Professor Kelvin Kong AM
(1976 - )
BSc, MBBS (UNSW), FRACS (ORL-HNS)

Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgeon (Ear Nose and Throat Surgeon)

(Source: APHA)

Introduction

Professor Kelvin Kong is a proud Worimi man, the first Aboriginal surgeon in Australia, an otolaryngologist, head and neck surgeon, and an amazing advocate for equality in health delivery in Australia. Professor Kelvin Kong, doesn’t just hold the distinction of being Australia’s first Aboriginal surgeon. He carries with him a responsibility to ensure he won’t be the last.

He holds professorial positions at Macquarie University, the University of New South Wales, and the University of Newcastle.

He has held many senior roles in professional society and colleges, as well as being on the Cancer Council and an advocate and spokesman for the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation on subjects from cancer, COVID and the census.

Kelvin was awarded the prestigious medal of the Australian Society for Medical Research at the National Press Club and has been appointed a Membership of the Order of Australia (AM) for his “significant service to medicine as an Otolaryngologist, and to Indigenous health”, in the 2024 Australia Day Honours List.

(Source: ENT & audiology news )

Professor Kong is an ENT Surgeon based in the Hunter region of NSW; he regularly travels to remote Australia to provide specialist ENT services to Indigenous patients. His clinical practice is complemented by his ongoing research into the causes and treatment of ear disease, together with his involvement in community outreach programmes designed to improve access to healthcare and break cycles of disadvantage for Indigenous Australians.

He was the first Indigenous Australian surgeon and is now one of Australia’s leading ENT surgeons with a driving passion to reduce the disparity between health and learning outcomes for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Professor Kong has become a powerful voice for equity in health.

(Source: /span> Newcastle University)

Early Life

Professor Kelvin Kong is a Worimi man who grew up on Country in Port Stephens region, on the New South Wales mid-north-coast - north of Newcastle.

Professor Kong comes from a medical family, whose support and encouragement he credits for his success.

His mother Grace is a community nurse and women’s health worker, his father Kong Cheok Seng, a Malaysian Chinese man (Tony) is a GP in Malaysia while his twin older-sisters are also doctors: Marlene is a GP working in Public Health in Sydney and Marilyn is an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist in Grafton.

Worimi is the Port Stephens region of coastal NSW - about 2 hours north of Sydney
(Source: Visit NSW)

A young Kelvin with his two sisters
(Source: SBS)

His Mum

His late mother, Grace Kinsella, was a pioneering Indigenous registered nurse, charting a path for him and his two sisters to excel in the medical field.

His mother was the eldest of 12 children and grew up in a simple tin dwelling at Soldiers Point (the family later moved around Port Stephens). She reinforced the importance of education.

Kong credited her "belief and drive" to see her kids prosper behind his success.

“My mother was a nurse who looked after a lot of people. Everyone would come to our house for help,” he recalls.

For kids destined to become doctors, Grace Kinsella’s house was a good place to grow up. The Woromi woman was a community nurse, and her son Kelvin recalls a constant stream of relatives and friends showing up for first aid and health care.

“My sisters and I were always around, helping out with things like suture removals, wound dressings, and cast removals. It was a hub of activity.”

“Whether it be for cuts, bruises, Band-Aids, stitch removal, immunisations,” Professor Kong  there was a stream of would-be patients through their home in Shoal Bay north of Newcastle.

“And as kids, my sisters who were two years older than me, we would fight over who would help Mum the most.”

Kelvin with his mother, Grace Kinsella, who was one of the first registered Indigenous nurses in Australia
(Source: e-tangata)

The early internship paid off; both his twin sisters became doctors too. Dr Marilyn Clarke (born Kong) became Australia’s first Indigenous obstetrician and GP Marlene Kong completed a master of public health.

Kong speaks fondly of the women in his life. His maternal grandmother, Gwen Russell, who died in 2010, was born in Kempsey and grew up in an Aboriginal mission. Her mother Jessie was a Worimi woman and her father Clem was the eldest of the famous boxing Sands brothers.

