Meet Yuin woman Tracie Morrison, CASS Indigenous Scholarship winner

Yuin woman Tracie Morrison, who wants to research the cultural differences in healing practices between Europeans and indigenous peoples, has been awarded the College’s 2015 Indigenous Australian Graduate Scholarship.

Tracie, who belongs to the Yuin people of the New South Wales south coast on her father’s side, is enrolled in a Masters of Culture, Health and Medicine, studying part-time to accommodate her parental and work responsibilities.

Tracie helps several universities in an Indigenous student support capacity.

“By providing both academic and cultural support, I am able to mentor and guide undergraduate students through their degrees,” she explains.

“Both of which I believe are significant for achieving educative parity between our mob and their non-Indigenous peers.  I love what I do, but ultimately I want an academic career.”

The 33-year-old decided to apply for the CASS scholarship so she can concentrate on her studies.

“The process was easier than I anticipated and the support to date from CASS and CAPER (Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research) has been outstanding,” she says.

“I have a long list of research interests which relate to Indigenous health and wellbeing, but ultimately it is the cultural antithesis between European and Indigenous healing practices and the right to traditional forms of healing that keeps me awake at night.

“I am hoping to conduct some related research as a part of my MCHAM towards the end of next year.”

Tracie left home at 16, was homeless for three years, but later turned around that adversity to attend university.

Her two children, now aged five and eight, were at Tracie’s graduation ceremony where she received a Bachelor of Human Services (Distinction) from the University of Southern Queensland.

“With everything that I do as a parent, I am aware that my children use my experiences as a base from which to construct their future possibilities and goals,” Tracie says.

“It is so important to be a positive role model for our jargum and I am happy that I can rewrite the narrative for my own children, that tertiary education is a deadly pathway for Indigenous people. 

“My own career goals and aspirations have been largely shaped by my earlier experiences too.

“My family don't know that I am studying at postgraduate level, nor do they know that I graduated from my first degree.

“Suffice to say, I have acquired a strong sense of justice, and at 33 years of age, I look back on a life experienced, not withstanding the challenges, and I am content with the outcome of the decisions that I had to make.”

Tracie says aside from the monetary reward of the scholarship, she is looking forward to the pastoral care that comes with being an Indigenous scholarship recipient.

She is also keen to use the “opportunity to network with leaders in the field of medical anthropology and more specifically, those who are working alongside my people in community."

“I really just want to learn everything that I can, towards positioning myself as a knowledgeable contributor to the policies, health initiative and status of my people.”

Discover how you can advance your career with a qualification from Australia's highest ranked univeristy. Register now to attend the ANU Postgraduate Information Evening on Thursday 15 October at University House.