Lutheran Care is pleased to announce that Samarra McDonald has joined the team as Operations Manager Central Australia.
A local to Alice Springs, Samarra is a proud Arrernte and Warumungu woman. Born in Alice Springs and raised in Darwin, she has been back home for more than 20 years and brings nearly nine years of experience working closely with medical teams through the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress. This role included coordinating GP placements, supporting GPs in training, managing medical student placements and working alongside the Deputy Medical Director to navigate acceptance processes and program placements.
Reflecting on her new role, Samarra says she was particularly drawn to Lutheran Care’s commitment to supporting Aboriginal communities, including outreach to remote areas.
“The work the team does in the community — the advocacy and support for our mob dealing with hardship — really caught my eye,” she said. “It doesn’t stop in town; it reaches out to the remote communities, which is where a lot of our mob can be forgotten. Seeing the amount of work the team has been doing, and will continue to do, I was very impressed.”
Samarra is keen to get out into remote communities in the year ahead to gain more of an understanding of the needs, the challenges, and the opportunities to strengthen support.
“It’s not until you get out there on the ground that you get a sense of what’s really happening in that community at that time, because it can change depending on what’s happening,” she said.
“One of my early goals is to make connections — with the people, the communities, and across the businesses— to collaborate and ensure support is there for our mob. I’m really keen to see how we can work together to address the social determinants for Aboriginal people, while keeping person-centred care at the forefront.”
Samarra acknowledges the overlaps across services in Central Australia and the opportunities for stronger collaboration across agencies.
“If it puts that person centred care at the forefront, it can make life a lot easier for a lot of our mob here in Central Australia.”
Outside of work, Samarra comes from a big family and enjoys catching up with relatives, relaxing, and having a good laugh with friends. She’s a football fan, though she’s keeping the team she barracks for a secret!
Lutheran Care is delighted to have Samarra on board and looks forward to seeing the impact of her leadership in Central Australia.