Education

Professor Kong went to Tomaree High School and returned to the school to talk to the class of 2024.

Speech at Tomaree High School - 27 September 2024

Professor Kelvin Kong inspired the class of 2024 as he shared his journey from former student to where he is today. Kelvin shared a powerful lesson from his mum that resonated with the audience: 💖 Be Kind 💖 Be Useful

It wasn’t until high school that he started to see the deeper reasons why his family home became an informal clinic. But what Professor Kong took for granted growing up in his mother’s house awakened a social conscience in him as he got older, when he began to see the different experiences his Indigenous and non-Indigenous mates were having in accessing basic health care.

“I started realising there was this inequality,” he says.

“Why were they coming to us? Why not the hospital? Why not a doctor?

“And you start realising the inequality that happens."

“That thought process made us want to go into the health profession.”

That, and hearing an inspirational speech by Professor Sandra Eades AO, a pioneering Indigenous doctor and medical researcher, when he was at school, set him on his career path.

‘Sandra Eades and Louis Peachey—these were two amazing, smart, articulate, Aboriginal students at university studying medicine. To this day, I can still remember talking with my sisters about how going to university and studying medicine was even possible for us,’ Kelvin said.

‘University was not even on the map, not even a thought and having two strong people tell us ‘you guys can do this, you don’t need to think about leaving school, you need to concentrate about getting what you want, getting the scores and the goals,’ it was so powerful.

'That one day from high school has changed my life trajectory forever and I’m indebted to Sandra and Louis for what they did for me.'

'Although Sandra and Louis’ journey is very different to mine, the things that we say, particularly to kids from low socioeconomic groups can have a very profound impact. You need to make sure you can make a positive impact and influence these kids into the right trajectories.’

Professor Sandra Eades AO    Director, Burnet Institute, 2025

Dr Louis Peachy Indigenous doctor working on the Atherton Tablelands in Far North Qld

“I only had football heroes before that, I hadn’t thought uni was something we can do,” he said. “That was so inspiring.”

It was Gwen, his grandmother, who pulled a cocky Kong aside after he failed a number of first-year subjects at the University of NSW. The talented rugby union player had opted to study in Sydney to ‘‘chase football dreams’’ with Randwick. It all went to his head. ‘‘She gave me the biggest dressing down,’’ he remembers, smiling. ‘‘She said, ‘These footballers come and go, you’ve got bigger things to do. You need to give back to the community’. I was crying and upset, but it made me stop and think and things turned ’round.’’

(Source: Randwick Rugby Union )

These early experiences set the course for a career not just in surgery but in structural change.

Medical School Education

Kelvin graduated from the University of New South Wales (NSW) in 1999 with a Bachelor of Medicine and a Bachelor of Surgery.

He completed an internship at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Darlinghurst and streamed early into a surgical career, completing resident medical officer and registrar positions at Westmead Hospital, John Hunter Hospital, Gosford District Hospital, Prince of Wales Hospital and the final year of his training completed at St. Vincent's Hospital, fittingly where his career started. Along the way, his has also served the rural community as part of secondments to peripheral hospitals. He became Australia's first Indigenous surgeon.

Kelvin was awarded his fellowship with the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 2007 and pursued further training in Paediatric ENT surgery, being grateful and honoured by his fellowship at The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne in 2007-8.

 

Titles/Qualifications

• Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgeon (Ear Nose and Throat Surgeon)

• VMO Surgeon: John Hunter Hospital (JHH), John Hunter Children’s Hospital JHCH), Hunter

• New England Local Health District (HNELHD)

• VMO Surgeon: Newcastle Private Hospital, Lingard Private Hospital, Maitland Private

• Hospital, Hunter Valley Private Hospital

• Honorary Professor: Macquarie University

• Conjoint Associate Professor: University of NSW

• Conjoint Associate Professor: University of Newcastle

 

His Sisters

Professor Kong has two twin older sisters - Drs Marilyn Clarke and Marlene Kong

Marlene Kong remembers many things her grandfather said to her growing up. But one thing stuck with her:

“The difference between a white man and a black man is his education.”

