At AWH, we’re proud to celebrate and support all our staff and volunteers who have served in the Australian defence forces. This ANZAC Day, we’re sharing the work of Jody Bellette in our Patient Support Unit and her career dedicated to service and care.
Jody Bellette has never been one to turn down an opportunity.
Her career has taken her from one of the first female platoons through Kapooka Army Base in the 1980s, to mapping remote parts of Australia, to supporting troops as a nurse and helping coordinate disaster response efforts.
Now, she’s working in the Patient Support Unit at Albury Wodonga Health.
For her, ANZAC Day brings all of that into focus.
Red rag to a bull
Hailing from Bathurst, NSW, Jody joined the Army as a teenager, looking for something more.
“There weren’t a lot of opportunities for women back then,” she says. “I wanted to travel. I wanted to see what was out there.”
“My school principal told me Big W was opening soon, and that would be a great opportunity for a girl like me,” she laughs.
“That was like a red rag to a bull.”
Instead, she joined the Army, becoming part of one of the first female platoons to go through Kapooka Army Base in Wagga Wagga.
She became a cartographic technician, spending months at a time in remote areas checking terrain, roads and infrastructure to create detailed maps for the Defence Force.
“We’d be out in the bush, living in pretty basic conditions, making sure the maps were right,” she says. “That was the work the Defence Force relied on.”
She met her husband, who also serves, and after retraining as a nurse, she returned to the army as a nursing officer in her 40s.
“I was told I’d have to pass the same physical tests as the 18-year-olds,” she laughs. “So I decided to prove that I could.”
She was part of military resuscitation teams – small, highly trained clinical units that provide immediate, life-saving care in high-pressure environments, often close to where injuries occur.
“We’d be out in the bush for months at a time, living in the dirt, chasing the units we were supporting,” she says.
From the field to the frontline of care
Over the years, Jody worked across Australia, including spending nearly a decade in Darwin. Her work included supporting soldiers preparing for deployment and, later, disaster response at the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre.
After years in senior leadership and project roles, she recently made a conscious decision to step back and return to more hands-on work.
That’s what led her to the Patient Support Unit team at Albury Wodonga Health.
“I was looking for that sense of teamwork again,” she says. “That camaraderie.”
“It’s something I’d had in Defence, and it’s something I’ve found again here.”
More than a day
For Jody, ANZAC Day has taken on a deeper meaning over time.
“When I was younger, it was about the veterans you’d see marching – World War I, World War II, Vietnam,” she says.
“But now, it’s about remembering the impact that war has had on Australians, and the people who stepped forward when they were needed.”
“It’s about the families too,” she says. “The ones who stayed behind, who supported them – that’s part of the story.”
And it’s about something deeper that still resonates today.
“That idea of looking out for your mates and standing up when it matters – that hasn’t gone away,” she says.
This ANZAC Day, join us in honouring Jody, and all those who have served and are still serving. Lest we forget.