WentWest is incredibly proud to announce that our Community Partnerships Lead Facilitator, Dr Coralie Wales, has received an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for her service to community health.
Coralie shares, ‘This should be an award for all of us as we harness our power collectively to work with communities towards health equity and social justice.’
Ray Messom, CEO of WentWest, noted, “WentWest and the Western Sydney community are so fortunate to have Coralie leading community partnerships, building individual, family and community agency toward a more equitable health system. I cannot think of anyone more deserving of this honour than Coralie.”
At WentWest, the Western Sydney Primary Health Network, and in her previous role as Community and Consumer Engagement Manager for the Western Sydney Local Health District, Coralie has been instrumental in leading participant-driven solutions, building authentic relationships with the community, facilitating consumer councils, and establishing citizen juries. An advocate for health equity, her role at WentWest involves working closely with community groups across Western Sydney to ensure local voices are heard, communities are informed, and people are part of the decision-making and design process on programs that aim to better their health.
Founder of Chronic Pain Australia, a national not-for-profit giving voice to the 3.6 million Australians living with chronic pain, Coralie has made it her mission to build community-led initiatives, co-designed by those with lived experience, to drive system reform. ‘Decision-makers must include the diverse voices of people with lived experiences in any system redesign efforts because they are experts in their own experiences’, says Coralie. From advocating for those with chronic pain, to managing major projects across the health system, she has tirelessly put the community at the forefront of her work, recognising the impacts of the “postcode lottery” and that the system is failing to serve those in areas where support is most needed. As Coralie explains, ‘Health care does not exist in a vacuum. We need to link social care with health care and create integrated, wrap-around spaces and services that bring people into productive community life. How do we create safe spaces and give people agency? We support them to co-create their own pathways to a healthier future.’
Viewed as the “labrador” of her work and social life, Coralie brings infectious energy and passion to her work. ‘People gravitate to Coralie. She actively listens and helps you realise that your opinion matters and that it counts. She creates a safe, inclusive space for everyone and builds a community of people driven by the same principles and dedicated to making change’ shares one of her colleagues. “When Coralie comes to mind, I think of her warmth, imagination and energy. She is driven to reduce the iniquity of inequity. Folk are swept up by her enthusiasm and then buoyed up as we explore the latest adventure. Coralie brings humility to her work and is always quick to remind those who celebrate her as an individual that nothing of importance is achieved without teams of effective partners,” says Dr Michael Fasher, WentWest Clinical Director.
Reflecting on her work over the past two decades, Coralie comments, ‘I think it is important to compare now to twenty years ago. This award recognises what has changed. Everything I do now in the community, I learned from people living with pain. I dedicate the award to all those who have lived with chronic pain’.
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9 February 2023