The winner of a prestigious TAFE NSW award has vowed to use it to help “close the gap” in Indigenous children’s ear health and inspire other young Aboriginal people to change their lives through education.

Brewarrina's Joey Gordon, 23, a proud Kamilaroi and Ngemba man and a passionate health worker, was recently given two honours at the TAFE NSW Excellence Awards – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student of the Year, and Health, Wellbeing and Community Services Student of the Year. He also received an Emerging Talent Award at the prestigious Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council forum.

Mr Gordon is a health worker at the Brewarrina Aboriginal Medical Service, which nominated him for the AH and MRC award.

They are well deserved accolades for Mr Gordon. He was the only one of eight siblings to complete his HSC and the only HSC student at Brewarrina Central School, which has a cohort that is 98 per cent Indigenous students. Mr Gordon went on to complete a Diploma of Audiometry through TAFE Digital in 2022 as part of an innovative partnership between TAFE NSW and Macquarie University.

With first-hand experience of middle ear infections as a child, Mr Gordon, plans to take the skills and knowledge learned at TAFE NSW to lead a project screening local Aboriginal children and educating their families about treating the condition. Aboriginal children suffer from ear infections at nearly 10 times the rate of non-Indigenous children.

“As someone who grew up with hearing issues, it’s incredible to be able to go back into local schools and give them information that I would’ve benefited from at that age,” Mr Gordon said. “I don’t want Aboriginal people to be the face of sickness, I’d rather we be the face of education. We are so much more than just our chronic diseases.”

He said winning the TAFE Digital awards was a “life-changing” experience.

“I really can’t describe how it felt when they read my name out,” he said. “I wouldn’t have completed the course if not for my TAFE Digital teacher and the Aboriginal support team. TAFE Digital is amazing; they understand how Aboriginal people learn best and do everything they can to help us succeed.”

Mr Gordon eventually plans to go back to TAFE NSW as a pathway to a career in nursing.