Kelvin with his two sisters - Marlene and Marilyn
(Source: UNSW)

Marilyn Clarke (Kong)

In 2000 Marilyn spent twelve months with Australian Volunteers Abroad in Papua New Guinea, which inspired her to become an obstetrician and gynaecologist. She obtained her Fellowship from the Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists in 2007, the first Indigenous person to do so.

Marilyn's practice is located in Coffs Harbour and she is also chair of RANZCOG's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women's Health Committee.

Marlene Kong

After training in general practice, Marlene worked with Médecins Sans Frontières in South Sudan Sierra Leone.

She completed an International Master of Public Health at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and returned home to work as a GP in Aboriginal communities.

Marlene then became head of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Program at UNSW's Kirby Institute and is currently working as a GP.

Her career has included 3 years of work with the NSW Ministry of Health, occupying a Commonwealth Specialist Training Program position in 2011-2014 for public health training.

Now (2015) she is leading a team working to improve the sexual health of Indigenous communities as she completes her Doctor of Public Health at the School of Public Health and Community Medicine and the Kirby Institute. As one of only two Aboriginal researchers at the Kirby Institute, Kong is finding the new role challenging and rewarding.

Update: She is currently working in Family General Practice in the Whitsunday region of the Queensland Coast.

Kelvin credits his big sisters with coaching him through high school and medicine: “they were my heroes, mentors, and tutors”, but chose to specialise in ENT (ear, nose and throat surgery) in part to stake out his own ground, away from their shadow.

 

Did You Know? National Portrait Gallery This following information is taken directly from The National Portrait Gallery website Marilyn, Marlene & Kelvin Kong c.2000 Professor Kelvin Kong AM Kelvin Kong AM is a Worimi doctor who grew up in Port Stephens, New South Wales. He credits his mother, Grace Kinsella, one of the first Indigenous registered nurses in Australia, for inspiring him and his older sisters, twins Marlene and Marilyn, to become doctors. Their father, Malaysian-Chinese Dr Kong Cheok Seng, is also a doctor, living in Malaysia.  Marlene and Marilyn were the first Indigenous medical graduates from the University of Sydney and Kelvin graduated from UNSW to become Australia's first Indigenous surgeon.  Specialising in ENT (ear, nose and throat surgery), Kelvin works at Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital. He visits Broome each year to perform specialist consultations and surgery in the remote Kimberley, and mentors high school students to encourage more Indigenous people into medicine and surgery. Updated 2024 (Source: Kelvin Kong, National Portrait Gallery; )

 

Opportunities & Experiences

He is now practising in Newcastle on Awabakal Country, as a Surgeon specializing in Paediatric & Adult Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head & Neck Surgery (Ear, Nose & Throat Surgery).

Professor Kong, works on Awabakal and Worimi Country, and is associated with the University of Newcastle's School of Medicine and Public Health.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS). Kelvin works at Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital and John Hunter Children’s Hospital, and he explains that hearing loss, often caused by Otitis Media (middle ear disease), significantly contributes to poor educational outcomes for children and can lead to higher unemployment rates in adults as a result.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children experience the highest levels of chronic otitis media in the world, affecting up to 70% of children in remote communities.

Determined to change the statistics, Dr Kong has dedicated his career to early intervention. Dr Kong says “If we can reduce the risk of hearing loss, we can have a direct impact on a child's ability to learn and develop. The change that we see is remarkable - we can take them from limited hearing and language skills to fully functioning teenagers with real employment prospects”.

Dr Kong is passionate about addressing the disparity in health outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children. Each year, he spends a portion of his time working in, and for, remote Indigenous communities providing access to quality healthcare that would otherwise be limited or completely unavailable. This includes visiting the Kimberley’s each year to perform specialist consultations and surgery.

"When we work together with a community, we can address all the issues that arise from ear disease. Our job is to improve kids' health so they can get the education they need."

