A striking Aboriginal artwork inspired by the landscapes and waterways of the Hawkesbury region is helping create a welcoming and culturally inclusive environment for patients, visitors and staff at NSW Health Pathology’s collection room at Hawkesbury District Hospital.

The art­work was offi­cial­ly acknowl­edged dur­ing a Smok­ing Cer­e­mo­ny held on 13 July 2026, a week after the 50th anniver­sary of NAIDOC Week – a mile­stone that cel­e­brates five decades of recog­nis­ing and hon­our­ing Abo­rig­i­nal and Tor­res Strait Islander his­to­ry, cul­ture, achieve­ments and leadership.

The cer­e­mo­ny marked an impor­tant moment for NSW Health Pathol­o­gy and Nepean Blue Moun­tains Local Health Dis­trict, fol­low­ing the suc­cess­ful tran­si­tion of pathol­o­gy ser­vices at Hawkes­bury Dis­trict Hospital.

The Smok­ing Cer­e­mo­ny sym­bol­is­es cleans­ing, pro­tec­tion and new begin­nings, while rein­forc­ing the impor­tance of con­nec­tion, com­mu­ni­ty and respect.

NSW Health Pathol­o­gy’s lab­o­ra­to­ry com­menced oper­a­tions on 14 Octo­ber 2025 and now plays a vital role in sup­port­ing health­care across the Hawkes­bury region.

“Every sam­ple processed, every test per­formed and every result report­ed con­tributes to faster diag­noses, bet­ter treat­ments and improved out­comes for patients,” said NSW Health Pathol­o­gy Local Pathol­o­gy Direc­tor, Dr James Bran­ley OAM.

“While much of pathol­o­gy hap­pens behind the scenes, it is cen­tral to near­ly every patient jour­ney, help­ing clin­i­cians pro­vide the right care at the right time.”

A stand­out fea­ture of the new col­lec­tion room is the large-scale repro­duc­tion of Mar­ri Bad­hu Muru, cre­at­ed by local Dharug artist Leanne Mul­go Wat­son Red­path (pic­tured above in front of the artwork).

Reflect­ing the flo­ra, fau­na, land­scapes and water­ways of Dyarub­bin (the Hawkes­bury Riv­er), the art­work was select­ed to help make the col­lec­tion room feel more wel­com­ing and con­nect­ed to the local community.

“Many peo­ple vis­it a pathol­o­gy col­lec­tion room feel­ing anx­ious or uncer­tain,” Dr Bran­ley said.

“From the begin­ning, the project team want­ed to cre­ate a space that felt calm­ing, wel­com­ing and reflec­tive of the com­mu­ni­ty we serve. Lean­ne’s art­work achieves exact­ly that,” Dr Bran­ley said.

NSW Health Pathol­o­gy worked close­ly with Leanne and Hawkes­bury Region­al Muse­um to repro­duce part of the orig­i­nal art­work as a fea­ture wall installation.

Beyond its visu­al impact, the art­work cre­ates a more inclu­sive patient expe­ri­ence and serves as a reminder of the deep con­nec­tions between health­care, com­mu­ni­ty, cul­ture and Country.

NSW Health Pathol­o­gy is com­mit­ted to deliv­er­ing safe, high-qual­i­ty and equi­table health­care and recog­nis­es that improv­ing health out­comes for Abo­rig­i­nal and Tor­res Strait Islander peo­ples requires gen­uine part­ner­ship, cul­tur­al respect and ongo­ing action.

NSW Health Pathol­o­gy would like to thank local Elders, Nepean Blue Moun­tains LHD, Abo­rig­i­nal com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers and part­ners who con­tributed to the cer­e­mo­ny and art­work project.

Come and vis­it our pathol­o­gy col­lec­tion service

We look for­ward to con­tin­u­ing to serve the Hawkes­bury com­mu­ni­ty for many years to come. Our Hawkes­bury Dis­trict Hos­pi­tal pathol­o­gy col­lec­tion is locat­ed at 2 Day Street, Wind­sor, next door to the main entrance of the hospital.

Phone: 02 4587 0440
Open­ing hours Mon­day – Fri­day from 8am – 4pm.

More details here.

Clarke Scott, Kevin Stan­ley, Nathalie Duroux, Dar­i­an Preece and Dr James Bran­ley OAM at the Hawkes­bury Dis­trict Hos­pi­tal Smok­ing Ceremony.

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