RACGP launches new Reconciliation Action Plan

The RACGP has launched a new Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) as it refocuses commitments to improve Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander healthcare and employment within the college.
 
Its vision is to foster a GP profession ‘free of racism’ and where GPs provide culturally safe healthcare ‘grounded in mutual respect and trust’.
 
The organisation’s first Reflect RAP was implemented in 2014 and the last Innovate RAP was developed for 2020–22.
 
RACGP Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Chair Dr Karen Nicholls welcomed the RAP and told newsGP she hopes it will inspire staff ‘to act to undertake self-learning and self-reflection’.
 
‘To examine our own bias and to engage with truth-telling,’ she said.
 
‘To understand the strengths and successes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership.’
 
Dr Nicholls said the RAP is extremely important as the RACGP is a provider of frontline healthcare for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and also has Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff.
 
‘We need to consider our shared histories and what that looks like from the Indigenous perspective,’ she said.
 
The RAP acknowledges that the RACGP went through significant changes since the last report – including the COVID response and the national referendum.
 
It states this latest plan for 2024–26 builds on the existing commitment, with the RACGP acknowledging that ‘while we’re extremely proud of our reconciliation achievements to date … like any organisation, we’ve faced challenges, learned many lessons along the way, and know that we need to do more’.
 
In addition to the pillars of the Innovate RAP, which were Listen, Understand and Act, the RACGP says it has identified three key learnings for the next stage of reconciliation – Start from Within, Simplify and Stabilise.
 
RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins described the organisation’s third RAP as ‘an important milestone’.
 
‘We know that racism not only undermines the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, it also represents a major barrier in our progress towards a just, equitable and reconciled Australia,’ she said.
 
‘There is no room for racism in healthcare, and it is incumbent upon us to take decisive action to dismantle its insidious presence.’
 
Dr Nicholls commended the RACGP’s commitment to anti-racism in this latest RAP.
 
‘For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, racism within our health system is a significant barrier to receiving good quality healthcare,’ she said.
 
‘Every single discussion on anti-racism is always going to be helpful because it keeps it in the forefront of the minds of our clinicians, work colleagues and policymakers.
 
‘Just having and continuing discussions is extremely important.’
 
Currently in the RACGP, 221 members identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and 10,081 members have an interest in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.
 
The RAP outlines how the RACGP’s existing approach to cultural learning ‘no longer met the diverse training needs of our employees’.
 
‘To respond to this challenge, we worked hard to review and develop our cultural capability framework and ensure cultural learning provided to staff is locally relevant and specific to their position within the college,’ it reads.
 
‘We’re currently rolling out a nationally relevant online cultural learning module for all employees.’
 
Since the launch of the previous RAP, the representation of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander employees across the RACGP has increased from three (or 0.75% of its total workforce) to 22 (or 1.55% of the total workforce).
 
‘While we’re proud of the increased representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees across the college, we know that we have a lot of work to do to work towards population parity and equity in employment outcomes,’ the report states.
 
The RACGP has been public about its support for the Uluru Statement from the Heart and the RAP says, regardless of the national referendum outcome, employees have overwhelmingly shared through a post-referendum survey that they want an ongoing commitment to reconciliation.
 
‘Ninety-eight per cent of survey participants want the RACGP to either maintain or increase its commitment to reconciliation and [believe] that truth-telling is a key reconciliation priority,’ it says.
 
‘We listened to this and immediately acted on the findings by making an organisational submission to the Yoorrook Justice Commission, Victoria’s first truth-telling process into historical and ongoing injustices experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.’
 
Dr Nicholls said this strength-based forward movement will aid significantly in the reconciliation movement.
 
‘It is something that will allow us as an organisation to be able to grow and mature in an environment where over six million people voted ‘Yes’ in a referendum,’ she said.
 
‘They want to see change, and they want to see us doing different and reconciliation is one part of that.’
 
Now the plan is out there, Dr Nicholls said it is time for inclusivity and ‘listening to one another’.
 
‘For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, in the context in which we are looking at reconciliation, it does involve our voices being heard,’ she said.
 
‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are strong and resilient, and have endured, survived and thrived over time.
 
For Dr Higgins, the launch represents ‘more than just a document’.
 
‘It reflects our dedication to creating a culturally safe organisation that fosters continuous education and learning for both our staff and members,’ she said.
 
‘Yet, as we celebrate our achievements, we must also acknowledge the challenges that lie ahead.
 
‘We acknowledge that achieving equity in health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples requires sustained effort and resolute determination, now more than ever.’
 
The RAP was launched during National Reconciliation Week, a time designed for all Australians to learn about shared histories, cultures, and achievements.
 
This year’s theme is ‘Now More Than Ever’, with events and discussions running until 3 June.
 
The Innovate RAP is available on the RACGP website. The RACGP is also hosting a webinar on 4 June from 7.30–8.30 pm (AEST).
 
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health anti-racism close the gap National Reconciliation Week Reconciliation Action Plan