Dr de Toca, a Spanish-born doctor who only became an Australian citizen four years ago, couldn't believe his eyes when he received the email from Governor-General David Hurley saying he had been awarded the Public Service Medal for his work “in leading the successful management of the implementation of the COVID-19 vaccine through primary health care”.
"I was in disbelief!", he tells SBS Spanish. "I felt a great sense of pride as a migrant to this country".
Dr de Toca was instrumental in ensuring the COVID-19 vaccine’s roll-out reached GP clinics, pharmacies, and First Nations communities throughout Australia.
A self-described “potpourri of Australian-ness” Dr de Toca worked in remote Indigenous communities for half a decade before landing his job at the Department of Health in Canberra. Prior to serving the Commonwealth, he spent years in Arnhem Land, where he was adopted by the Yolgnu community even before becoming an Australian citizen.
Highlights:
- Dr Lucas de Toca received the Public Service Medal for his “leadership of the successful management of COVID-19 vaccine implementation through primary health care”.
- Dr de Toca coordinated policies to fight the pandemic at the out-of-hospital level and arranged the deployment of vaccines to family medical centres, pharmacies, and Indigenous communities.
- Medical leaders who were on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, such as former Medical Director, Dr Brendan Murphy, then-Queensland Health Director, Dr Jeannette Young, and NSW Health Director, Dr Kerry Chant, were also among the 669 Australians who were recognised on June 13.
The advent of COVID-19 in Australia in early 2020 upended Dr de Toca's life. Before the pandemic hit, his work focused on designing health plans for First Nations communities for the Department of Health.
Dr de Toca tells SBS Spanish that the pandemic forced him and his colleagues to work until the early hours of the morning, seven days a week, for more than a year as they had the tremendous responsibility of saving the greatest number of lives possible across the country, including vulnerable, Indigenous populations.
In February 2021, as First Assistant Secretary at the Australian Department of Health, Dr de Toca was tasked with leading Australia's COVID vaccine rollout in primary care, making him responsible for the out-of-hospital response against the deadly virus sweeping the nation.
It’s been kind of a rollercoaster of emotions because, on the one hand, I’m a doctor trained in public health, working within the federal government on one of the biggest public health crises in the last hundred years.
“That’s professionally where you want to be, it’s very motivating. You feel you have this goal that gives you a lot of energy and a sense of purpose, but it also comes with a huge burden of responsibility because I was told, ‘if we don’t do this right at the beginning, a lot of people are going to die'.”
READ THIS ARTICLE AND LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW IN SPANISH:
"Popurrí de australianidad": Lucas de Toca, el joven español con vivencia aborigen galardonado por la reina
'Immigrant pride'
Dr Lucas de Toca says he felt that receiving the Medal “speaks well of Australia” as it reflects an “open-mindedness in allowing a recent immigrant to be in charge of a (nationwide) vaccination program”.
He is proud of the fact that Australia now has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, as the vast majority of the population (96%) have received two doses, while 60 per cent have received booster shots.
That makes me really happy.
Dr de Toca, a graduate of the Autonomous University of Madrid with a master's degree in Health Policy from Harvard University, says that despite feeling an “immigrant pride” for the recognition, he also experienced mixed emotions. By way of explanation, he says he feels “a little hypocritical” about accepting an award for work that was achieved as part of a team effort, and by the country as a whole.
He adds that, as a migrant himself, he experienced first-hand the pain that came with the decision to shut the international borders. Dr de Toca acknowledges such decisions mostly impacted migrant communities who suffered from having to witness the suffering of their relatives and fellow citizens in their countries of origin, whilst trapped in the 'golden cage' of Australia.
Dr Lucas de Toca at work in Nhulunbuy on the Gove Peninsula in the Northern Territory. Source: Facebook
Shutting down access to a quarter of Australia’s territory
At the start of the pandemic, Dr de Toca was instrumental in shutting down vast swathes of land. He was tasked with coordinating the COVID-19 response together with First Nations peoples to protect the most vulnerable populations in remote Australia.
He used his years of experience working as Chief Health Officer for the as a guiding principle and consulted with Traditional Owners to understand what would be the best response.
“We set up respiratory clinics so that people with symptoms could go there and not have to go to hospitals, distributed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for health workers, and closed access to Indigenous communities on March 26, at the request of the communities themselves, but using legislative principles never before used,” he explains.
After the relentless initial work required to swiftly lockdown capital cities and close off First Nations communities, and establishing respiratory clinics across the country, Dr de Toca and his Department of Health colleagues faced exhaustion. However, they had no reprieve, as the second wave of COVID-19 struck Melbourne.
Then, at the end of 2020, came the first vaccines. There was even more work ahead, but this time, the burden came with a glimmer of hope.
The mammoth effort involved in the vaccination rollout came with its own fresh set of challenges: a breakdown in supply chains, and road closures due to flooding across Australia, coupled with a lack of vaccine supply and variety. The rollout became the focus of intense public scrutiny. Dr de Luca says it was a particularly difficult environment. He was working day and night amid fierce criticism of the many issues and delays in the distribution of vaccines to GPs, pharmacies, and Indigenous communities.
"It was difficult to disconnect", he says, while adding he feels like he's aged due to the pressure.
"I was at work and it was all about the pandemic. You spoke to friends and it was all about COVID. You came home to turn on the TV, it was all about COVID", he explains.
A First Nations adoptive citizen before Australian
Dr de Toca, who also volunteered in 2017-18 in hepatitis and AIDS prevention efforts in the Northern Territory, said he sees his work with First Nations people as one of the most valuable experiences of his career.
As Chief Health Officer for the between 2014 and 2018, an organisation that looks after some 97,000 square kilometres of land, he learned about “the power of a community-controlled health service” when it came to implementing effective and inclusive public health policies.
“My managers were local Aboriginal people, the board members who direct the activities of the health service are elected and are usually Elders of the local community,” he explains.
Dr de Toca says his closeness to the communities of Arnhem Land, some of the most remote and least accessible in Australia, allowed the community to “symbolically give Yolgnu citizenship (to him) before he became Australian".
Dr de Toca says becoming a citizen of First Nations people meant more than Australian citizenship. Source: Getty Images/Don Arnold
“I think it has more value,” he concludes.
