A strategy for embedding cultural safety into the health system launching tomorrow

26 Feb 2020

An ambitious Strategy from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health experts, regulators and health organisations committed to embedding cultural safety into the health system will be released tomorrow.

The Strategy is endorsed by 42 organisations, academics and individuals, including the entities who set the education standards for the 183,000 students who are studying to become registered health practitioners and the regulators of Australia’s 750,000 registered practitioners.

The Strategy focuses on achieving patient safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples as the norm and the inextricably linked elements of clinical and cultural safety.

A key feature is that the Strategy was led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and individuals via the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Strategy Group that represents all signatories to the Strategy (see below).

Inaugural Co-chair of the Strategy Group Prof Gregory Phillips said this work has been a long time in the making and marks an important milestone for addressing health equity.

‘The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Strategy Group has already instigated and progressed significant reform to help achieve health equity and address racism in the health system. We are proud of our achievements to date and the launch of the Strategy. We have much work to do, but together we can have a broad-reaching effect that will help embed cultural safety into the health system across Australia. This is a significant step in the right direction to address Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People’s health, and the national priority of a health system free of racism,' said Prof Phillips.

Ahpra Chair Ms Gil Callister PSM said ‘self-determination has underpinned this work. The Strategy Group was guided by a caucus of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members to lead this work and reach a clear definition of cultural safety. As we saw in the recent 10-year Closing the Gap report – our health system must embrace this strategy to fundamentally improve the health of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.’

Strategy Group Co-chair and Chair of the Occupational Therapy Board of Australia Ms Julie Brayshaw said ‘cultural safety needs to become the norm in order for patient outcomes to become equal between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and other Australians. Without cultural safety, there is no patient safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients.’

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Worker Association CEO, incoming Strategy Group Co-chair Mr Karl Briscoe said ‘when we talk about patient safety it’s important to understand that for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, this is inextricably linked with cultural safety. This means that cultural safety is not an ‘add on’ or ‘nice to’. It’s something all registered health practitioners and health regulators need to understand and apply’, said Mr Briscoe.

CEO of the Dental Council of Australia Ms Narelle Mills said the collaboration of the signatories and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership means the Strategy is an opportunity to demonstrate strength and commitment in this vitally important area.

‘With this Strategy, 43 entities have a clear way forward to support cultural safety, work in a culturally safe way and to deliver clear strategic objectives that seek to embed cultural safety across the registered health workforce, education providers, students and the entities regulating health practitioners’, said Ms Mills.

The vision
Patient safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples is the norm. We recognise that patient safety includes the inextricably linked elements of clinical and cultural safety, and that this link must be defined by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

The objectives
Cultural safety	A culturally safe health workforce through nationally consistent standards, codes and guidelines across all registered health practitioners in Australia.
Increased participation	Increased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in the registered health workforce and across all levels of the scheme regulating registered practitioners nationally.
Greater access	Greater access for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples to culturally safe services from registered health practitioners.
Influence	Using the Strategy Group’s leadership and influence to achieve reciprocal goals. This includes developing a nationally consistent baseline definition to be used across the scheme regulating registered practitioners nationally, which has already been achieved in partnership with the National Health Leadership Forum.

As part of the Strategy, some key achievements have already been delivered:

partnering with the National Health Leadership Forum (the forum for national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health peak organisations) to develop, consult and finalise a baseline definition of cultural safety for the scheme for regulating health practitioners
commissioning high-quality cultural safety training to ensure that the regulation of health practitioners, including the development of standards practitioners must meet and the handling of notifications (concerns about registered health practitioners), is culturally safe
recommending and advocating for changes to the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law to ensure consistency in cultural safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Signatories to the Strategy

The Strategy was developed with the leadership of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health organisations and individuals, and is proudly endorsed by:

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Accreditation Committee	Dental Board of Australia
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia	Indigenous Allied Health Australia
Ahpra (Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency)	Medical Board of Australia
Australasian Osteopathic Accreditation Council	Medical Radiation Practice Accreditation Committee
Australian and New Zealand Podiatry Accreditation Council	Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care	National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Worker Association
Australian Dental Council	National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation
Australian Indigenous Doctors' Association	Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia
Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association	Occupational Therapy Board of Australia
Australian Medical Council	Optometry Board of Australia
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council	Optometry Council of Australia and New Zealand
Australian Pharmacy Council	Osteopathy Board of Australia
Australian Physiotherapy Council	Paramedicine Board of Australia
Australian Psychology Council	Pharmacy Board of Australia
Chair, Occupational Therapy Council of Australia Ltd	Physiotherapy Board of Australia
Chinese Medicine Accreditation Committee	Podiatry Board of Australia
Chinese Medicine Board of Australia	Prof Mark Wenitong
Chiropractic Board of Australia	Prof Noel Hayman
Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives	Prof Pat Dudgeon (represented by Dr Sabine Hammond)
Council of Chiropractic Education Australasia	Prof Roianne West, Dean First Peoples Health
Councils Presidents Forums (NSW)	Psychology Board of Australia

Please note this list includes organisations that have provided endorsement and interim endorsement.

For more information

The Strategy is published on the Ahpra website.
As part of this work the Strategy Group partnered with the National Health Leadership Forum to develop, consult on and finalise a baseline definition of cultural safety for the scheme for regulating health practitioners.
For more about the Strategy Group, see www.ahpra.gov.au/About-AHPRA/Aboriginal-and-Torres-Strait-Islander-Health-Strategy
www.ahpra.gov.au
For media enquiries, please call (03) 8708 9200.

A strategy for embedding cultural safety into the health system launching tomorrow

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Signatories to the Strategy

For more information