A Public Servant with the Department of Justice and Community Safety (DJCS) has been named Victoria’s 2023 Young Australian of the Year for his advocacy for Aboriginal healthcare in prisons.
Congratulating Darcy McGauley-Bartlett, DJCS said the Acting Senior Manager, Aboriginal Health within Justice Health was recognised for his advocacy and commitment to keeping Aboriginal people out of the justice system.
“Darcy is a proud Gunai Kurnai man who is passionate about supporting his community,” DJCS said.
“He has overcome significant challenges in his youth to emerge as a role model and advocate for Aboriginal people,” it said.
“Within Justice Health, Darcy has helped to establish the State’s first Aboriginal Custodial Health team to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal prisoners.”
DJCS said Mr McGauley-Bartlett (pictured) had been pivotal in supporting healthcare for Aboriginal prisoners throughout the pandemic, including working to increase uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine.
In his acceptance speech, Mr McGauley-Bartlett said he was motivated to make change after seeing some of his family members’ experiences with the justice system.
“Seeing the failures the system had given my family, this was time to make change and really start early intervention and prevention,” Mr McGauley-Bartlett said.
“There’s not too many advocates who really want to make change, who genuinely care,” he said.
“I luckily work with so many genuine Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal people who want to make change for our people in custody.”
Mr McGauley-Bartlett spoke about the importance of self-determination for Aboriginal people
“The take home for me is we are past acknowledgments and good intentions, it’s time to stand up, get up and really make change for our community,” he said.
Mr McGauley-Bartlett will now join recipients from the other States and Territories for the national Australian of the Year awards, to be announced on 25 January next year.
