A proud Aboriginal man who raised 5 daughters while completing his Master’s in Social Work is the newest member of Cooktown’s allied health team.
Nash Snider commenced as a social worker at the Cooktown Multi-Purpose Health Service in February in the First Nations Allied Health Graduate role after graduating from James Cook University.
It completes an incredible, and at times challenging and heartbreaking, journey for Mr Snider who was left to raise five daughters on his own after the death of his partner eight years ago.
Mr Snider said he had always been drawn to social work, having previously contributed to the establishment of an Indigenous drug and alcohol family residential rehabilitation service in Cooktown.
“Social work always helped me – I’ve always worked to support my family culture, land and kinship, and I’ve always been drawn to being able to help people,” he said.
“It’s also good to be a good role model to my daughters.”
Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service Acting Executive Director Allied Health Jennifer Mann said Mr Snider initially joined the Health Service as an Allied Health Assistant before progressing through to the First Nations Graduate Pathway as a social worker.
She said the pathway had been established to provide opportunities for First Nations people to commence allied health careers.
“Nash is our third clinician who has joined TCHHS via this pathway and the first social worker,” she said.
“We’ve previously had a graduate speech therapist and psychologist come to us this way.
“It is a wonderful way to not only provide these opportunities, but also to increase the number of
First Nations staff within our organisation which is so important for cultural and clinical safety.
“We are so proud of Nash for all that he has achieved and believe he could go on to be a leader within our Allied Health team.”