This week is NAIDOC Week. National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) is the national week to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The theme this year is Heal Country! This is a call for all Australians to continue to seek greater protection of our lands, our waters, our sacred sites and cultural heritage.
Monash Health is committed to creating a culturally safe environment, ensuring that everyone has equal healthcare opportunities. Our Aboriginal Health team work to improve health outcomes and experiences for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in our catchment area. In addition to their work in this area, they continue to provide opportunities of learning, training, and celebration to their colleagues.
During NAIDOC Week, we hosted a number of events that focused on celebrating and learning about one of the oldest living cultures in the world.
On Monday, we had a Welcome to Country delivered by Wurundjeri Elder, Aunty Georgina Nicholson. Aunty Georgina also reiterated the importance of coming together to celebrate NAIDOC Week and its role in keeping the world’s oldest continuing culture alive.
At our employee forum on Tuesday, we were joined by members of our Aboriginal Health team, Kenton Winsley, Director, and Dan Mason, Project Lead. Kenton and Dan spoke to how we identify Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients who we may care for and shared a video about asking the question of Aboriginality. If you missed the employee forum, you can watch the recording here.
We were also fortunate to be joined by Uncle Jack Charles, a prominent Aboriginal writer, musician and actor. Uncle Jack engaged in Story Telling, sharing his experiences and telling us about his cultural background.
He also spoke to the experiences he had with health services in Victoria and ways in which health services can continue to support the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. If you missed the session, you can watch the recording here.
Thank you to everyone who attended these events. For more information on NAIDOC Week, you can visit the National NAIDOC Week website.
You can sign up for upcoming Cultural Safety Workshops through LATTE. These will be run virtually with AJ Williams on the following days:
- Monday 9 August
- Thursday 9 September
- Friday 5 November
Don’t forget to complete your mandatory training module on LATTE, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Awareness eLearning Training for Employees. This module not only teaches us important skills that are essential when providing healthcare, it is a great opportunity to refresh our knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait culture and the most appropriate way of engaging with our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients.
Approved by Julia Oxley