Remote as Ever: The Aboriginal Struggle for Autonomy in Australia's Western Desert

David Scrimgeour

Nov 2022 · Melbourne Univ. Publishing

About this ebook

In Remote as Ever, David Scrimgeour tells the story of his working life as a doctor in isolated communities in Australia’s Western Desert in the late 1970s. Being involved in the Homelands movement and the Aboriginal community-controlled health campaign gave him significant insight into the strength of the Aboriginal struggle for autonomy-a struggle too often undermined by government policy. In an account replete with strong controversies and stronger personalities, Scrimgeour demonstrates that the future of these communities, and indeed the health of its individual members, remain in the balance.

About the author

David Scrimgeour AM has graduated in medicine and public health from the University of Melbourne and Harvard University, and is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Public Health at the University of Adelaide. He has worked in many parts of Australia and the Third World as a general practitioner and public health physician. His main professional interest has been in the health care of Australian First Nations within the spirit of self-determination, particularly in the remote Western Desert region of Western Australia, Northern Territory and South Australia, where he has worked periodically for over forty years. In 2009 he became a member of the Order of Australia for his contributions to the health care of remote First Nations communities.