In 2008, Kong was appointed to the 10-person steering committee for then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s ambitious Australia 2020 summit amid controversy about the lack of women representatives. When he stepped down citing ‘‘family illness’’, commentators suggested it was to enable a woman to take his place. The sad reality was that his wife Sarah, who was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple of months after their 2002 wedding, had been told by specialists that the disease had spread to her brain. The couple had hoped she would make it to her 40th birthday, but Sarah died in April 2011 after Kong threw her a surprise party. She was 38.

When Sarah, a nurse, was first diagnosed, Kong contemplated stopping his specialist training, but a senior colleague encouraged him to continue. One of his biggest faults, he admits, is becoming too obsessed with work. ‘‘I always worry, particularly after Sarah died, about how involved I get with work.’’ As Kong speaks, his ever-present smile disappears momentarily. ‘‘I worry it takes away from family time. I took holidays around Sarah’s treatments and work was as flexible as it could be. About 80 per cent of my colleagues were supportive. I had some amazing times with Sarah, but I always wonder if I should have spent that extra time with her rather than at work.’’

The grief that crushed him after his wife’s death forced him to take time out. He became ‘‘dishevelled’’, grew a beard for the first time, and wondered how the world could keep turning in spite of his loss. ‘‘As a medico it was very humbling to go through that experience,’’ he says. ‘‘We were told Sarah would only live six months, but we got eight years. You can’t underestimate hope.’’

Kong has a child’s drawing on his office wall that reminds him of that time in his life. ‘‘I still had a beard when I came back to work and there was a little girl who drew me with the beard,’’ he remembers. ‘‘After her operation when she came back for a follow-up appointment, I’d cleaned myself up and shaved off the beard.’’ She started crying when she saw him. ‘Where’s Dr Kong? I want Dr Kong’.’’ He laughs. ‘‘I realised everything was going to be all right.’’

He buried himself in work and accepted he would probably not have his own children; he could not imagine falling in love again. ‘‘I thought, I’m lucky because I have a big family and wonderful kids I get to see at work. It was a way of making the most of not becoming a father.’’

In 2011, Professor Kong joined other medical practitioners in the Care for Kids' Ears campaign to address the ongoing issues experienced by remote communities. The campaign was designed to encourage communities to be empowered with resources and information about ear health to reduce the risk of ear disease and hearing loss.

He is also passionate about improving pathways into specialist medical training and improving Indigenous workforce across the health and research sector. Dr Kong mentors high school students to encourage more Indigenous people to consider careers in medicine and surgery.

He is an active member of RACS and ASOHNS, having served on multiple advisory boards and committee’s including the Indigenous Health and Fellowship Services Committee. He has  served as secretary of Australia and New Zealand Society Paediatric Otolaryngology (ANZSPO) and chair of Mina (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee for RACS). He has also served on Cancer Australia’s Advisory board.

A lot can change in four years 2011 to 2015.

Kong met Kiara Mitchell, a nurse at John Hunter Hospital, and have two children, a son Lewis and a daughter Ellery.

No one is more blissfully surprised about the turn of events than Kong. ‘‘Looking back, Sarah’s death made me realise that you have to grab life,’’ he says. ‘‘I’m trying really hard to make time for Kiara and get more balance. I’ve thought about kicking back to part-time when the baby arrives [pause]… but I’d probably drive everyone mad,’’ he laughs.

Did You Know? Professor Kelvin Kong's Roles First ever identified Indigenous Fellow, and Chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee for the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons’ (RACS) Examiner, Royal Australasian College Surgeons Mentor Surgical Pathways for Indigenous Australians Public and Private practice in Newcastle, at Hunter ENT Surgery Professor and mentor at the University of Newcastle Honorary Professor Macquarie University Associate Professor UNSW Clinical lead, ENT Outreach services HNELHD Indigenous Lead, Australian Society Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery Researcher; Successful in numerous NHMRC grants, awards and collaboration Chair, Advisory Group for reporting on the Ear and Hearing Health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people Member, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ear and Hearing Health Partnership Committee Served on multiple advisory boards and committee’s including the Indigenous Health and Fellowship Services Committee Previous Board member for the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence (NCIE) Previous Board member Cancer Australia’s Advisory Board Previous Board Member Hearing Australia Previous secretary of Australia and New Zealand Society Paediatric Otolaryngology (ANZSPO) Dr Kong received an Honour Roll mention for Australian of the Year (Source: NAIDOC) (Source: SBS News)

