As the recently arrived Deputy Dean of Flinders Rural and Remote NT, Professor James Smith is excited about growing the Territory’s local health workforce. We asked James about the many Australian states he has called home, and how his average day may – or may not – include wrestling with a crocodile.

What is your role and what does your work focus on? 

I’ve just started as the Deputy Dean of Rural and Remote NT and Matthew Flinders Professor (Health and Social Equity), based in Darwin. My role is to provide strategic leadership, and to enhance and expand Flinders’ education and research footprint in the Northern Territory – particularly growing the local medical, nursing and allied health workforce in the Territory. I get to work closely with all the rural and remote campuses across Alice Springs, Darwin, Katherine, Nhulunbuy and Tennant Creek.

I’m also particularly keen to increase the numbers of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and staff at Flinders, and to ensure a culturally responsive and community-centred approach underpins all of our work.

I’ve been super impressed with the collegiality and transformation happening within Rural and Remote Health since my arrival, and I look forward to fostering an innovative and strengths-based education and research culture.

What journey brought you to this point in your career?

I grew up in Northern Tasmania (which means I’m a Boags beer lad), and moved to Adelaide to study human movement at the end of Year 12. I soon discovered I had a passion for health promotion and volunteered at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, before landing a casual role in the field of men’s health. I wanted to influence health policy, which led to a career zig-zagging between practice, policy and research contexts.

I moved to Darwin in 2008 to work with NT Health as the Program Leader for Health Promotion Strategy. I have since worked in a range of management and executive roles in health and education settings spanning government, non-government and academic contexts.

In parallel, I completed my PhD (somewhat slowly) in men’s health service use, and have honed my research focus to examine issues relating to men’s health equity. I think my recent experiences working at Charles Darwin University and Menzies School of Health Research have me well positioned for the challenges and opportunities associated with enhancing rural and remote health in the NT.

What is something you love most about your work?

I love working with passionate people and I’ve met many in my first few weeks at Flinders. That gives me a buzz. There is a positive, values-driven transformational change agenda within the College of Medicine and Public Health that excites me. It aligns well with my applied public health background, and helps to keep a community vision at the centre of what we do.

The opportunity to work collaboratively with a range of community and professional stakeholders is an important part of my work ethos. Serving the tight-knit NT community with authenticity and respect is important to me, and underpins why I accepted this role.

What would you like people to know about your role?

Having a leadership role of this nature based in the NT is critical for serving Territorians. It marks an important investment by Flinders in rural and remote health, and the central corridor education and research footprint more broadly. It will help to make the long-standing investments of Flinders in the NT, and the contributions of our local staff and affiliates, much more visible.

While I’m still learning about all the facets of the role, I already know that its success depends on the team that surrounds it. I’m confident in the diversity of knowledge, skills, experience and wisdom within the current rural and remote health team, and look forward to steadily growing this further. Our collective efforts will provide a more equitable, healthy and culturally safe community context.

I’m really proud that 20% of the NT Flinders workforce identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and that our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student cohort continues to grow. I want my role to embrace this expansion with gusto.

What is something you are most proud of?

In 2020, I was fortunate to visit the US as an NT Senior Fulbright Scholar, so my family and I were in the US during the start of the pandemic! My work focused on examining the health promotion evidence-base for reducing health and social inequities experienced by boys and young men of colour. While this coincided with the COVID outbreak, I’m proud at the way we all persevered and embraced this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, despite the hardships that surrounded us. It was an experience that was very different to what we had anticipated. I was particularly proud of my kids for the resilience they showed in overcoming the multiple challenges we faced during this period.

What does a normal day look like for you?

A wrestle with a crocodile, a few thunderstorms and a spot fire or two. Ha ha! Nah, just the usual; a combination of back-to-back Teams and Zoom meetings with a diverse range of stakeholders, each as important as the other. But I’m also super lucky that I get to travel across the NT and absorb the amazing landscapes, including some of the most remote and breathtaking Country you will ever see. I get to meet wonderful Territorians from all walks of life.

I get to live, work and play on beautiful Larrakia land, and regularly visit other Aboriginal communities to hear about the ways that Flinders can best serve their needs. I undertake collaborative research about real world issues and co-devise strategies in partnership with communities to drive positive and equitable change. What more could anyone want in a job?

How do you like to relax or spend your spare time?

I’m not really one to stop and relax. I like to stay busy. I enjoy a swim – especially a beach swim, but crocs and jellyfish put a stop to that in Darwin. I enjoy socialising and the company of others and I won’t turn down a wine (or two) or nice food. I like being around my family (most of the time) and being close to nature, and I like volunteering for Rotary. I also love to travel, but the public health professional in me knows why now isn’t a great time to do so.