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“It Makes Life Easier”: The Hospital Bathroom Designed by a Patient Who Pushed for Change

Princess Alexandra Hospital has unveiled the first ostomy-friendly toilet in Metro South Health, a purpose-built accessible bathroom on the ground floor of the main building designed specifically for people living with a stoma, brought to life by a patient named Jordan who raised the idea after his own surgery last year.

The bathroom sits alongside the standard wheelchair accessible toilet symbol and carries a new Ostomy Friendly Bathroom sign. This makes the space immediately identifiable to the 50,000 Australians who manage an ileostomy, colostomy or urostomy every day. Jordan identified the gap himself during his own treatment at the PA.

After a cancer diagnosis led to surgery and an ileostomy last year, he took his observations directly to the clinical team to find a solution.

“Living with the ileostomy is actually not bad, I mean it saved my life,” Jordan said. “But using the bathrooms anywhere, not just at the hospital, was a struggle and it was messy.”

Designed for Real Life, Not Just Accessibility Boxes

The modifications are targeted and practical. Clinical Nurse Consultant Lucy Perovic from the PA’s Stomal Therapy team outlined exactly what the upgrade involved.

“This modification includes an Ostomy Friendly Bathroom sign alongside the wheelchair logo, accessible hand hygiene, a bench for people to place their ostomy products on for changes, and a clinical waste bin as well as the ability to use the mirrors for changes,” Perovic said.

Princess Alexandra Hospital has unveiled the first ostomy-friendly toilet in Metro South Health. — *Photo Credit: Metro South Health/Facebook*

Each of those details addresses a specific, real problem. The bench means a person changing their ostomy pouch has a clean surface to work from rather than balancing products precariously or placing them on the floor.

The clinical waste bin handles disposal correctly and discreetly. The accessible mirror positioning allows for changes that require visual guidance. The signage both identifies the space and, Jordan hopes, does something broader.

“I’m hoping even the sign itself will catch people’s attention as they walk past and create some curiosity or education,” he said.

The response when Jordan used the bathroom for the first time told him the design had landed exactly right.

“I used it last time I came for chemo and it’s awesome,” he said. “It’s exactly what I wanted it to be and makes me feel super proud to be at PAH. This is great for the community.”

A Daily Challenge Most People Never See

Thousands of Australians live with a stoma, an opening in the abdomen that allows bodily waste to exit into an external collection bag after surgery to the bowel or bladder. Stomas are created to treat conditions including colorectal cancer, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and bladder cancer, among others.

Some are temporary; others are permanent. The Princess Alexandra Hospital, as Queensland’s principal academic and tertiary health centre for colorectal and bowel surgery, treats a significant proportion of the state’s ostomy patients.

*Photo Credit: Metro South Health/Facebook*

Managing an ostomy in a public bathroom has always been one of the more practically challenging aspects of living with the condition. Standard accessible toilets were not designed with ostomy care in mind, and the absence of a bench, appropriate waste disposal and usable mirror means people are often forced to manage a bag change in awkward and undignified conditions.

Those living with an ostomy long-term frequently describe scanning every public bathroom they encounter before committing to any outing.

The community voices that followed the announcement made clear just how widely this gap is felt. People who have lived with colostomies for decades said they often rely on parents’ rooms in shopping centres for the privacy and usable surfaces they need.

Others described the looks they receive when using accessible toilets, unsure whether their needs are seen as legitimate. One commenter said it had taken years of living with an ileostomy before they came across a space actually designed for them.

The facilities are common in parts of Europe and the United Kingdom, where dedicated ostomy-accessible bathrooms have been advocated for by patient groups and in some cases mandated in public buildings. Australia has lagged in this area, making the PA Hospital’s installation, and Jordan’s role in making it happen, genuinely pioneering for Metro South Health.

A Patient Advocate Who Made It Count

What is notable about this outcome is not just the facility itself but the path that produced it. Jordan raised the idea from lived experience, took it to the hospital’s clinical team, and the PA listened. Clinical Nurse Consultant Perovic and the Stomal Therapy team worked to make it a reality.

“Well done to everyone involved, and thank you to Jordan for being an incredible advocate for patients,” Metro South Health said in acknowledging the achievement.

