Laura Aboriginal Dance Festival, Cape York

Occurring once every two years, the event aims to bring around 20 Aboriginal communities together, sharing their diverse culture with one another through dance and music .

This year, 20 keen participants from three different rural health student groups in Queensland travelled to the Festival for the weekend. They camped under the stars and celebrated the culture of the Aboriginal people of the Cape York Peninsula through song, dance ceremonies and performances. It was an outstanding weekend where the students connected with the land and its people.

There were a range of health promotion activities that were organised, including blood pressure checks, ear checks, and plaster casting to name a few. Club RHINO was privileged to interact with the inquisitive young children of these Cape York communities, which they believed was an integral aspect of enhancing healthcare promotion and primary health care in rural and remote communities.

Student Experiences

Roshni Anjani – Third Year Medicine

"The weekend spent at Laura was truly wonderful. I felt lucky to be welcomed onto spiritual land by the communities at Laura, giving us chance to experience glimpses of an ancient culture. Surrounded by wonderful company in beautiful country, we made great memories - whether it was inspiring people to take care of their health and pursue careers in the field, sitting by the campfire making s’mores, listening to elders stories in traditional languages, watching shooting stars, or watching traditional dances from communities all over Australia. I’d like to thank club RHINO for organising this weekend and leaving us with spectacular memories."

Kira Cranswick- Fourth Year Occupation Therapy

"Laura Aboriginal Dance Festival 2017 was an amazing experience. An experience that taught me about multiple clans from around our country but also taught me about the unanimous strive within our traditional cultures to preserve and maintain a rich history. We were very privileged to have gone to such a spiritual and historical ground. While there we took part in educating young children about the role that our professions played. The stall was constantly flowing with children from around the country excited to learn about health care and the weird bits and pieces of equipment we had taken out. It was the perfect transaction of knowledge where we learnt more about the traditional Australian cultures and attendees learnt more about health care. Loved every minute!"