{"id":9177,"date":"2026-04-30T12:45:42","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T02:45:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/redcliffe\/?p=9177"},"modified":"2026-04-30T12:46:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T02:46:00","slug":"rbwh-remembers-trailblazing-volunteer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/redcliffe\/news\/rbwh-remembers-trailblazing-volunteer","title":{"rendered":"RBWH remembers trailblazing cancer care volunteer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised this article includes the name and image of a deceased person.<\/em><\/p>\n

RBWH remembers trailblazing cancer care volunteer<\/h1>\n
\"Family

Family and RBWH staff recently gathered to honour Maureen Kirk<\/p><\/div>\n

Royal Brisbane and Women\u2019s Hospital (RBWH) has unveiled a memorial to honour pioneering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cancer support worker Maureen Kirk.<\/h4>\n

During her short 45-year life, Maureen Kirk became Australia\u2019s first cancer support worker for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. While Maureen passed away in 2001, her legacy lives on at RBWH and across Australia.<\/p>\n

Maureen\u2019s daughter, Natasha Bond, shares some of her beloved mum\u2019s inspiring story.<\/p>\n

\u201cMum was first diagnosed with breast cancer at age 31. At the time, there was a lack of culturally appropriate care available for mob in the mainstream health system,\u201d Natasha said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis experience motivated her to turn her battle into a determination to improve cancer care for other Indigenous women.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maureen\u2019s advocacy helped her forge strong relationships across Queensland Health, cancer screening services, academic institutions, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cMum fought for our women to have better access to cancer services, including prevention, screening, treatment and support,\u201d Natasha said.<\/p>\n

\"Uncle

Uncle Hughie attended the recent event at RBWH to remember his wife, Maureen Kirk.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIn 2000, she was awarded a Queensland Health Outstanding Achievement Award for her contribution to her community.\u201d<\/p>\n

To mark Maureen\u2019s legacy, RBWH staff gathered with her family on the 25th anniversary of her passing to unveil a plaque in her honour.<\/p>\n

RBWH\u2019s Director of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health, Roslyn Boland, credits Maureen\u2019s legacy for changes to how members of this community access health services.<\/p>\n

\u201cMuch of what has been achieved in how communities access cancer services today has been drawn from Maureen\u2019s advocacy and determination to make a difference,\u201d Roslyn said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe owe her a debt of gratitude, and her legacy lives on. It was an honour to recently host her beloved husband, Uncle Hughie,<\/strong> and family at RBWH to remember her life and many achievements.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maureen was again diagnosed with cancer in 2000 and passed away the following year after battling the disease.<\/p>\n

The plaque honouring the life and legacy of Maureen Kirk is displayed in the foyer of RBWH
\nCancer Care Services on level 4 of the Joyce Tweddell Building.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RBWH has unveiled a memorial to honour pioneering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cancer support worker Maureen Kirk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":77,"featured_media":9178,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,1199,1230],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-rbwh","category-metro-north-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/redcliffe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/redcliffe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/redcliffe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/redcliffe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/77"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/redcliffe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9177"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/redcliffe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9190,"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/redcliffe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9177\/revisions\/9190"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/redcliffe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/redcliffe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/redcliffe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/redcliffe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}