For patients coming to the PA for treatment who live with an ostomy, the ground floor ostomy-friendly bathroom in the main building is now available. For more information about stomal therapy services at Princess Alexandra Hospital, call (07) 3176 2111 or visit metrosouth.health.qld.gov.au.

Published 29-April-2026

Dutton Park’s Newest School Hits Its Stride, but Brisbane’s South Still Hungers for More Secondary Places

Brisbane South State Secondary College/Facebook

Brisbane South State Secondary College has reached a milestone in 2026, with its first cohort of students completing Year 12, and enrolments growing faster this year than at any established school in the region. But the wider pressure on secondary education across Brisbane’s inner south remains unresolved.

The school, which opened in 2021 as one of Queensland’s most distinctive secondary campuses, recorded 1,444 students in February 2026, representing growth of 201 students in a single year, more than any established state high school in the area managed over the same period. It sits at 94.8 per cent of its current built capacity, with room to grow further as construction of its final stage completes.

For families like Ellen Rigbye’s, the school has become an increasingly compelling alternative to the private and selective options that have long dominated inner-south Brisbane’s educational conversation.

A School Built on Two Big Ideas

Ellen withdrew her daughter Charlotte from a western Brisbane private school in 2025, drawn across the river by something she hadn’t expected to find in a state school: a genuinely elite AFL pathway. Charlotte, a competitive AFL player, had won selective entry through the school’s AFL Academy, which operates in partnership with AFL Queensland and the Brisbane Lions, providing high-performance training alongside academic study. The combination of structured elite sport and a mainstream schooling environment was rare, and it showed.

“We went along to an AFL Academy open night, where they do a presentation about the school and about the academy, and it just sounded really good,” Ellen said.

Charlotte, now in Year 10, said the AFL program was a significant drawcard among her peer group too, including several students who had previously attended Brisbane State High School before making the switch.

The school’s second selective entry pathway, the Biomedical Science Academy, draws students aiming for careers in medicine and research. Developed in collaboration with the University of Queensland, the program sits within what planners have long called Brisbane’s knowledge corridor: the stretch of inner-south Brisbane that takes in UQ’s St Lucia campus, the Translational Research Institute, the PA Hospital and the CSIRO Ecosciences Precinct. For a school that only graduated its first Year 12 cohort this year, the calibre of its institutional partnerships is unusual by any measure.

What the School Was Built to Do, and What It Hasn’t

When the $140 million Dutton Park campus was announced in 2017, it was pitched as the primary solution to the overcrowding at Brisbane State High School (BSHS). Situated just over a kilometre away, BSHS remains the nation’s largest public high school and continues to warn families that local residency doesn’t guarantee a spot.

Brisbane South State Secondary College — *Photo Credit: BSSSC*

Five years later, community advocates argue that relief remains a mirage. Seleneah More, a member of the West End Community Alliance, notes that the college’s catchment was flawed from the start. By placing BSSSC outside the State High boundary and making only minor tweaks to neighbouring schools like Yeronga and Coorparoo, planners failed to tackle the core congestion.

Yet, raw data suggests BSSSC is serving as a critical pressure valve. By housing 1,444 students in its vertical campus, the college has mopped up demand that would have otherwise flooded the inner south. While these students might not be direct defectors from State High, the new school is undeniably doing the heavy lifting for a saturated region.

The 2026 figures highlight the ongoing struggle. BSHS enrolments dropped by only 19 students this year, missing the 100 student reduction predicted by official modelling. The school currently redlines at nearly 120 per cent capacity, operating 588 students above its intended design.

This creates a stark gap between nominal capacity and the reality of operational capacity. While BSSSC tracks toward its own limits, State High relies on aggressive split timetabling and staggered breaks to remain functional. With 92 per cent of local catchment students choosing BSHS alongside 1,000 selective entry places, the infrastructure remains under immense strain.

Filling Up, Tightening Up

Back at BSSSC, the path in for out-of-catchment students is narrowing. Charlotte noted that younger year levels at the school are already showing a lower proportion of out-of-catchment students, a shift that reflects the school’s own enrolment management plan as in-catchment demand grows year by year. Ellen confirmed the school is enforcing its catchment rules more strictly.

