June 20, 2025 • 11 mins
Sam speaks to Kris Rallah-Baker, Australia's first Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander ophthalmologist based on the Sunshine Coast, who has also done work with the Deadly Vision Clinic in Darwin as well as clinical community outreach in remote communities of the Northern Territory.
He is part of a new series on SBS and NITV called Our Medicine, which follows the stories of First Nations medical professionals and patients as they navigate the Australian medical system, and the challenges and achievements that come with that.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:05):
Chris, welcome to Talking Vision. Thank you very much for
your time today.
S2 (00:09):
Thanks so much for having me on.
S1 (00:11):
What I'd love to do is give you an opportunity
to introduce yourself to our listeners. Tell us a bit
about yourself and what you do.
S2 (00:20):
So my name is Chris Baker, of course, and I'm
Australia's currently first and only indigenous ophthalmologist. My background is
Yagara and my mum's side and on dad's side, and
my private rooms are up on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland.
And I do outreach work to Darwin with the Deadly
(00:43):
Vision Clinic.
S1 (00:44):
Tell us a bit about your work in ophthalmology, Chris.
S2 (00:47):
My rooms are on the Sunshine Coast in Noosa, and
it's a general ophthalmology practice, which means a lot of
my work is around diagnoses like glaucoma, diabetes management with
the associated eye conditions, surgical conditions like pterygia and cataracts.
And then when I got to Darwin and worked with
(01:10):
Sean and his deadly vision clinic, that's mostly to do
with surgical work. So Cataract and Pterygium work with these
patients who are struggling otherwise to have that done.
S1 (01:21):
So tell us a bit more about that deadly vision
clinic and how that all came about, and the work
you've been able to do in various First Nations communities
around Australia.
S2 (01:32):
Well, the Deadly Vision Clinic was started and run by
Sean Tarapada, who I was fortunate enough to meet back
in 2014 when I was working in Darwin for six
months as a part of my training. And it's the
country's first indigenous run optometry clinic. And so Sean has
visiting optometrists who come in, and he has a series
(01:56):
of indigenous themed frames that patients can purchase, and they
also cut the lenses on sight. So, I mean, Sean
obviously knows a lot more about what the clinic does,
so I wouldn't wouldn't want to speak for him. But
that's the gist of what he's doing. He's bringing in
people who are otherwise lost to the system or uncomfortable
with mainstream systems, and provide them a good quality optometry
(02:18):
service in that culturally safe space. And then in terms
of outreach that I've done otherwise, as I said, I
was up at the top end in 2014 for six months.
So I worked right across the top end of Northern Territory.
I've done a lot of work with my colleague Tim
Henderson in Alice Springs. I haven't been out there for
a couple of years now. Covid disrupted everything, but I've
(02:39):
worked in Alice in Central Australia, and then I had
the privilege of also working with my colleague Angus Turner
right across Western Australia. I did that for six months
as well. So I've seen a lot of the country.
I've seen a lot of our indigenous communities. It's a
real privilege to have been able to have done that.
S1 (02:56):
And as I understand it, Chris, you've also been one
of the founding members of the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association.
Tell us a bit about the story there.
S2 (03:09):
That was back in the late 90s. I was a
medical student and I was at the University of Newcastle
at that time in the late 90s. We had very,
very few indigenous doctors and very few indigenous medical students
in the country. And the concept of having Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander doctors was still a very, very new
thing here in Australia, which sounds crazy, but it was.
(03:31):
Most of us were either attending the University of Newcastle's
medical students or who had completed medical degrees at University Newcastle.
There were a couple of other units that had contributed
to to that small group of people. Most of us
came through Newcastle, and so the indigenous support unit at
that university arranged a meeting of us. And there about
50 people at the meeting. I think half of us
(03:53):
were medical students and doctors, and the other half were
international colleagues. And we decided to form an organisation to
support each other. That was the primary focus, but then
in the longer term, to build that workforce. And that
organization then went on to become Australian Indigenous Doctors Association,
of which I was years later, president of. So it's
been a fascinating process watching that organization grow. I think
(04:16):
now in Australia, I don't know what the latest numbers
are exactly, but I understand we have over 800 Aboriginal
or Torres Strait Islander medical doctors that's qualified doctors and
a big number of medical students in the system. We
still are away from population parity of Western trained doctors,
but in a relatively short period of time. We've done
very well. It's an outstanding achievement.
S1 (04:36):
Certainly sounds like one. And um, regarding some, you know,
achievements or highlights or anything of that nature, what's been
some real highlights and real take away moments that will
stick with you forever in your time over the past? Well,
2 or 3 decades now.
