The Rhodanthe Lipsett ‘category A’ scholarship has assisted me financially with some of the costs involved in completing a midwifery degree. The scholarship has been put towards my HECS debt, which is an enormous weight on my shoulders and cause of stress.

The scholarship and financial support towards the completion of my degree will contribute to increasing the number of qualified Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Midwives, and also increase the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women working as midwives in my own urban community; and essentially strengthen my community through delivering a higher quality of culturally appropriate care within maternal and infant health care.

Receiving a Rhodanthe Lipsett scholarship has supported me to promote the Fund to other Aboriginal women within my community who might be considering a career in midwifery, and promote the financial incentives the trust has to offer throughout the course of studying to become a qualified Midwife.”

The Indigenous people of Australia and am truly thankful to the Rhodanthe Lipsett Fund for helping make my dreams come true and ensuring a better future for our people.

I am a second year Bachelor of Midwifery student with the University of Newcastle. My personal aims are to finish the degree and work with services such as Birra-li within my local community, to have the opportunity to work with Aboriginal families throughout their pregnancy, birthing and postnatal journeys.

My wish is to work in collaboration with the families and other health professionals in an effort to improve the health of these families, and to play an important role in the “Close the Gap” initiative. The scholarship will assist me financially and help me stay on track with my degree.

I am a proud Mardu/Yamaji woman born in Geraldton, Western Australia. Becoming a midwife is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. So as a mature age student (after having my three children) I started my journey. In 2012 I graduated as a Registered Nurse from Edith Cowan University and completed my Graduate program at Osborne Park Hospital in 2013. During my graduate year I was nominated for “Graduate of the Year” in the WA Nursing and Midwifery Excellence awards and I went on to win! That was a very exciting time in my short career. I personally believe that doing general nursing before embarking into Midwifery would hopefully help me to become a better Midwife, as it has given me a good foundation in dealing with patients and their families. I am now at Edith Cowan University again, training to become a Midwife.

My name is Tamara Jones. I am a 3rd year Bachelor of Midwifery student at Southern Cross University. I live in Broken Hill NSW and am a mother of 5 beautiful children. I’m a Noongar woman from Perth Western Australia, and have a passion for Midwifery.

My goal is to become a midwife that engages Indigenous women and their families by informing them of their choices and incorporating cultural appropriateness into this practice. I want women to feel that they are wonderful and amazing and that they are in control of their bodies. I also want to promote and encourage positive feeding and sleeping patterns so that parents can manage early parenthood without too much stress.

The Rhodanthe Lipsett Scholarship will assist me by helping me to attend my clinical placements which I travel 1300Kms to Coffs Harbour Health Campus to complete.