“Really, the way in is through the AFL Academy or the Biomedical Science Academy,” she said.

That tightening is by design. BSSSC’s enrolment management plan makes clear that selective entry places for out-of-catchment students are only available once in-catchment demand has been met and sufficient capacity has been reserved for future local growth. As the school’s first cohort moves through and the catchment population of the inner south continues to grow, those out-of-catchment selective entry windows will narrow further.

The school opened its 2027 selective entry application round for the Biomedical Science Academy in Term 2, 2026. Families interested in the AFL Academy or Biomedical Science Academy can find information at brisbanesouthssc.eq.edu.au.

Published 20-April-2026

Yeerongpilly Legacy Club of Brisbane Named in Veterans Grants Program

Photo Credit: Legacy Club of Brisbane

A Yeerongpilly-based organisation has been named among the first recipients of a new veterans grants program, with the Legacy Club of Brisbane included in the inaugural round.

Yeerongpilly Organisation Among First Recipients

The Legacy Club of Brisbane, based in Yeerongpilly, is among 33 organisations selected to receive funding in the program’s first round.

A total of $1.5 million has been allocated across the recipients, supporting projects connected to veterans and their communities.

The organisations named include schools, community groups and ex-service organisations across Queensland, reflecting a broad spread of recipients in the inaugural round.

veterans families — *Caption: Single mother and navy veteran Heidi receives support to manage financial pressures and care for her four children through Legacy services.*
*Photo Credit: Legacy Brisbane/Facebook*

Funding Supports Memorials And Community Projects

The grants are intended to support practical works such as building upgrades and refurbishments, along with the creation or restoration of war memorials, avenues of honour and memorial gardens.

Funding can also be used for activities and events that recognise the contribution of current and former service personnel while promoting community awareness.

The program includes both capital works funding and support for community-based initiatives, with further rounds expected as part of a four-year funding commitment.

veterans grants — *Caption: Vicki and her daughter Isabella received support from Legacy to navigate grief and access education assistance following the loss of a loved one.*
*Photo Credit: Legacy Brisbane/Facebook*

Families Behind The Work In Yeerongpilly

The inclusion of the Legacy Club of Brisbane links the program to the work of Legacy Australia, which supports the partners and children of veterans who have died or been injured during service.

Stories shared through Legacy’s community illustrate the impact of that support. One family described how a young child, who lost her father to a service-related illness, was able to maintain a sense of connection through Legacy’s ongoing assistance.

Another account highlights a single parent managing financial pressure while raising children, with support helping stabilise day-to-day living and access to essential needs.

Established in 1923, Legacy continues to provide services aimed at ensuring families are not left at a financial or social disadvantage following loss or injury linked to military service. Across Australia, the organisation supports more than 28,000 beneficiaries.

Legacy Club of Brisbane — *Caption: Isabella, who lost her father to a service-related illness at age four, remains connected to his memory through ongoing support provided by Legacy.*
*Photo Credit: Legacy Brisbane/Facebook*

Yeerongpilly Connection In Ongoing Program

The presence of a Yeerongpilly-based recipient places the suburb within the list of organisations selected in the inaugural funding round.

The program allocates $6 million over four years, with projects expected to begin by March 2026 and completion timelines extending over the following years depending on the type of grant.

Through funding for infrastructure and community initiatives, the program supports organisations that continue to recognise and commemorate the service of current and former personnel.

Published 15-Apr-2026

Annerley Residents Stranded as Major Rail Shutdown Paralyzes Travel Between Boggo Road and Varsity Lakes

Photo Credit: Translink

The massive transport bottleneck between Boggo Road (Dutton Park) and the Gold Coast’s Varsity Lakes will now stretch until at least the end of the month after a significant standoff with unions delayed essential safety and track upgrades.

A Morning of Gridlock

The disruption began on 10 April and has since grown into a significant challenge for people trying to get to work or school. On Monday morning, the situation reached a breaking point when commuters arriving at stations like Northgate and Geebung found themselves waiting in the heat for nearly an hour.

Instead of the usual quick transfer, people were met with lines that stretched across bridges and down suburban streets. Many residents found it impossible to even leave the stations to call for a ride-share service because the crowds were so thick.