S2 (04:56):
Well, watching Aida grow, which is Australian Indigenous Doctors Grow,
has been a real highlight in and being president of
that was a highlight. And my presidency actually extended through
the beginning of Covid. So that was a crazy time.
Of course, the other highlights were my professional career highlights
finishing medical school and then completing my training with the
Royal Australian New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists. And the other
(05:18):
highlight is actually a much, much more recent highlight. And
that was being a part of the movement and then
founding board of the First Nations e-Health Alliance. And I'm
actually in Perth at the moment at our annual conference.
That's been a huge highlight because that's pulling together the
AI related workforce, indigenous and non-Indigenous, who work in indigenous
(05:39):
eye health. And we're looking at progressing, closing the gap
in indigenous eye health.
S1 (05:44):
One program, which were very keen to have a chat
about which tackles those sorts of issues, is, of course,
our Medicine, which is premiering on SBS and NITV. It's
running over six weeks, as I understand it, which you've
been quite heavily involved with. So tell us a bit
about our medicine us approach.
S2 (06:05):
It was a while ago now because like a lot
of television related events, there's a huge amount of work
that goes into creating a series like Our Medicine. But
I was approached a little while ago now and asked
if I would like to be a part of our medicine,
and I said, yes, absolutely. This is a really important
story to tell. A story highlighting indigenous academic excellence and
(06:26):
also the achievements of what our mob have done in
Western medicine. And up until now, it's not a story
that's been really told in the mainstream at this level.
So I had the great privilege, as I said, of
being invited into this, and we filmed the first series.
I thought, well, there's more to what I do than
(06:47):
my private practice on the Sunshine Coast. And there's more
to what I do than just Chris Baker. So I
also felt that it was important to involve the Deadly
Vision Clinic in Darwin and the work that I do
up there with Sean and Harry Potter. So I called
Sean and said, hey, do you want to be a
part of this? And I was super excited when he agreed.
So the series goes on that journey, you're watching people
(07:09):
surgical pathways as they come in from the communities around Darwin,
and they engage with a culturally safe service and, and
then achieve successful surgical outcomes. It was such a wonderful
thing to be a part of and a lot of fun.
The work itself, of course, it's just the most wonderful
work to be able to go and, you know, help
people out and give them the gift of vision. But
(07:31):
then to know that we were able to let other
people know what we're doing and share that storytelling with
them was such a fantastic thing.
S1 (07:38):
And Chris, what's it been like to be able to
highlight the day to day challenges that First Nations medical
professionals and patients face when navigating the Australian medical system
in a show like our medicine?
S2 (07:54):
I'd like to think what it illustrates is some of
the complexities that Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander people face when
they enter our health systems. And those complexities can range
from logistical issues like getting up to the hospital and
how to arrange transport and how to coordinate family when
an individual has to get up to the hospital for,
you know, half a day for a half an hour
(08:14):
appointment all the way along to the environment of those
facilities and issues around cultural safety and blockades, to episodes
of care, like people not feeling safe in that space
or even having experience of direct racism. Some of the
patients who have delivered care to through the deadly vision
described and have described episodes of blatant racism and and
(08:38):
I think for anybody that would be a reason for
them not to want to return to that space. So
there's a lot of barriers that slow down or outright
prevent Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people from entering health
facilities and accessing the care that they need.
S1 (08:52):
What do you believe or what do you hope that
the program Gram can shed light on and perhaps change
attitudes or greater inform the general public about the sort
of things that First Nations people face on an everyday basis.
What's the sort of big things that you're really hoping
to see come out of this?
S2 (09:14):
Firstly, I want to see people enjoy the series. Aboriginal.
Torres Strait Islander cultures are storytelling cultures, and first and foremost,
I want people just to enjoy the narrative and enjoy
the story. And although there are some very, very serious
moments through there, there are some very, very funny moments.
So I want people to be entertained. But what I
want them to take away beyond the entertainment, is an
(09:36):
understanding of what indigenous people face in this country when
they are accessing services through healthcare systems. And I also
want people to understand that we have incredible Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people in the system working hard, delivering
these services with genuine thought and genuine care, and we're
often supported by incredible non-Indigenous colleagues, and it can be
(09:59):
very easy to be drawn down a negative narrative in
the indigenous health space. But I want people to take
away that there are lots of good things happening. There
are lots of positives. And I think in the longer term,
we have a bright future and something to look forward
to with regard to improving our health stats, but also
doing it in a way that respects and treasures indigenous
(10:20):
cultures in this country.
S1 (10:21):
I've been speaking today with Associate Professor Chris Baker, ophthalmologist
and community outreach specialist, including but certainly not limited to,
his work with the Deadly Eye Clinic in Darwin, also
part of the six part Our Medicine series on SBS
(10:44):
and NITV. Chris, thank you so much for your time today.
