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Ruth Austin

Ruth Austin (26/8/1922 - 27/4/2004) was an Australian nursing sister who worked as an Infant Welfare Sister in north-east Victoria in the townships of Bright, Myrtleford and Mt Beauty for 28 years. In that time she became well known for her training of others, her wisdom and her humanity. Due to her initiative, the Community Welfare Association was founded and many services were introduced for the elderly of the district. In recognition of her invaluable support and care for mothers and their babies she was inducted in 2003 onto the Victorian Honor Roll of Women (authorised by the Victorian Government) which acknowledges and celebrates the achievements of Victorian women who have contributed to lasting change in many fields of endeavour.

Ruth Austin and her twin sister, Mary, neither of whom ever married, came from Mirboo North, but were born at the Leongatha hospital in Gippsland (Victoria) on 26th August 1922 since Mirboo North then had no hospital. Their parents were Les Austin and his wife Mary Dianna, known as "Iney" (nee Warner of Toora). The twins were the Austins' only children. The young family lived on a farm on Berry's Creek Rd, Mirboo North, about a mile out of the town, Les having purchased 100 acres from his parents, John and Isabella Austin, carved from the senior Austins' farm. So Ruth and Mary had their grandparents, the senior Austins, for their immediate neighbours.

Ruth and Mary's childhood was spent immersed in their family and the social life of Mirboo North, where they went to school at Mirboo North Elementary School, which offered 4 years of high school. Their father sang in the church choir, and their mother was involved in many local charities such as Red Cross and C.W.A. for which she was often baking. They rode their pony to Saturday dancing classes, went to Church and Sunday school, swam at Mirboo North's spring-fed swimming pool with platypuses living in the banks, walked to school and later rode bikes given them by their grandfather.

Ruth had only just turned 16 years old when World War II broke out on 1/9/1938. During the latter part of the war she trained in Melbourne as a nurse at Prince Henry’s Hospital where, in line with all nursing training, she was required to live in the nurses' home and be subject to the strict discipline of the nursing profession. Ruth qualified as a nurse in December 1946 and her twin, who had been working at the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories in Melbourne since before the commencement of the war, commenced nursing training at the same hospital three weeks later. However, Ruth soon left Prince Henry's for Sydney to undertake midwifery training at King George VI Hospital.

After WWII there was a worldwide shortage of trained nurses. Ruth travelled to New Zealand and stayed there to work in several provincial hospitals. However, in 1953 she sailed for England with her twin sister who was now also a qualified nurse, ostensibly to see the Queen's coronation. There they worked as nurses as well as travelling around Europe with two female nursing friends, and also nursed in Montreal, Canada. Two years later they returned to Australia.

Ruth now returned to her nursing studies, taking up a bursary at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Mothers and Babies in Carlton (Melbourne) in order to complete infant welfare training. The terms of the bursary required her to work for one year and, while given a choice of a Melbourne hospital or a country one, she chose to work at the country hospital - at the town of Bright in north-east Victoria. Here she stayed for the rest of her life.

She went to Bright as the Infant Welfare Nurse, and had to work in temporary facilities first at the Mt Beauty Medical Centre and later at the Guide Hall. Eventually, a permanent Infant Welfare Centre was built in Bright in 1964. Nearby Myrtleford had gained a new infant welfare centre in 1959.

Ruth travelled regularly, weekly, in the Alpine Shire covering these towns, since she operated weekly clinics in them. Mt Beauty was a new town built to house thousands of migrant workers brought to Australia to help build the Kiewa Hydro Electricity Scheme - the second biggest hydro electric scheme after the Snowy Mountains Scheme. Tobacco farming at Myrtleford expanded more rapidly after WWII and there was also a great influx of Italian migrants come to farm tobacco in the area. Many of the wives of these migrant workers spoke little or no English.

Ruth was always supportive and responsive to the needs of the migrant mothers and made many house calls. She cared for more than 7000 newborn babies, many of whom were children of these newly arrived migrants.  She introduced immunisation and hearing tests for infants.   She imparted new ideas and knowledge into the community, including the introduction of the contraceptive pill for women.  The Community Welfare Association which she founded began English classes for migrants.   She also helped to establish the Senior Citizens Club rooms in Bright.  

Ruth Austin retired in 1987 aged 65. However, her involvement in community continued apace. She formed a bushwalking group after her retirement, walking weekly each Tuesday; she continued her unstinting work for the Uniting Church; and maintained her photography, which she loved, especially when photographing Alpine wildflowers.

Ruth Austin developed pain in her shoulder during 2003, and believing an operation in March 2004 would provide some relief, she instead received the bad news, post operatively, that swollen lymph nodes indicated cancer. She died seven weeks later at midnight on 27th April 2004, aged 71 years, survived by her beloved twin sister. Funeral services were held for her at Bright and then at her old family town of Mirboo North where she was buried in the lawn cemetery on 3rd May 2004.

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