The Math Behind the Mess

The main reason for the long wait times is a simple gap between train capacity and bus availability. While trains usually arrive every three minutes during the busy morning period, the replacement buses have only been arriving about every eight minutes. This difference caused a huge backlog of people on the platforms. Transport providers admitted that the number of people needing a ride was 50 per cent higher than they had originally planned for.

Even though 100 extra buses were brought in from other states and hundreds of drivers were hired to help, it was still not enough to move everyone quickly.

Local Business and Resident Impact

The chaos has spilled out of the stations and into the surrounding neighbourhoods. Local shop owners near the stations have seen their shopfronts blocked by hundreds of people waiting for a ride. Some business owners mentioned that they had never seen such large crowds in their area before.

Commuters who usually have a 35-minute trip reported that their travel time had tripled to over an hour and a half. Many people chose to get off at different stations hoping for a shorter line, only to find the same problems elsewhere.

Dates	Lines Impacted	Where Trains Stop Running	What Happens
3–10 April	Multiple lines (incl. Beenleigh)	Banoon ↔ Boggo Road	Buses replace trains (affects Moorooka, Salisbury, Rocklea, etc.)
11 April	Multiple lines	Varsity Lakes ↔ Boggo Road	Larger closure including Gold Coast line
12–19 April	Beenleigh + Gold Coast	Varsity Lakes ↔ Boggo Road	Continued full closure southside
20–26 April	Beenleigh + Gold Coast	Banoon ↔ Boggo Road	Southside closures continue (Moorooka still impacted)

Looking Toward the End of April

These disruptions are expected to continue through to 30 April. While some tracks north of the city are scheduled to reopen sooner, the lines connecting the city to the Gold Coast will see ongoing changes. Between 20 April and the end of the month, the Beenleigh and Gold Coast lines will run as a combined service, but there will be no trains at all between Banoon and Boggo Road. Transport officials say they are looking for ways to add more services in high-demand areas, but for now, the community is being asked to prepare for longer travel times and more crowded platforms.

Published Date 14-April-2026

Dutton Park Recreation Hub in Focus as Brisbane Seeks New River Experiences

Gary Montagner/Google Maps

The Dutton Park Recreation Hub at 359 Gladstone Road is among eleven Brisbane River sites now open to commercial expressions of interest, giving operators the chance to pitch new river experiences to one of Brisbane’s most historically and culturally rich waterfront stretches.

The EOI process kicked off on 2nd April 2026, calling for everything from floating restaurants and wellness hubs to water sports and boutique river tours designed to offer something unique beyond the standard CityCat and ferry routes. Expressions of interest close at 12 noon on 15 May, with state government approval required before any commercial activities can begin.

For Dutton Park and Annerley residents, the announcement carries a particular resonance. This stretch of the river has a long and layered history of public leisure, and the question of what it could look like in the lead-up to 2032 is one worth taking seriously.

A Park That Has Always Drawn a Crowd

Dutton Park was reserved for recreation in 1884 and named after Charles Boydell Dutton, who was Minister for Lands in Queensland from 1883 to 1887. It has been a gathering place ever since. In the early 1900s, the Brisbane Tramways Company staged popular variety and film shows in the park known as the Continentals, drawing up to 5,000 people a night, luring tram riders south with electric lights strung through the trees. A river baths operated along the bank between 1916 and 1932. A ferry service has linked the park to the University of Queensland campus at St Lucia since 1967.

Dutton river — *Photo Credit: Marine Structures*

What the park has not had, until now, is a clear, modern commercial framework for bringing new river experiences to its waterfront. The recreation hub at Gladstone Road is currently suited to vessels up to 75 tonnes and primarily functions as a launch site for kayaks, canoes and stand-up paddleboards. The new process invites operators to imagine something more.

What Could Come to the Water

The River Access Network covers eleven sites across the city, from Northshore Hamilton to Riverhills, including six recreation hubs, two major hubs at New Farm Park and the City Botanic Gardens capable of handling larger vessels, and three operational inner-city pontoons. The original design of the eight recreation hubs, including Dutton Park, focused on short-term passive use, and they have since remained under-utilised.

