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Honouring legacy and investing in the next generation: Puggy Hunter Memorial Scholarships Reflect NAIDOC 2025 Theme
11th July 2025
As Australia celebrates 50 years of NAIDOC Week, Indigenous Allied Health Australia (IAHA) has highlighted how the Puggy Hunter Memorial Scholarship Scheme (PHMSS) proudly stands as a living embodiment of this year’s NAIDOC Week theme “The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy”.
IAHA in proud partnership with the National Association of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioners (NAATSIHWP) and Rural Doctors Network (RDN), says it is "honoured to continue to deliver the Puggy Hunter Memorial Scholarship Scheme (PHMSS) this year as it celebrates its 23rd year of programming, and its second year under Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community control."
PHMSS is supporting the next generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health leaders and continues the legacy of one of Australia’s most respected First Nations advocates, Dr Arnold “Puggy” Hunter.
Wiradyuri/Wonnarua woman and Chief Executive Officer of IAHA, Donna Murray, said the alignment with this year’s NAIDOC theme is deeply meaningful.
“This year’s NAIDOC theme reminds us that strength and legacy are not only inherited — they are built,” Donna said.
“The Puggy Hunter Scholarship invests in the visionaries, carers, and leaders who collectively carry forward the fight for health equity with the same determination Puggy lived by.”
Since its establishment, the PHMSS has supported more than 2400 of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to pursue careers in nursing, midwifery, medicine, and allied health.
These students — many the first in their families to attend university — are the next generation of change-makers in health, culture, and community.
Wiradjuri man and RDN Chair, Professor Peter O’Mara, said PHMSS call on current and future students to take up the challenge laid down by Dr Hunter.
“To be bold in leadership, grounded in culture, and relentless in the pursuit of better futures,” Professor O’Mara said.
Save the date: Applications for the next round of the Puggy Hunter Memorial Scholarship Scheme open on Monday 1 September 2025.
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