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RACGP vows to support a healthcare system free from racism
Reiterating its ‘zero tolerance’ approach, the college’s updated position pledges to drive change across healthcare.
The RACGP says it is committed to driving systemic change to dismantle all forms of racism across the healthcare system.
To mark its ongoing commitment to eliminating racism in Australia’s healthcare system, the RACGP has released its updated position statement, backed by the Race Discrimination Commissioner.
Launched to coincide with International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the position details a commitment to measure, challenge and address racism in general practice, general practice training, and the broader healthcare system.
RACGP President Dr Michael Wright said the position’s release is a significant milestone for the college.
‘Our position statement demonstrates our commitment to eliminate racism,’ he told newsGP.
‘Every GP has the right to enjoy a career free from racism and every patient has the right to access healthcare free from racism. But we know many GPs and patients from culturally and racially marginalised groups experience racism in the healthcare system.
‘That’s why it’s important for the RACGP to take the leadership on this, to address and stand up to racism.
‘We do not tolerate racism in any form.’
The position statement outlines the RACGP’s key commitments to eliminating racism, including:
- Implementing the RACGP Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural and Health Training Framework
- Supporting systemic reform by amplifying the voices of members impacted by racism
- Developing resources and CPD activities to increase racial literacy for staff and members, and to advocate for and support colleagues and patients impacted by racism
- Advocate for government leadership in driving systemic, society-wide action against racism in healthcare
The RACGP highlights its ‘zero tolerance’ for any form of racism and strong support for action to challenge and address racism within general practice and the broader healthcare system.
Acknowledging the ‘ongoing impact of colonisation, listening to those who experience racism, and fostering a culture of truth-telling’ are embedded in the college’s commitments.
Also included in the college’s recommendations is working collaboratively with members from culturally and racially marginalised groups, governments, peak health bodies and the AHRC and to support initiatives informed by the
National Anti-Racism Framework.
The Framework calls for the Government to identify racism as an urgent national health priority, providing solutions to prioritise shared decision-making with at-risk communities, to ensure lived experiences of racism inform the way forward.
Australia’s Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman told
newsGP he sees a ‘strong alignment’ between the National Anti-Racism Framework and the position taken by the RACGP.
‘In particular, the recognition of the ongoing impacts of colonisation, the call for greater racial literacy, and the framing of racism as a systemic issue resonate deeply with the truth-telling and understanding that the Framework seeks to embed across a number of sectors, including healthcare,’ he said.
‘Anti-racism calls for the active dismantling of racism in our structures and institutions at its roots, and I believe the RACGP has positioned itself well for this work with the statement it has released.’
Mr Sivaraman said the widespread impacts of racism on the healthcare system are evident with ‘plenty of patients and practitioners failed by the system’, which leads to patients opting out of healthcare, and practitioners leaving the system.
‘Eliminating racism in healthcare settings is a must if we want negatively racialised communities to receive the healthcare they need,’ he said.
‘Racism harms: it diminishes people and has a severely detrimental impact on wellbeing.
‘Being faced with it in a setting that is supposed to keep us healthy and safe has dire consequences. When racial biases and prejudices keep people from timely diagnoses and effective treatment, then racism can be fatal.’
Addressing racism is also vital to ensure healthcare practitioners from communities affected by racism to stay in the system and share knowledge and expertise, according to the Race Discrimination Commissioner, who says they have a leading role in developing the interventions and supports needed to eliminate racism.
‘Anti-racism education for all health practitioners also ensures the work of eliminating racism is not shouldered by negatively racialised people alone,’ Mr Sivaraman said.
‘All practitioners should know how to play an active role in dismantling racism in the healthcare system.’
RACGP Board Chair Dr Siân Goodson said the updated position places the college’s commitments front and centre as Australia’s peak general practice body.
‘Every step along the way to a racism-free health system and society is important, and the RACGP is committed to continuing action for our members, their patients, and all communities and groups affected,’ she said.
To help ensure a healthcare system free from racism, the RACGP also pledges to better understanding members’ experiences of racism, and building capacity to monitor, measure and act on racism.
‘In Australia at the moment we’re going through a period of increasing racial tension, and we know this is impacting our GPs, our practice staff, our health workforces and our patients,’ Dr Wright said.
‘So, it’s important for the college to stand up and say: this is not acceptable in any form.’
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health anti-racism framework Australian Human Rights Commission RACGP position statement racism
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