Proposals must demonstrate strong environmental performance and accessibility, while successful operators will need to invest in or co-fund any infrastructure upgrades required to bring their concepts to life.

City leaders describe the river as one of Brisbane’s greatest assets and say it has too often served as a backdrop rather than an experience, with plans now aiming to change that.

Committee for Brisbane CEO Jen Williams pointed to the structural barriers that have historically stalled activation. “Opening up existing facilities to new experiences and tours removes major barriers to the delivery of much-needed activations,” she said. “Through working with state government to permit commercial operations, the plan will de-risk investment and facilitate the introduction of exciting new hospitality and lifestyle offerings for Brisbane.”

The 2032 Opportunity

Brisbane’s visitor economy reached a record $17 billion in 2025, according to Brisbane Economic Development Agency CEO Anthony Ryan. He said activating the river in the years before 2032 would give visitors more reasons to explore the city while creating new opportunities for local jobs and businesses. The plan draws a clear parallel with Barcelona’s waterfront transformation ahead of the 1992 Olympic Games, which turned the harbour into a global drawcard that endured long after the event.

For a suburb like Dutton Park, already well connected by bus, train and the Eleanor Schonell Bridge to the University of Queensland, a more active river edge could reshape how the inner south engages with the water.

State government approval is still required before any commercial activities can proceed across the eleven sites.

How to Submit a Proposal

Operators must register through the SAP Ariba supplier portal and request an invitation to participate via the River Access Network tender. Expressions of interest close at 12 noon on 15 May 2026. For full details, click here or call the Business Hotline on 133 263.

Published 10-April-2026

The ‘Bird Man of Annerley’: Local Legend Laurie Baker Dies, 79

He was the man often seen walking Annerley Road with magpies, kookaburras and brush turkeys in tow, and now the suburb is saying goodbye to Laurie Baker, its much-loved “Bird Man”.

Laurie passed away on 8 April 2026 at the age of 79. For decades, he was a familiar and much-loved sight around the suburb. Residents would often spot him walking between his Lewisham Street home and the Annerley Road shops, accompanied by an unmistakable entourage of magpies, kookaburras and, every so often, a brush turkey or two.

His bond with the local birdlife made him something of a legend in the neighbourhood, and his absence will be keenly felt by many who knew him, or simply knew of him.

Laurie’s devotion to his feathered companions was part of his daily life. He made a ritual of visiting local shops to buy food especially for them, and his care extended well beyond the street.

At home, brush turkeys were known to knock loudly on his door each day at 4:00 p.m. for feeding time, prompting Laurie to head to the fridge for their treats. With typical humour, he would joke: “Those birds eat better than I do.”

An Annerley local for the past 35 years, Laurie was deeply woven into the fabric of the community. He was well known not only for his love of birds, but also by shopkeepers and locals up and down the strip for his warm presence, his routines and his passion for rugby league.

A devoted NRL fan, Laurie enjoyed placing small weekly wagers at the local pub and listening closely to every game at home on his old transistor radio. It was one of the many simple pleasures that brought him joy.

Before retiring around 20 years ago, Laurie worked as an interstate truck driver, a job that reflected his independence and resilience. Though much of his later life was defined by the quiet routines of suburban life, he had lived a rich and wide-ranging one.

Laurie was born in East Fremantle, Western Australia, on 2 April 1947, and spent his earliest years in Perth. As a young boy, he moved to Spring Hill in Brisbane with his parents following the passing of his grandparents, beginning what would become a lifelong connection with Queensland’s capital.

He was also a proud father to seven children, including two named Laurie. In his later years, he was cared for by two of his children, Matt and Tania, whose support and devotion helped see him through to the end of his life.

Laurie Baker leaves behind a large family, many friends and a suburb that will feel a little quieter without him. But for those in Annerley who watched him stroll the streets with birds at his heels, his memory will remain part of the neighbourhood itself.

Published 10-April-2026

PAH Nurse Monique Richter Retires After 40 Years of Compassionate Nursing

A nurse who spent four decades in the profession, including more than 35 years in cancer care, has retired from Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH) in Woolloongabba, closing a career marked by dedication to patients and staff alike.