His Research & Work

Between surgical procedures and lectures in allied health, Dr Kong participates in a project group at the Hunter Medical Research Institute carrying out research investigating Alloiococcus Otitidis, an organism found to be more prevalent in ear disease. The group are working on studies of pathogenicity and antibiotic resistance among Indigenous and non-Indigenous trail groups with the hope of informing new treatments. Dr Kong describes his research projects as a part of a broader goal in changing community health outcomes.

"When we set out to change health outcomes we need to work together with community. Research can support this with documentation and recommendations but can't simply be pushed onto a group. We need to provide the necessary support for change rather than just prescriptive measures."

As one of only three Indigenous surgeons in Australia, Dr Kong is passionate about addressing the disparity in health outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children. Each year, he spends a portion of his time working in, and for, remote Australian communities providing access to quality healthcare that would otherwise be limited or unavailable.

"There are many factors that contribute to health and wellbeing for particular groups, but people in remote communities face significant challenges – everything from the price of fresh food to health education can be a challenge."

An early mentor of Dr Kong’s said he spotted his talent early on.

“My feeling was Kelvin was one of those special people that has a celestial tangent, he was going to make huge changes not only because he’s the first Aboriginal surgeon in all of Australia, but because he’s a special person who cares,” Clinical Professor Henry Coates AO, a paediatric ENT specialist and Indigenous health advocate said. He has known Dr Kong since he was a young Fellow at the Royal Melbourne Children’s Hospital.

When SBS News visited Dr Kong at work, at Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital, he had just performed an operation implanting a cochlear hearing device, restoring the hearing of his patient Mareta Jones after three years of living in silence. She used one word to describe him: “humble”.

“Just a beautiful person”, her husband Paul added. “We’re privileged to have met him.”

Professor Kong with staff and patient at Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital
January 2018
(Source: SBS News)

Ear disease is a particularly prevalent problem in Indigenous communities, Dr Kong says. It has a knock-on effect: ear problems early in life cause hearing loss, which can make children disengaged from school and learning, and promote problems with truancy and delinquency later on.

“If you’re not hearing, you can’t learn, you can’t hear the songlines, you can’t hear the stories, you can’t sing along, you can’t dance. It’s so important to basic life and living,” he said.

If you’re not hearing, you can’t learn, you can’t hear the songlines

The EXIT

Kelvin is now also part of a remarkable evolution of surgery and multidisciplinary research synergy.

The EXIT (ex utero intrapartum treatment) procedure is an extraordinary life-saving operation that uses multiple different avenues of research to be able to understand and perform this kind of revolutionary surgery.

‘We now have the ability to deliver a baby’s head through caesarean section without inducing labour,’ Kelvin explained.

‘EXIT surgery is all from research—foetal development, maternofoetal circulation, imaging advances, anaesthetics, and timing, which can help us deliver a baby suffering from a blocked airway in a safe manner, for example.’

‘To be able to work in today’s environment—the medical care that is afforded to us is just incredible,’ Kelvin added.

‘The surgery is meticulously planned and very tightly controlled. There is an anaesthetics team looking after mum and one looking after baby, a neonatal intensive care team, two ENT teams—one doing the surgery, and another ready in case of an emergency tracheostomy *, and the important obstetric team,’ he explained.

Working with academics, scientists and clinicians who share that same passion in deriving the correct answer in a manner which can be translated back to the community is one way Kelvin ‘gives back.’

