After 10 years of the Closing the Gap initiative and to mark National Reconciliation Week, the North West Hospital and Health Service (NWHHS) held a summit for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers from across the region in Mount Isa at the Ibis Hotel last week.
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Organised by NWHHS Director of Cultural Capability and Engagement, the health summit, “Closing the Gap – The Next 10 Years Summit: Framing the Future for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health”, brings together all Aboriginal Health Workers from across the NWHHS as well as agencies including North West Remote Health, Gidgee Healing and Mount Isa Centre for Rural and Remote Health.
It’s an opportunity for our health workers and partners to hear from industry leaders with an overall objective of growing a strong, future Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workforce.
- NWHHS Director of Cultural Capability and Engagement, Ms Mann
“It’s an opportunity for our health workers and partners to hear from industry leaders with an overall objective of growing a strong, future Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workforce,” Ms Mann said.
“We are committed to building and strengthening the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce currently and in the future across all employment streams. The Summit’s agenda is reflective of this workforce theme as well as covering Closing the Gap and reconciliation.”
Ms Mann said at the heart of reconciliation is the relationship between the broader Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The imperatives to developing strong relationships are trust and respect, and free of racism.
“It’s fitting that our MC and keynote speaker Associate Professor Gregory Phillips opens the summit with his address, Is Closing the Gap Possible Without Addressing Racism?
Professor Phillips has said there is mounting evidence of unconscious bias, racism and discrimination by some health professionals, organisations and systems.
“As a nation, we will not close the gap in health outcomes until we address this. One cannot be clinically safe if they are culturally unsafe. The two go hand in hand,” he said.
“Health professional accreditation and registration agencies are addressing the need for cultural safety in professionals. Now we need governments, universities, hospitals and health systems to also align themselves with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership,” he said.
Ms Mann said the Summit is an opportunity to inspire innovative thinking and harness the passion and commitment all attendees have towards making a real difference in the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the whole community.
Health leaders in attendance include Associate Professor Gregory Phillips, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Worker Association (NATSIHWA), Chief Executive Officer Karl Briscoe, Griffith University’s First People’s Health Unit Director, Professor Roianne West, and Mount Isa Centre for Rural and Remote Health Director, Professor Sabina Knight and Associate Professor Catrina Felton- Busch.