Read: Dr Phil Aitken: The Doctor Who Helped Build Australia’s Leading Stroke Unit

Monique Richter retired after 40 years in nursing, more than 35 of which were devoted to cancer care, a specialty she described as an incredibly rewarding journey shaped by constant change and advancement along the way.

Her path into nursing began in March 1986 when she completed her training at Rockhampton Base Hospital, before moving to the Gold Coast to begin her early career. By 1990 she had settled in Brisbane, where a role at Greenslopes Hospital sparked her passion for cancer nursing.

Her career also took her beyond Brisbane. Monique spent six years working in South West Queensland, further broadening her experience and impact across the state. She joined PAH’s Division of Cancer Services in 2017, and from there took on a wide range of roles including Clinical Nurse, Nurse Educator, Nurse Unit Manager and Clinical Nurse Consultant.

Most recently she served as Nurse Unit Manager of PAH Cancer Satellite Services, a role she described as one of the genuine highlights of her career. In that capacity she played a central part in establishing clinics to expand cancer care closer to patients’ homes.

She said being involved in setting up those clinics had been a source of great joy, and she took particular pride in having recruited and developed the teams that now run them. She said opening the clinics, onboarding staff, watching them flourish and seeing the positive impact on patients was something she was very proud of.

That commitment to mentorship was a consistent thread throughout her career. She spoke of the deep satisfaction that came from supporting staff in their professional development, and said that when colleagues told her she had made a positive difference to their working lives, it meant a great deal to her.

It was the people, both patients and staff, who kept her coming back every day. Delivering high quality care to cancer patients remained a source of pride throughout her career.

Read: Princess Alexandra Hospital Stroke Unit: Best in Queensland, Among the Nine Best in the Country

Now in retirement, Monique has plans to travel around Australia with her husband in their camper and to get out on the water in their boat. Most of all, she said, she is looking forward to watching her grandchildren grow, describing them simply as a delight.

The satellite clinics she helped establish are making a real difference to communities, as she noted herself. It is, by any measure, a remarkable career.

Published 8-April-2026

Woolloongabba Hospital Project Hits New High with Final Roof Pour

Photo Credit: Metro South Health

Construction crews in Woolloongabba have officially finished pouring enough concrete to fill more than 80 basketball courts, marking the completion of the PA Hospital’s highest structural floor.

This major milestone was reached recently when the building team finished the final large concrete slab on the roof of the fifth level. To reach this point, the project required about 5,170 cubic metres of concrete delivered by more than 500 truckloads. This steady flow of material has allowed the new skeleton of the hospital to tower over the local area, changing the look of the suburb while moving the project closer to its finishing stages.

Heavy Lifting for Local Health

Hospital — *Photo Credit:* *Metro South Health*

The process of building such a large structure in the middle of a busy area like Woolloongabba required a massive amount of coordination. For every major pour, an average of 40 concrete trucks had to arrive in a specific order to keep the material moving without stopping.

This careful timing ensured that the slabs were placed safely and stayed strong. While there are still a few smaller sections of concrete left to pour, finishing the roof of the fifth floor is a major win for the workers who have been on-site for months.

A Team Effort Behind the Scenes

Noelene Herbert, who leads the expansion project for Metro South Health, noted that this achievement is a clear sign of how well the different teams are working together. She mentioned that the completion of the highest level is an important moment for everyone involved.

According to Herbert, the progress is the result of detailed planning and the hard work of various groups making sure the construction moves forward safely. She also shared that it is exciting for the community to see the actual shape of the building now that the structural work is nearly done.

Reaching the Top

With the highest floor now solid, the project is moving toward a milestone known as topping out. This is the point where the entire frame of the building is officially finished. The success of the project so far has relied on a partnership between construction experts, project planners, and the hospital staff who continue to work nearby. As the heavy machinery eventually starts to clear, the focus will shift from the outside frame to the internal parts of the hospital that will eventually serve local patients.

Published Date 31-March-2026

Dr Phil Aitken: The Doctor Who Helped Build Australia’s Leading Stroke Unit

Metro South Health

When Dr Phil Aitken walked into the Princess Alexandra Hospital as a medical trainee in the early 1980s, geriatrics was barely a specialty in Queensland. When he retired recently, the PA’s Stroke Unit was the highest-performing in Australia. That arc, from a reluctant geriatrics rotation to founding one of the country’s best stroke services, is the career of a doctor whose influence will outlast him by generations.