Did You Know? Professor Kelvin Kong's research focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of otitis media, “glue ear”, in children under three. Glue Ear (outside ear image) (Source: BBC News) Internal view of Glue Ear The middle ear becomes full of fluid, causing a loss of hearing in that ear. The Eustachian tube connects the middle ear to the back of the throat. It helps drain secretions from the middle ear. When it becomes blocked, this causes middle ear secretions (fluid) to build up in the middle ear space. (Source: Zero to Finals) Otitis media is experienced at higher levels in Indigenous than non-Indigenous communities and affects as many as 70% of children in remote communities. It can lead to hearing impairment and/or loss, and failure to treat it can have negative impacts on children’s education, childhood development and social outcomes. He is also working on studies of pathogenicity and antibiotic resistance among Indigenous and non-Indigenous trial groups with the hope of informing new treatments. He explains that hearing loss, often caused by Otitis Media (middle ear disease), significantly contributes to poor educational outcomes for children and higher unemployment rates in adults as a result. Determined to change the statistics, Dr Kong has dedicated his career to early intervention. "If we can reduce the risk of hearing loss we can have a direct impact on a child's ability to learn and develop. The change that we see is remarkable - we can take them from limited hearing and language skills to fully functioning teenagers with real employment prospects." Sydney Morning Herald report 17 March 2021 Identifying hearing loss and treating middle-ear infections in Indigenous children in their first four years would change lives forever, says Australia’s first Indigenous surgeon, Professor Kelvin Kong. Describing himself as a proud Worimi man, Professor Kong said early intervention – such as checking children’s ears at every opportunity – would contribute to closing the gap in education, employment and health between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. It would result in more children finishing school, getting jobs and fewer younger people ending up in juvenile justice and jail because they couldn’t understand what was going on. In a country that prides itself on inventing the Cochlear implant that has revolutionised the lives of babies born with severe or profound hearing loss, the rate of middle-ear infections causing hearing loss among Indigenous Australians was much worse than among non-Indigenous Australians, said Professor Kong, an ear, nose and throat surgeon in Newcastle. Otitis media - infections and inflammation of the ears causing glue or runny ears – is the most common reason why all young Australian children see a doctor. It is chronic in Indigenous communities due to poverty, overcrowded housing and a mistrust of, or lack of access to, health services. Yet Aboriginal children often suffered in silence, said Professor Kong. That is because, after an eardrum has burst from an ear infection, the pain goes away even if the perforation doesn’t recover. Without a child complaining of ear pain, parents are unaware of the infection, which can get worse, causing hearing loss. Professor Kelvin Kong in Newcastle (Source: SMH) “In ear disease we're talking about rates where it's off the Richter [but] perforations of the eardrum [are] such a simple issue. “The World Health Organisation talk about it being a problem when the rate is over four per cent. In some of the communities I visit it's 90 per cent. This is Australia. It's a real blight on us and what we're doing.” It means healthcare professionals have to rethink how people access their services, he says, as in his experience, parents from lower socio-economic backgrounds are less likely to have the skills, knowledge or confidence to advocate for their kids in the health system. This is in part why ear problems persist at a higher than average rate among the majority of Indigenous people who don’t live in remote communities. Surgery is tough and high-pressure, and the hours are long. But Professor Kong, who with wife Kiara has two children - son Lewis and daughter Ellery - also mentors high school students and wants to encourage more Indigenous people into medicine and surgery. He visits Broome each year to perform much-needed specialist consultations and surgery in the remote Kimberley. As a proud product of Australia’s multicultural melting pot, he says identity is not about labels. “First and foremost I’m Australian, and I’m bound by my community and my family … I have a very strong Aboriginal identity but also a very strong Chinese identity. I think it’s wonderful we can have this mixing pot of different cultures, [but] the values are very similar.” The World Health Organisation considers it an emergency if the rate is greater than four per cent. “Purely from a human rights point of view, [the belief that] a kid born in a first-world nation should have the same opportunity that every other child has is something I’m very passionate about,” said Professor Kong. The rate of ear disease for Indigenous people in cities was also higher than non-Indigenous Australians. “So if you’re living in beautiful Newcastle then your ear disease should be the same as the general population when you have the same hospitals, but it’s not,” he wrote in a special issue on Indigenous people and ear disease in the Journal of Deafness and Education International. A report by the Australian Law Reform Commission found that as many as 95 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners had some form of hearing impairment. Yet early opportunities to identify hearing loss caused by repeated ear infections were “sliding door moments” that were often overlooked, said Dr Kong, also an associate professor at the University of Newcastle and 2021 Novocastrian of the Year. He quoted a colleague in Darwin whose mantra is: “Every ear, every opportunity, every time.” That sometimes meant taking a photo of an eardrum and sending it to a hospital to review. (Source: Hunter Medical Research Institute) His experience showed that those children who didn’t recover from a middle ear infection missed out on early education, speech, language and culture. “It is also the songlines, dance, and the interaction with your grandparents, and the fun, the laughter and the happiness that makes a complete child in so many ways,” he said. “Where someone’s hard of hearing, they can suffer alarming injustice. They end up in jail. They go back to their friends and say, ‘What happened in there? Why am I locked up?’,” he wrote. “They often misinterpret what’s going on. Our system is too busy to sit down with the Indigenous person with a hearing loss and ask; Do you need a hearing aid? Do you need people to speak louder? Can you speak English? Is English your first language?” At school, a teenager with hearing loss may appear distracted. “Could they have gone down a different pathway? It can be a ‘sliding doors’ moment; which direction would make the Indigenous student head down without support or opportunity. If we focus more on access to hearing and understanding, then we’ll see outcomes change.” It was often the same problem in primary school where children with hearing loss end up sitting at the back of the class instead of the front. He praised frontline community workers and programs like the Hear our Heart Ear Bus Project in Dubbo. It provides targeted screening, free access to specialists and works with schools. It was started after Dubbo residents identified that a growing number of children with otitis media were not being diagnosed or treated and were falling behind at school. At schools, Hear our Heart teaches better ear health to prevent ear infections. Children with hearing loss and blocked ears are moved to the front, and the teachers wear microphones so their voices can be heard more easily. Many Indigenous families avoided mainstream health services, said Professor Kong. “Tackling hearing loss would require breaking down the silos between health, education and justice, and giving Indigenous and non-Indigenous community workers, GPs and teachers the skills to identify hearing loss early,” said Professor Kong. “Getting a hearing test is simple, but education and health care access for these kids requires a complex solution,” he said.

