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GPs encouraged to call out racism in healthcare


Matt Woodley


31/05/2023 7:40:08 PM

The RACGP’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Chair says reconciliation’s role in improving health outcomes cannot be overstated.

Black and white person shaking hands
National Reconciliation Week 2023 is promoting allyship by encouraging all Australians to ‘be a voice for generations’.

Each year, National Reconciliation Week is set aside as a time for Australians to learn about their shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how everyone can contribute to achieving reconciliation.
 
This year is no different, with the 2023 theme promoting allyship by encouraging all Australians to ‘be a voice for generations’.
 
And while reconciliation touches on all aspects of Australian society, RACGP Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Chair Dr Karen Nicholls says its role in improving Indigenous health outcomes cannot be overstated.
 
In particular, she told newsGP it is important for GP allies to recognise and acknowledge that racism is present within Australia’s healthcare system and has a significant impact on the health and wellbeing patients, as well as their families and communities.
 
‘Clearly, we want a health system that is far more culturally safe than what it is,’ Dr Nicholls said.
 
‘Part of that means that when you see racism, call it out. Definitely, definitely call it out.’
 
She also says more needs to be done to protect people who speak up about racism, while continued effort is required to dismantle the structural features that allow it to thrive in Australian healthcare.
 
‘We like to practice evidence-based medicine, and the evidence shows that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are not referred for gold standard interventions at the same rate as non-Indigenous Australians,’ Dr Nicholls said.
 
‘For example, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are less likely to be referred for procedures such as coronary angiogram and are less likely to be put on the renal transplant list, even though we’re overrepresented when it comes to end stage renal disease.
 
‘The evidence is there.’
 
The most recent Closing the Gap report shows that only two of 18 health and socio-economic targets are on track to be met, while some are going backwards.
 
Dr Nicholls believes prioritising cultural safety within the healthcare system will go a long way towards improving health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
 
‘Cultural awareness training is the starting point for becoming culturally safe as a health practitioner bearing in mind that cultural safety is a lifelong journey and not an endpoint,’ she said.
 
‘It’s a journey that we need to continually practice every day – being aware of what our biases are and how they affect others.
 
‘It’s also being aware that our worldview – the way we see and understand things – is not shared by everyone, especially those who come from diverse cultural backgrounds, and have had other experiences.
 
‘I’d ask my GP colleagues to educate themselves on Australian history, so that they understand the context that has led to some of the discrepancies and the challenges that we’re seeing now.’
 
The call for allyship is also supported by Reconciliation Australia CEO Karen Mundine, who has called on Australians to honour the work of past generations who fought for justice, and to work together today to tackle the ‘unfinished business’ of reconciliation. 
 
‘There has long been a strong thread in Australian history of people striving to build a just society,’ she said.
 
‘Australian history has included many examples of non-First Nations Australians who stood with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people during early strikes, protests and notably during the 1967 referendum.
 
‘Australia has a long record of inspiring allyship and solidarity to address centuries of racism and injustice.
 
‘This National Reconciliation Week we urge all Australians to follow in this tradition to “Be a voice for generations”, while also imagining a better country for future generations.’
 
It is a point reinforced by Dr Nicholls.
 
‘Ideally we want to we want to be a society that walks together on these sorts of issues,’ she said.
 
‘It’s about asking everyone to be a voice for generation – whether you’re Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander or not – because Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people definitely cannot do this on our own.’
 
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Dr Peter JD Spafford   1/06/2023 10:38:10 AM

The Gap is remaining the same or widening because of racism. Massive funding to Aboriginal Controlled Health organizations, PBS items only accessible if you are ATSI, Medicare Billing items only for ATSI patients. These divisive strategies only weaken the health service. Unity and progress will only be made when there is equality, and not treating one race as different to all the others. History affects us all and there is not a race anywhere in the world who has not had its share of war, invasion, and oppression.