Always remembering where she came from grounds her professionally in her commitment to Indigenous health and in her personal life.
Lauren Carr, the inaugural First Peoples Academic lead for the School of Optometry & Vision Science (SOVS) and Blakcademy in the Faculty of Medicine & Health, comes from a small town called Molong, Wiradjuri country in the central west of NSW.
“I’m a Muruwari woman. My grandparents were from Brewarrina, outside of Bourke in the far west of NSW,” said Lauren.
At the age of 18, Lauren felt it was time to leave her hometown and moved to Brisbane to study vision science and optometry at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT).
“After graduating I worked as an independent practice optometrist for around six years. I then transitioned to the NGO space with the Fred Hollows Foundation where I had the opportunity to work in program design, delivery and stakeholder engagement.”
A champion for Indigenous eye health, last year Lauren was approached by UNSW to join SOVS.
“Academia was a new space for me and I knew it would be a huge learning curve, but I was really excited for the opportunity,” said Lauren.
Bringing the optometry perspective to the Blakcademy
The Blakcademy was formed before Lauren joined UNSW. A collective of Indigenous academic and professional staff from Medicine & Health, its purpose is to instil Indigenous governance, knowledges, excellence, sovereignty, solidarity, integrity and leadership in the faculty.
“Since then, it’s really gained momentum and we’ve got a great team in the Blakcademy. I’m the Lead for the School of Optometry & Vision Science and we have a Lead for Health Sciences, Population & Health and Medicine,” said Lauren.
“We come together and bounce ideas off each other to see what works and then apply the learnings to work with academics in our respective schools.
“I’ve really enjoyed being able to take that lived experience I have as an Indigenous optometrist working with community and apply it to the work we’re doing at the Blakcademy to integrate cultural capabilities across medicine and health.”
Lauren has a dual-track role – education and research. She spent her first six months understanding the education space, including curriculum design and implementation. She helped develop a First Peoples Cultural Capability Health Framework, a guide for graduates to ensure they are culturally capable as they become the health professionals of the future.
She is now starting to become more involved in research.
“We’re planning consultations and yarning circles following on from the most recent National Eye and Ear Health Survey. By going back to the communities that were surveyed we hope to gain insights on changes and improvements,” said Lauren.
“In the future we are looking at expanding into more innovative areas. From an Academic Lead perspective, it’s about getting the foundations right first and launching from there.”
Conquering the rural NSW fishing circuit
Outside of work, Lauren loves to fish. When growing up she spent time with her dad and godfather on the rural NSW fishing circuit.
“I was a competitive fisherwoman. At one point I was the NSW Junior Golden Perch champion.”
This particular competition, where Lauren took out the championship, was an unexpected win with one of the biggest golden perch catches she had ever seen.
“It was late in the afternoon and I had given up for the day as the fish weren’t biting. I put the bell on my rod and lay down in the bottom of the boat for a nap. The next minute I hear my bell going off and my dad shouting to wake up,” said Lauren.
“It turned out to be the fish of the day that won the competition.”
Lauren enjoying her favourite pasttime.
What’s something about you that might surprise your colleagues?
I was a competitive fisherwoman.
What’s the best advice you ever received?
My dad used to always tell me ‘don’t forget where you came from’. He said it more often when I moved to Brisbane. It was his way of telling me you’ll always have home to come back to. I find myself reflecting on that more, particularly since he passed away about 18 months ago. That was one of the catalysts for us moving back to my hometown. Also it reminds me in everything I do, professionally and personally, that the people are my why. It’s my community, my family and my mob.
What makes you happy?
My family.
What day in your life would you like to relive?
The birth of my daughter and my wedding day because it goes so fast. My husband and I both say there are so many moments that we’ve forgotten. I would love to relive it at a slower pace.
What’s the best thing you have read in the last year?
I’ve just finished reading The Seeker and The Sage by Brigid Delaney. It’s on stoicism. It’s not typically something I would read, as I’m usually a fantasy reader. I joined a book club when I moved back to Molong and this was our March book. It was really interesting. I found some of the philosophies quite relevant and helpful to my day-to-day life.
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