Awards & Recognition

In 2023, Professor Kong was named NAIDOC Person of the Year, a moment he describes as humbling and shared.

“These awards aren’t about individual success,” he says.

Looking ahead, Professor Kong remains focused on the deeper, systemic challenges that shape Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health outcomes.

“There are structural problems,” he shares. “There is still racism. Still barriers to access.”

“We need to centre Community voices, embed cultural safety, and support more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to enter and lead in this field.”

His vision for change goes beyond treatment.

“We also need to take responsibility, not just to treat, but to listen and to walk alongside.”

For Professor Kong, the work is far from over. But the path he’s creating for others is already being felt.

2024 January 29 Awarded AM	Australia’s first recognised Indigenous surgeon, Professor Kelvin Kong, has been appointed a Membership of the Order of Australia (AM) for his “significant service to medicine as an Otolaryngologist, and to Indigenous health”, in the 2024 Australia Day Honours List.
2023	National NAIDOC Person Award Category (Source: NAIDOC) Kong was hailed at the 2023 NAIDOC Awards as a “thought leader, trailblazer and visionary”
2020 Menzies Medallion (2020)	Awarded for his leadership in Aboriginal health service delivery and research.
2021	Newcastle Citizen of the Year (ABC News)

AI Overview

Professor Kelvin Kong AM is distinguished by his ground-breaking status as Australia's first recognised Indigenous surgeon and his relentless advocacy for health equity. A proud Worimi man, his career is defined by a commitment to improving ear health and educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.


Professional Attributes & Roles

• Specialisation: He is a highly skilled Otolaryngologist (Ear, Nose, and Throat Surgeon) specialising in both paediatric and adult care, with particular expertise in cochlear implantation and airway reconstruction.

• Academic Leadership: Professor Kong holds professorial positions at the University of Newcastle, Macquarie University, and the University of New South Wales.