It was a pleasure to catch up with you and
chat about all your work and your involvement with our medicine.
S2 (10:56):
Thanks so much for having me on.
Chris, welcome to Talking Vision. Thank you very much for
your time today.
S2 (00:09):
Thanks so much for having me on.
S1 (00:11):
What I'd love to do is give you an opportunity
to introduce yourself to our listeners. Tell us a bit
about yourself and what you do.
S2 (00:20):
So my name is Chris Baker, of course, and I'm
Australia's currently first and only indigenous ophthalmologist. My background is
Yagara and my mum's side and on dad's side, and
my private rooms are up on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland.
And I do outreach work to Darwin with the Deadly
(00:43):
Vision Clinic.
S1 (00:44):
Tell us a bit about your work in ophthalmology, Chris.
S2 (00:47):
My rooms are on the Sunshine Coast in Noosa, and
it's a general ophthalmology practice, which means a lot of
my work is around diagnoses like glaucoma, diabetes management with
the associated eye conditions, surgical conditions like pterygia and cataracts.
And then when I got to Darwin and worked with
(01:10):
Sean and his deadly vision clinic, that's mostly to do
with surgical work. So Cataract and Pterygium work with these
patients who are struggling otherwise to have that done.
S1 (01:21):
So tell us a bit more about that deadly vision
clinic and how that all came about, and the work
you've been able to do in various First Nations communities
around Australia.
S2 (01:32):
Well, the Deadly Vision Clinic was started and run by
Sean Tarapada, who I was fortunate enough to meet back
in 2014 when I was working in Darwin for six
months as a part of my training. And it's the
country's first indigenous run optometry clinic. And so Sean has
visiting optometrists who come in, and he has a series
(01:56):
of indigenous themed frames that patients can purchase, and they
also cut the lenses on sight. So, I mean, Sean
obviously knows a lot more about what the clinic does,
so I wouldn't wouldn't want to speak for him. But
that's the gist of what he's doing. He's bringing in
people who are otherwise lost to the system or uncomfortable
with mainstream systems, and provide them a good quality optometry
(02:18):
service in that culturally safe space. And then in terms
of outreach that I've done otherwise, as I said, I
was up at the top end in 2014 for six months.
So I worked right across the top end of Northern Territory.
I've done a lot of work with my colleague Tim
Henderson in Alice Springs. I haven't been out there for
a couple of years now. Covid disrupted everything, but I've
(02:39):
worked in Alice in Central Australia, and then I had
the privilege of also working with my colleague Angus Turner
right across Western Australia. I did that for six months
as well. So I've seen a lot of the country.
I've seen a lot of our indigenous communities. It's a
real privilege to have been able to have done that.
S1 (02:56):
And as I understand it, Chris, you've also been one
of the founding members of the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association.
Tell us a bit about the story there.
S2 (03:09):
That was back in the late 90s. I was a
medical student and I was at the University of Newcastle
at that time in the late 90s. We had very,
very few indigenous doctors and very few indigenous medical students
in the country. And the concept of having Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander doctors was still a very, very new
thing here in Australia, which sounds crazy, but it was.
(03:31):
Most of us were either attending the University of Newcastle's
medical students or who had completed medical degrees at University Newcastle.
There were a couple of other units that had contributed
to to that small group of people. Most of us
came through Newcastle, and so the indigenous support unit at
that university arranged a meeting of us. And there about
50 people at the meeting. I think half of us
(03:53):
were medical students and doctors, and the other half were
international colleagues. And we decided to form an organisation to
support each other. That was the primary focus, but then
in the longer term, to build that workforce. And that
organization then went on to become Australian Indigenous Doctors Association,
of which I was years later, president of. So it's
been a fascinating process watching that organization grow. I think
(04:16):
now in Australia, I don't know what the latest numbers
are exactly, but I understand we have over 800 Aboriginal
or Torres Strait Islander medical doctors that's qualified doctors and
a big number of medical students in the system. We
still are away from population parity of Western trained doctors,
but in a relatively short period of time. We've done
very well. It's an outstanding achievement.
S1 (04:36):
Certainly sounds like one. And um, regarding some, you know,
achievements or highlights or anything of that nature, what's been
some real highlights and real take away moments that will
stick with you forever in your time over the past? Well,
2 or 3 decades now.
S2 (04:56):
Well, watching Aida grow, which is Australian Indigenous Doctors Grow,
has been a real highlight in and being president of
that was a highlight. And my presidency actually extended through
the beginning of Covid. So that was a crazy time.