The PAH sits in Woolloongabba, a few kilometres from the centre of Brisbane, and it has been Aitken’s professional home for nearly his entire working life. He graduated from the University of Queensland in 1980 and became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 1988, building a career at the PA that shaped not just the hospital’s capabilities but the trajectory of geriatrics as a discipline across Queensland.

A Rotation That Changed Everything

Aitken did not set out to become a geriatrician. He was drawn to gastroenterology, but staying at the PA required him to take a geriatrics rotation. It was a term he took out of necessity and came to love out of conviction.

“I did rotations in General Medicine and Gastroenterology, and I really liked gastro but to remain at PAH I had to do a term of geriatrics,” he said. “This was when I realised what I wanted to do.”

Dr Phil Aitken required him to take a geriatrics rotation to stay at the PA. — *Photo Credit: Metro South Health*

He was the first Queensland medical trainee in geriatrics in 20 years when he undertook that placement, stepping into a specialty that was still finding its feet. The doctors who taught him there left a mark that shaped everything that followed. Under the mentorship of Dr Glenise Berry, Dr Keith Hirschfeld, Dr Glenda Powell, Dr Ian McCracken and Dr Paul Hopkins, Aitken found not just a clinical direction but a model for what good medical teaching looked like. He would spend the rest of his career trying to replicate it.

“I found PAH was a friendly and supportive environment for learning and I have been proud to call this hospital home for most of my career,” he said.

Building the Stroke Unit From Scratch

After his formative years at the PA, Aitken went to England as a registrar in neurology and geriatrics, where he contributed to stroke studies that had lasting consequences. One of his studies was later used by renowned Professor Peter Langhorne to validate and establish stroke units as a model of care, laying the research foundation for what Aitken would eventually build back home.

When he returned to PAH, that research informed a mission. In October 1997, Aitken established the Stroke Unit at PAH alongside colleagues Graham Hall, Jon Chalk and Chris Staples, creating what would become the template for integrated stroke care in Queensland.

“One of the proudest moments of my career was my involvement to start the Stroke Unit which opened in October 1997,” he said. “We set up as a triumvirate of geriatrics, general medicine and neurology, taking turns being on-call but we all looked after these patients. We worked hard on the Stroke Society guidelines and KPIs and PAH is now consistently the highest performing Stroke Unit in Queensland and Australia.”

That result did not happen by accident. It came from a deliberate commitment to collaboration across specialties, and from a clinician who understood that the quality of a unit is inseparable from the culture built inside it.

Making Geriatrics Stick for the Next Generation

Aitken has always been quick to point to the team around him. He is the first to acknowledge the neurologists, general medicine physicians, nurses and allied health professionals whose work made the stroke unit what it became. But his influence on the generation of doctors who trained under him is harder to deflect.

He taught at the old Schonell Theatre at the University of Queensland and brought to those lectures the same quality that defined his clinical work: warmth, humour and a genuine belief that caring for older people is one of medicine’s most meaningful callings.

“At the end of one of my lectures at the old Schonell Theatre, a bloke congratulated me on keeping the student’s attention,” he said. “If that’s the measure then I can probably say I succeeded in making geriatrics sexy to the next generation of medicos using anecdotes and humour.”

“Ultimately, the collaborative and collegial atmosphere we have created for learning and treating patients is key to anyone gravitating to geriatrics and I hope my mentorship and commitment to these patients has influenced others.”

A Career Woven Into the Fabric of Woolloongabba

For the Annerley and Woolloongabba community, the PA Hospital is not just an institution on Ipswich Road. It is a place where tens of thousands of local families have had their lives changed, or saved. The people who build that place from the inside, who stay for decades, who start new units and teach new doctors and push the quality of care upward year after year, are the reason a public hospital becomes something more than a building.

Dr Phil Aitken is one of those people. His retirement leaves a gap, but it also leaves a stroke unit that is the best in the country, a specialty that is healthier in Queensland for his presence in it, and a long line of doctors who chose geriatrics partly because someone once made it feel like the best job in medicine.

Published 30-March-2026.