• Health Advocacy: He serves as a powerful voice for health equity, working to close the gap in social and educational disadvantage caused by chronic otitis media (glue ear) in Indigenous communities.

• Committee Leadership: He is the Chair of Mina (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee for the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons) and has served on boards for Hearing Australia and the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence.

Personal Attributes & Values

• Humble and Grounded: Despite his numerous accolades, he is frequently described as "humble" and remains deeply connected to his family and the Worimi community.

• Resilient: He has faced significant personal grief, including the loss of his first wife to cancer, which reinforced his humility and focus on what truly matters in life.

• Community-Oriented: His practice often involves traveling to remote areas, such as the Kimberley region, to provide specialist care to those with limited access to health services.

• Inspirational Mentor: He actively mentors high school students to encourage more Indigenous people to pursue careers in medicine and surgery.

Links

Australian of the Year - Nominee 2023	Maitland Private Hospital
National Press Club	Hunter Medical Research Institute
AIDA	Hunter ENT
SBS News - Australia Day Honours ABC News - 14 August 2018: "Glue ear' project to fight hearing loss and improve outcomes for Aboriginal children	NAIDOC Week
Articles from The Conversation Glue Ear   26 September 2023 Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander children have ear & hearing problems - and it's easy to mistake for bad behaviour 1 September 2022

YouTube Videos

How glue ear develops | Bupa Health
https://youtu.be/YchcCEEnf-Y?si=Yhcn1tgCOAuD6gpl

 Kelvin Kong on "Hearing Versus Listening": National Press Club Address (58mins)
11 June 2021

Kelvin Kong, Worimi man, ENT Surgeon and recipient of the Australian Society for Medical Research 2021 Medal, addresses the National Press Club on "glue ear" in Indigenous children.

https://youtu.be/ZSuOKIE8Ukg?si=TJHRRSzebeyiGvnG

Best of 2022 — Kelvin Kong - Conversations (54mins)
hthttps://youtu.be/lxUMXfiGwGE?si=S1UacqkZmh4tm6QM

Professor Kelvin Kong wins Person Award | National NAIDOC Awards (2.35mins) 2023
https://youtu.be/CHMYNgNtiyo?si=l07X_5T4Jw0gox-r

The secret world of the human ear - Professor Kelvin Kong, Conversations with Richard Fidler

Middle  Secondary

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Literacy

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Ethical Understanding

Australian Curriculum Cross Curriculum Priorities: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures

Philosophy

Cooperative Learning Activity

Teacher

This story is inspirational.

Focus Lessons and Subjects: 3 - 4 Biology, Australian History or Career lessons to complete this activity.

You are going to conduct a Community of Inquiry. Look up this strategy to know how to conduct these lessons if you haven't implemented this strategy beforehand.

You need to be able to get the class to listen to this podcast.

The secret world of the human ear - Professor Kelvin Kong,
Conversations with Richard Fidler

Lesson Process

 Lesson 1 is listening to a podcast that is 53mins in length. This lesson might have to go over 2 lessons.

 Lesson 2 or 3: Form groups of 3- 4 students.

As a group, discuss what they heard that was inspiring from this podcast.

 Lesson 4- 5. Get the students to create 4 questions - one for each of the Question Quadrant:

Get the class to discuss the "Thinking Questions" that they have produced - with the most numerous first. 

 

 

Students

1. Form groups of 3 - 4 students.

2. Listen to the podcast "The secret world of the human ear" .[It was broadcast on the 5 September 2022 with Richard Fidler].

Part of this transcript:

"For Professor Kelvin Kong, the ear is our most beautiful organ.

It's vital to how many of us understand each other, and how we understand ourselves.

The proud Worimi man is the third doctor in his family, and is now an ENT surgeon at the forefront of medical innovation.

He performs highly intricate lifesaving procedures, and also more simple medical interventions that are equally as impactful, because by tending to untreated ear disease in children, he can change the entire trajectory of their lives." (Source: ABC)

(Source: ABC))

3. Take notes on this podcast.

a. What is new to you?

b. What inspired you?