Doctor challenges system to improve Indigenous eye care

In Australia, Kris Rallah-Baker became the country’s first Indigenous ophthalmologist after facing racism and systemic barriers throughout his education and career.

Kris, who is of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Scottish, Jewish, and Indian heritage, was motivated to study medicine by his great-grandmother’s distrust of white institutions, a fear stemming from her forced removal as a child during the Stolen Generations.

He encountered prejudice early in his schooling, being wrongly placed in an English-as-a-second-language class due to his skin colour, and later from colleagues who questioned his Aboriginal identity. Kris persevered through a competitive specialty, eventually establishing a private practice and outreach clinics in remote Indigenous communities. He actively worked to reform the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO) after experiencing discrimination, prompting the college to improve cultural safety within its programs.

He also took a case of racist abuse via email to a tribunal, resulting in the sender’s deregistration. Now, Kris focuses on building trust with Indigenous patients, understanding that shared history and cultural understanding ease anxieties and improve healthcare access. He is also mentoring the next generation of Indigenous eye surgeons, with six trainees currently in the RANZCO program and more expected to graduate soon, signalling a growing commitment to culturally safe and accessible eye care in Australia.