in the Sydney suburb of Redfern. Established around 1971, it was the first Aboriginal community- ...

. Following establishment, Goold moved to teach at the Queensland University of Technology's nursing school. While teaching, she led Aboriginal health services for

Queensland Health Queensland Health is the name of the overall public health service in the state of Queensland, Australia. Like all other states and territories in Australia, the Queensland Government provides low- or no-cost primary, secondary, and tertiary ...

. After teaching for six years at the university, she influenced the creation of the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses in 1997 and named the congress's executive director. Other hospitals Goold taught at include the St Andrews War Memorial Hospital and

Prince Charles Hospital Prince Charles Hospital ( cy, Ysbyty'r Tywysog Siarl) is a district general hospital in Gurnos, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. It is managed by the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board. History Construction of the first phase of the new hospital be ...

. In 2007, Goold became part of the inaugural

National Indigenous Council The National Indigenous Council (NIC) was an appointed advisory body to the Australian Government through the Minister's for Indigenous Affairs' Taskforce on Indigenous Affairs (MTIA) established in November 2004 (not to be confused with the ea ...

for the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

Awards and honours

In 1986, Goold was presented the

at the 1986 Queen's Birthday Honours. In 2006, Goold was named the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goold, Sally Australian nurses Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Australian of the Year Award winners Year of birth missing (living people) Wiradjuri people Living people