Now, former Bendigo resident Aunty Barb Gibson-Thorpe has had her decades of hard work and energy acknowledged with her induction into Victoria’s Aboriginal Honour Roll.

“It’s very exciting, because it’s been a long journey, but exciting and rewarding,” she said.

Aunty Barb was born at Lake Cargelligo in the central west of New South Wales and moved to Bendigo with her two children in 1981.

The Wiradjuri woman began working with the then-Bendigo Health Service in 1985 and became the one of the first Aboriginal hospital liaison officers.

This role saw her help Aboriginal patients navigate the health service, while also educating hospital staff on cultural awareness and sensitivity.

She said stepping into a new role meant she was the guinea pig, and it was difficult because Aboriginal affairs still had a low profile.

As Aboriginal Victoria notes, hospitals at that time were “often inflexible and culturally unsafe” places for Indigenous people.

Related: Aboriginal leaders of central Victoria acknowledged in 2017 Honour Roll

But Aunty Barb said the profile of Aboriginal issues had since been lifted and there had been progress made in the area of health.

Bendigo Health had a good partnership with the Bendigo and District Aboriginal Co-operative and the community, she said, as well as an Aboriginal advisory committee.

Aunty Barb also noted that where she once was not only a liaison officer, but a mental health worker and drug and alcohol worker as well, those latter positions now existed as standalone positions within Aboriginal-controlled health organisations.

“We’ve got a long way to go, but we’ve come a long way in my time,” she said.

Now, Aunty Barb would like to see this progress continue through more Aboriginal people becoming involved in all aspects of the health services, from acute health and dental through to administration and accounting.

While in Bendigo, Aunty Barb also spent time working for the Dja Dja Wurrung Aboriginal Association.

In Echuca, she continued her work in making hospitals more culturally safe for Aboriginal residents by working with the Njernda Aboriginal Corporation, Viney Morgan Aboriginal Medical Service Cummeragunja and Echuca Regional Health.

The state government has acknowledged Aunty Barb’s key role in a state-wide Aboriginal newborn identification project, in partnership with the Royal Women's Hospital, and her role in a research project at Echuca Regional Health on strengthening the Indigenous workforce.

Someone who attests to Aunty Barb’s hard work is Raylene Harradine, the chief executive officer of the Bendigo and District Aboriginal Co-operative.

Ms Harradine has not only seen the fruits of Aunty Barb’s efforts, but has walked in her shoes, taking on her position as an Aboriginal hospital liaison officer when she took a 12-month break.

Ms Harradine said working as an Aboriginal hospital liaison officer was a hard role, having to fit into a mainstream organisation, but Aunty Barb ensured the Aboriginal community was supported.

Before Aunty Barb stepped into that position, Ms Harradine said, there was a gap in services.

She said Aunty Barb was someone with integrity and a person who went over and above in her work, whatever the role.

She would help with anything she could and had “a heart of gold”, Ms Harradine said.

“She’s well-known and well-respected within the Aboriginal community and the wider community,” she said.

Related: Recognition for a life of Indigenous advocacy

Ms Harradine told the Bendigo Advertiser that Aunty Barb had changed things within Bendigo Health, bringing greater cultural understanding.

“These roles are really critical,” Ms Harradine said.

“With Barb, her drive and her passion – you can see it in the work that she does.”

While she no longer lives in Bendigo, Aunty Barb still considers the city her home.

Her children, Karen and Colin, still live here, and she remains heavily involved with the Bendigo and District Aboriginal Co-operative.

Aunty Barb now lives in Robinvale and continues to work as an Aboriginal hospital liaison officer.

She also remains passionate about cultural heritage and ensuring not only that it remains intact, but that Aboriginal people are proud to showcase their culture.

“Cultural heritage is really important because you need belonging,” she said, adding that such a belief gave people the drive to achieve.

Aunty Barb has spent more than 30 years now working for the Aboriginal community, but she likes to keep active and helping people.

“I just feel I’ve got to give more,” she said.

Aunty Barb said she looked forward to seeing more young Aboriginal people becoming leaders.

“It’s good to see the young taking on leadership roles and learning from the elders,” she said.

One of Aunty Barb’s fellow Aboriginal Honour Roll inductees is Terry Garwood, an alumnus of La Trobe University Bendigo and a Yorta Yorta, Wemba Wemba and Wergaia man.

Since graduating in the late 1970s, Mr Garwood has built a distinguished public service career and is now deputy secretary of the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning’s Local Infrastructure Group, overseeing a staff of 600.

He is Victoria’s most senior Aboriginal public servant and for seven years was based in Bendigo as the Department of Human Services’ Loddon Mallee regional director.