Two New Businesses Are Taking Over the Former Southside Antiques Building on Ipswich Road

Murray Bell/Google Maps

The building at 484 Ipswich Road in Annerley that housed Southside Antiques for more than four decades is preparing to welcome two new occupants, with Brisbane fashion label dogstar and a kintsugi-inspired business called Kintsugi both confirmed as incoming tenants.

The arrival of the two businesses marks a new chapter for one of Annerley’s most recognisable commercial addresses, which fell quiet when Southside Antiques closed its doors permanently on Christmas Eve 2024. For residents of Annerley and the surrounding southside suburbs, the transition signals the next life of a building that has been a community touchstone since the early 1980s.

The End of an Annerley Institution

Southside Antiques operated at 484 Ipswich Road for more than 40 years, becoming one of Brisbane’s largest and most respected antique centres before the McGuigan family announced their retirement and closed the store permanently in December 2024. At its peak, the centre spread across two levels and housed more than 150 display cabinets, stocking everything from English fine china and Australian pottery to militaria, vintage fashion, antique furniture and paper collectables. It drew collectors from across Brisbane and interstate, and its position at Annerley Junction made it a natural stop for anyone travelling the Ipswich Road corridor.

Southside Antiques in 2023 — *Photo Credit: SLM/Google Maps*

The site at 484 Ipswich Road itself carries a longer history still. Before becoming an antiques centre, the building operated as Lunn’s Cake Shop, run by Olive and Fred Lunn and a well-known local business in the Annerley community. That layered history gives the address a significance that extends well beyond its most recent use, and the arrival of two creative, design-led businesses continues a tradition of the site serving as a gathering point for people who care about craft and quality.

Dogstar Returns to Its Southside Roots

Dogstar was founded in 1998 by Brisbane fashion designer Masayo Yasuki and has built a reputation for fashion designs defined by careful attention to cut, comfort and quality. The label is known for unique cuts and impeccable craftsmanship, a strong commitment to using natural fibres and the ability to make clothes fit beautifully, with design, quality and sustainability at its core.

Founder Masayo Yasuki — Photo Credit: dogstar

Yasuki launched dogstar by selling her designs at the Fortitude Valley markets before growing the label into a multi-store retail and manufacturing operation. The brand has weathered significant challenges over 25 years of Brisbane-based business, including the 2011 floods which destroyed an earlier studio, and has emerged as one of the most enduring independent fashion labels in Queensland. Dogstar currently operates boutiques in Paddington, Indooroopilly and the CBD, and the Annerley studio at 484 Ipswich Road is currently under renovation ahead of its opening. Dogstar’s contact page confirms the address is currently under renovation and coming soon, with the Annerley location set to serve as the label’s head studio.

The move to Annerley brings dogstar back to the southside of Brisbane where the brand has long had a presence and a loyal following. For Annerley residents, having a design and production studio of this calibre operating from Ipswich Road adds a genuinely distinctive creative anchor to the suburb’s commercial strip.

Kintsugi Brings a Philosophy of Repair and Beauty

The second incoming tenant, Kintsugi, takes its name from the Japanese art of repairing broken ceramics with gold, silver or platinum, treating the repair itself as something to celebrate rather than conceal. The philosophy behind kintsugi holds that an object’s history, including its breakages, is part of what makes it beautiful and valuable. As a business name and concept, it carries a strong resonance with the kind of considered, craft-focused approach that suits the Annerley building and its history.

Further details about the Kintsugi business and its opening timeline are expected to follow as the renovation progresses.

A New Chapter for a Familiar Corner in Annerley

The transition at 484 Ipswich Road reflects a pattern playing out across a number of Brisbane’s inner southside suburbs, where character buildings that once housed earlier commercial uses are finding new life as creative, design-led businesses. For Annerley, which sits at the junction of Ipswich Road and Annerley Road and carries a strong identity as an honest, community-minded suburb with deep local history, the arrival of dogstar and Kintsugi represents exactly the kind of considered new energy that respects what came before while bringing something fresh to the neighbourhood.

Residents wanting to stay up to date on the Annerley studio opening can follow dogstar at dogstar.com.au or on Instagram at @dogstarclothing.

Published 27-March-2026.