Wednesday, 15 November 2023

Katherine Kingsbury

Vicki WARD (Eltham – Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, Minister for Employment) (10:48): My community has lost a remarkable woman in Katherine Kingsbury. Katherine was a person of great principles and compassion, a woman with endless empathy, especially for the disadvantaged and vulnerable. Importantly, Katherine created long-lasting systemic changes locally and statewide for people with a terminal illness. Katherine was a relentless champion of the public hospital system, spending decades of her life working in health care. Katherine achieved all of this while raising two sons on her own. Her career led her towards service provision for the frail, aged, disabled and terminally ill. In 1979 she was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to report on the visibility of home-based services for the terminally ill. This fellowship resulted in her publication I Want to Die at Home, which greatly influenced the development of palliative care. It sold 6000 copies. In 1989 she received an OAM.

A foundation member of Banksia Palliative Care, Katherine was described by them as an extraordinary person whose presence at Banksia helped the service get off the ground. Katherine was an Austin Hospital board member for many years, including being involved in a passionate fight to keep the hospital in public hands in the 1990s. She later assisted with the development of the Olivia Newton-John centre and hospice, where she also received support this year.

In our local community Katherine was the driving force in establishing the Community and Volunteers of Eltham emergency housing program, which she ran as a community volunteer program when council funding ended. She also started the Diamond Valley FoodShare. Katherine’s passion and energy for improving lives and her strength of character will be sadly missed. I know her partner Tom and her sons Damien and Mark, their extended families and her many friends will miss her greatly. Vale, Katherine.