CURTIS, Nicole MoyneenNicole Moyneen Curtis is the daughter of Ian and Moyneen Curtis. Nicole commenced her education at Queenscliff Kindergarten. She started her College journey in the Prep class at Campbell House in 1976 continuing through to Year 7 (1983) at the Middle School. Nicole was in Minerva House. Nicole spent three years at Sacred Heart College before returning to Geelong College to complete Years 11 and 12 (1987-1988). Nicole was a Coles House prefect. Nicole’s younger brother Paul also attended The College.
Nicole studied medicine at Monash University graduating MBBS in 1995. Commodore Nicole Curtis joined the Royal Australian Navy as a final year medical undergraduate in 1995. After two years as a resident medical officer in Victorian public hospitals, she undertook the Qualified Entry Officer Course at the Royal Australian Naval College, HMAS Creswell in 1998. Following graduation, she posted to HMAS Cerberus.
Nicole’s first sea posting as ship’s medical officer to HMAS Arunta in 1999 was a rewarding experience, ensuring she was keen to continue serving at sea. Postings to HMA Ships Tobruk and Success followed. Her posting in Tobruk included Operation Warden (International Forces East Timor). Sea service at the rank of Lieutenant Commander included a number of short-term loan postings in both major and minor fleet units in support of OPERATION RELEX; a Southern Ocean deployment in HMA Ships Warramunga and Success for Operation Celesta in 2004; and a deployment to Operation Catalyst in HMAS Tobruk in 2005. In 2008 at the rank of Commander, she joined HMAS Arunta during an Operation Slipper deployment.
Nicole has undertaken a variety of shore postings during her career. Her early postings were predominantly in clinical care roles with more senior roles focused on health leadership and management. Notable postings include Senior Medical Officer, HMAS Coonawarra and Deputy Fleet Medical Officer. Following promotion to the rank of Captain in 2012, Nicole held the positions of Fleet Medical Officer; Director of Health, Joint Operations Command; Director of Military Medicine, Joint Health Command and Director of Navy Health, Navy Headquarters. Nicole was promoted to Commodore in November 2019 when she assumed the roles of Director General Operational Health, Joint Health Command and Director General Navy Health Services, Navy Headquarters. In January 2022, Nicole will commence in the role of Director General Garrison Health, Joint Health Command while retaining her Navy role.
Nicole is a graduate of the Australian Command and Staff Course (2007). She is registered with the Medical Board of Australia as a medical practitioner and holds specialist registration in General Practice and Medical Administration. Her academic qualifications include a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (Monash), a Graduate Certificate of Maritime Studies (Wollongong), a Masters of Arts in Strategy and Management (UNSW) and a Masters of Health Management (UNSW). She is a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators.
Outside of work Nicole enjoys yoga, dining out and entertaining friends. Nicole also likes to get outdoors and is partial to travel and bushwalking.
'Australian Doctor' ran a story in January 2007 on Nicole's career, entitled
'On Tour with the Prime Minister' :
'Few GPs can boast of having travelled in a prime ministerial motorcade, but the Royal Australian Navy's Lt-Cmdr Nicole Curtis is one of them. In 2005, she accompanied Prime Minister Mr John Howard on his VIP plane to an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in South Korea, a visit to Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to the Commnonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta. Lt-Cmdr Curtis joined the navy in 1995, during her last year at university, attracted to the sea by friends already in the service. Watching passing ships as she was growing up in Point Lonsdale in Victoria, also played a role. 'Ho Chi Minh City was the first foreign port the navy took me to and it never got any worse,' she says. '(The navy) is an opportunity to see different parts of the world on a very long, free trip'. ...
Initially anxious about dealing with emergencies at sea, Lt-Cmdr Curtis has found the most difficult situations are actually routine general practice problems that can't be managed with the limited medical supplies on board. 'The things that get to me at sea are weird rashes that I have never seen,' she says. Emergencies at sea have included AF and a suspected subruachnoid haemorrhage. But her most hair-raising moment was a man-overboard incident in terrible weather. The ship was a week from help and, by the time the man was retrieved, his condition was poor. 'The guy did end up being okay,' she says. 'But I was worried because his conscious state kept dropping and he was not very warm.' For the past three years Lt-Cmdr Curtis has worked as a deputy fleet officer at Maritime Headquarters in Sydney training medics and providing advice to medics and doctors at sea. She will spend the next 12 months away from medicine, studying defence strategy and leadership at the Australian Command and Staff College in Canberra. 'I like the opportunity to do different things, see different things,' she says. 'Probably one day I'll settle into community general practice, if there is such a thing, but at the moment I am still getting a lot out of defence and enjoying it.' Sources: N. Curtis December 2021, 'Geelong Collegians at the Second World War and Subsequent Conflicts' compiled by J. Affleck p565 (citing The Pegasus; Australian War Memorial; Australian Doctor, January 2007).