Australian Story: June 7

On Monday’s Australian Story, “The Final Call” updates coverage a family’s journey following the 2016 death of remote area nurse Gayle Woodford.

Gayle Woodford disappeared from her home in 2016 while she was working on call as a remote area nurse in the South Australian Indigenous community, Fregon.

Days later she was found murdered.

Her death ignited a debate about the security issues for medical staff working in outback areas.

Gayle’s family has spent the past five years navigating the complexities of South Australia’s legal system in a bid both to find answers and to ensure that medical staff are better protected.

“What would we as Australians do without the nurses and the doctors and the carers? Surely they should be able to go to work and be safe?” says her husband, Keith Woodford.

The South Australian coroner recently concluded his inquiry into Gayle’s death and has made 12 recommendations in a bid to prevent such a tragedy happening again. This includes looking at a permanent police presence in Fregon.

“During the inquest we learnt about the vast number of systems and government and non-government organisations that really let Gayle down and made her vulnerable to her attack,” says her former work colleague and friend, Belinda Schultz.

8pm Monday on ABC.