12 July 2024

As NAIDOC Week draws to a close, it is important to remember that our focus on celebrating the culture of our First Nations communities should continue and grow at Austin Health.

It is essential that we continue to strive towards creating a health service where First Nations communities and patients feel culturally safe. This is crucial in improving access to healthcare and health outcomes.

It was heartening to see so many of you participate in this week’s NAIDOC events such as the Smoking Ceremony, Aunty Eva-Jo Edwards reflections as a survivor of the Stolen Generations and Morning Tea for Culture at the Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre. At the morning tea, Uncle Kutcha Edwards delivered a powerful insight into the history and challenges of our First Nations Peoples, focussing on understanding and opportunity. These events were our biggest yet and demonstrate that working towards reconciliation is a shared responsibility and has the support of our Austin family.

I would like to extend my gratitude to our Aboriginal Health Unit, Ngarra Jarra, for their tireless efforts in helping us work towards achieving our vision of reconciliation, where all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have access to just, equitable and culturally safe healthcare.

Throughout this week I have spent time listening to what we are doing well and learning where improvements can be made.

We all need to listen to the experiences of our First Nations community and seek to understand their experiences.

One of the Guiding Principles in our Strategic Plan is to provide culturally safe services for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples. I am pleased to say that this focus will also be a strategic ‘Spotlight’ priority initiative for this year, ensuring we can take big steps towards achieving reconciliation and becoming a culturally safe health service.

As part of this, we will be initiating a Cultural Safety Review, with support from Ngarra Jarra. This will help us to create a comprehensive plan and target areas where education and support are most needed.

Thank you for your continued dedication to this important work.