Dr Skye Kinder named in Forbes’ Magazine’s 30 under 30

Dr Skye Kinder, Psychiatry Registrar at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, has broken many barriers to be named in this year’s Forbes’ Magazine’s 30 Under 30 for social impact across the Asia Pacific region.

No stranger to prestigious awards and accolades, Dr Kinder has previously been named 2019’s Victorian Young Australian of the Year, AFR’s 100 Women of Influence in 2020, and Victoria’s Junior Doctor of the Year in 2017, for her work advocating for the health of people in rural and regional communities.

Providing youth with a positive role model

Throughout Dr Kinder’s young adulthood, many people told her she would never achieve her aspirations, owing to the fact she grew up in a lower socio-demographic. Now, Dr Kinder is a positive role model for Australian youth and hopes that young people who see her on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list are given the confidence to know they could do it too.

“More than any award, it’s the opportunity to represent the possibilities for people from other disadvantaged circumstances that have meant the most to me. It’s the old adage of you can’t be what you can’t see,” said Dr Kinder. 

“The number one thing I tell to young people, particularly young women from my region in the Loddon Mallee, is that if you can’t get in the front door, climb through a window. For the most part, people will be too busy underestimating you to ever see you coming.”

A passion for supporting the disadvantaged

Spurred by her upbringing in Bendigo and watching her father travel to Melbourne to receive specialist healthcare, Dr Kinder has spent much of her career providing a voice for issues that often don’t get heard from the perspective of people who live in regional and rural areas.

“As a young person, I’d often reflect on how deeply unfair it was that even in a large regional centre like Bendigo, my father wasn’t able to receive the sorts of care that he should have had access to. It was a huge driver for me to go into medicine.

“Later, as a graduating doctor, I realised how enormous this problem is. There are many families regionally, rurally, marginalised or disadvantaged for other reasons that face similar barriers.”

Dr Kinder said it’s these values that drew her to working at St Vincent’s.

“St Vincent’s mission to serve underrepresented, marginalised, and disadvantaged patients absolutely aligns with my values.

“My St Vincent’s journey has only been enhanced by the culture of the hospital, and the people who have supported me along the way.”