Of course, the other highlights were my professional career highlights
finishing medical school and then completing my training with the
Royal Australian New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists. And the other
(05:18):
highlight is actually a much, much more recent highlight. And
that was being a part of the movement and then
founding board of the First Nations e-Health Alliance. And I'm
actually in Perth at the moment at our annual conference.
That's been a huge highlight because that's pulling together the
AI related workforce, indigenous and non-Indigenous, who work in indigenous
(05:39):
eye health. And we're looking at progressing, closing the gap
in indigenous eye health.
S1 (05:44):
One program, which were very keen to have a chat
about which tackles those sorts of issues, is, of course,
our Medicine, which is premiering on SBS and NITV. It's
running over six weeks, as I understand it, which you've
been quite heavily involved with. So tell us a bit
about our medicine us approach.
S2 (06:05):
It was a while ago now because like a lot
of television related events, there's a huge amount of work
that goes into creating a series like Our Medicine. But
I was approached a little while ago now and asked
if I would like to be a part of our medicine,
and I said, yes, absolutely. This is a really important
story to tell. A story highlighting indigenous academic excellence and
(06:26):
also the achievements of what our mob have done in
Western medicine. And up until now, it's not a story
that's been really told in the mainstream at this level.
So I had the great privilege, as I said, of
being invited into this, and we filmed the first series.
I thought, well, there's more to what I do than
(06:47):
my private practice on the Sunshine Coast. And there's more
to what I do than just Chris Baker. So I
also felt that it was important to involve the Deadly
Vision Clinic in Darwin and the work that I do
up there with Sean and Harry Potter. So I called
Sean and said, hey, do you want to be a
part of this? And I was super excited when he agreed.
So the series goes on that journey, you're watching people
(07:09):
surgical pathways as they come in from the communities around Darwin,
and they engage with a culturally safe service and, and
then achieve successful surgical outcomes. It was such a wonderful
thing to be a part of and a lot of fun.
The work itself, of course, it's just the most wonderful
work to be able to go and, you know, help
people out and give them the gift of vision. But
(07:31):
then to know that we were able to let other
people know what we're doing and share that storytelling with
them was such a fantastic thing.
S1 (07:38):
And Chris, what's it been like to be able to
highlight the day to day challenges that First Nations medical
professionals and patients face when navigating the Australian medical system
in a show like our medicine?
S2 (07:54):
I'd like to think what it illustrates is some of
the complexities that Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander people face when
they enter our health systems. And those complexities can range
from logistical issues like getting up to the hospital and
how to arrange transport and how to coordinate family when
an individual has to get up to the hospital for,
you know, half a day for a half an hour
(08:14):
appointment all the way along to the environment of those
facilities and issues around cultural safety and blockades, to episodes
of care, like people not feeling safe in that space
or even having experience of direct racism. Some of the
patients who have delivered care to through the deadly vision
described and have described episodes of blatant racism and and
(08:38):
I think for anybody that would be a reason for
them not to want to return to that space. So
there's a lot of barriers that slow down or outright
prevent Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people from entering health
facilities and accessing the care that they need.
S1 (08:52):
What do you believe or what do you hope that
the program Gram can shed light on and perhaps change
attitudes or greater inform the general public about the sort
of things that First Nations people face on an everyday basis.
What's the sort of big things that you're really hoping
to see come out of this?
S2 (09:14):
Firstly, I want to see people enjoy the series. Aboriginal.
Torres Strait Islander cultures are storytelling cultures, and first and foremost,
I want people just to enjoy the narrative and enjoy
the story. And although there are some very, very serious
moments through there, there are some very, very funny moments.
So I want people to be entertained. But what I
want them to take away beyond the entertainment, is an
(09:36):
understanding of what indigenous people face in this country when
they are accessing services through healthcare systems. And I also
want people to understand that we have incredible Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people in the system working hard, delivering
these services with genuine thought and genuine care, and we're
often supported by incredible non-Indigenous colleagues, and it can be
(09:59):
very easy to be drawn down a negative narrative in
the indigenous health space. But I want people to take
away that there are lots of good things happening. There
are lots of positives. And I think in the longer term,
we have a bright future and something to look forward
to with regard to improving our health stats, but also
doing it in a way that respects and treasures indigenous
(10:20):
cultures in this country.
S1 (10:21):
I've been speaking today with Associate Professor Chris Baker, ophthalmologist
and community outreach specialist, including but certainly not limited to,
his work with the Deadly Eye Clinic in Darwin, also
part of the six part Our Medicine series on SBS
(10:44):
and NITV. Chris, thank you so much for your time today.
It was a pleasure to catch up with you and
chat about all your work and your involvement with our medicine.
S2 (10:56):
Thanks so much for having me on.
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