Ultimate kidney warrior honoured by University

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Nari Sinclair, a Ngarrindjeri and Yorta Yorta woman and powerful advocate for people with chronic kidney disease, will be honoured by the University of Adelaide community.

In the Adelaide Health and Medical Sciences building, room 3066 was affectionately known by Nari as the Big Ole room, but will be known as the Nari Sinclair Room from 3 July.

It is the first room on any University of Adelaide campus to be dedicated to an Aboriginal woman.

“Nari, who passed in 2023, believed real changes could be made by addressing the gaps she had identified, and wanted to elevate the voices of Aboriginal people with kidney disease to be heard, and their journeys and experiences valued,” said AKction research lead Dr Kim O’Donnell.

Nari connected with Inawinytji Tjingilya Williamson, a Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara woman and fellow Kidney Warrior, after chasing down politicians outside Parliament House to advocate for better transport options.

They spoke about their shared experiences, the amount of time they spent waiting for transport and began to identify gaps that they both experienced while receiving kidney care.

From here, Nari and Inawinytji established the Aboriginal Kidney Care Together – Improving Outcomes Now (AKction) Reference Team. Nari continued her leadership role as a Chief Investigator in the project’s second stage, where her lived experience directly informed the design of research activities and guided priority setting. 

“Since 2021, the Nari Sinclair Room has been used for our monthly AKction meetings,” said Dr O’Donnell.

“This has been a safe space to come together, share stories, strategise and continue to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People with lived experience of kidney disease and transplants to improve kidney care and practice nationally.”

In addition to her research involvement, Nari was also dedicated to creating culturally safer spaces for First Nations People and sharing her knowledge and wisdom with students studying to become healthcare professionals.

She co-facilitated Aboriginal health teaching in nursing courses and cultural safety education sessions for oral health students at TAFE SA and shared her journey with students and helped them to understand the importance of clinical yarning and genuine partnerships to elevate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patient voices.

“Nari was the ultimate kidney warrior, with lived experience of chronic kidney disease, haemodialysis, kidney transplantation and living with complex comorbidities,” said AKction co-lead Professor Janet Kelly.

“These experiences fuelled her passion for improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ experience of being on dialysis or having a kidney transplant.

“Nari wanted to improve the whole kidney journey for her people, and encourage people to have annual health checks to prevent and detect kidney disease.”

Her stories and teachings were also shared at national conferences, within journal articles on radio and in community gatherings and workshops.

“Our family are so proud of Mum,” said Nari’s eldest daughter Marissa Sumner.

“We didn’t realise Mum had been doing all this work to help other people with kidney disease.

“We still feel her presence today and thank the University of Adelaide for acknowledging the warrior woman she was.”