Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Strategy – Statement of Intent

About

The National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (the National Scheme) is a single, nation-wide scheme for registered health practitioners. The scheme ensures that all regulated health professionals are registered against consistent, high quality, national professional standards and can practise across state and territory borders without having to re-register in each jurisdiction.

This is a statement of intent – between the 15 national health practitioner boards (the National Boards), the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra), accreditation authorities and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health sector leaders and organisations.

We share a joint commitment to the following vision and values:

Vision

Patient safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples is the norm. We recognise that:

patient safety includes the inextricably linked elements of clinical and cultural safety, and
this link must be defined by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

Values

commitment, accountability, shared priorities, collaboration and high-level participation
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership and voices in the National Scheme
reciprocity, which is two-way learning and the benefit of our work and outcomes, and
self-determination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

Cultural safety

Cultural safety is defined here as the individual and institutional knowledge, skills, attitudes and competencies needed to deliver optimal health care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

We acknowledge that there is currently no nationally agreed definition of cultural safety.

Our intent

We will work together to achieve equity in health outcomes between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and other Australians to close the gap by 2031.

We share a commitment to ensuring that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have access to health services that are culturally safe and free from racism so that they can enjoy a healthy life, equal to that of other Australians, enriched by a strong living culture, dignity and justice. We also commit to ensuring that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples are actively leading the design, delivery and control of health services. We commit, using our leadership and influence, to realising our vision including through our application of the National Law¹ to ensure:

a culturally safe health workforce supported by nationally consistent standards, codes and guidelines across all professions in the National Scheme
using our leadership and influence to achieve reciprocal goals
increased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People’s participation in the registered health workforce
greater access for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples to culturally safe services of health professions regulated under the National Scheme, and
increased participation across all levels of the National Scheme.

We are:

Dr Kali Hayward President, Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association	Dr Anne Tonkin AO Chair, Medical Board of Australia	Dr Kristin Grace Chair, Council on Chiropractic Education Australasia
Ms Tania Dalton Chair, The Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association	Ms Cara Miller Chair, Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia	Conjoint Associate Professor Deborah Cockrell President, Australian Dental Council
Mr Ben Gorrie President, Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives	Adjunct Professor Veronica Casey AM Chair, Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia	Associate Professor Jillian Sewell AM President, Australian Medical Council
Ms Nicole Turner Chairperson, Indigenous Allied Health Australia	Ms Julie Brayshaw Chair, Occupational Therapy Board of Australia	Professor Marilyn Baird Chair, Medical Radiation Practice Accreditation Committee
Ms Pat Anderson AO Chairperson, The Lowitja Institute	Mr Stuart Aamodt Presiding Member, Optometry Board of Australia	Ms Ann Kinnear Chair, Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council
Mr John Singer Chairman, National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation	Dr Nikole Grbin Chair, Osteopathy Board of Australia	Associate Professor Lynne Adamson Chair, Occupational Therapy Council (Australia and New Zealand) Ltd
Ms Josslyn Tully Chairperson, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Worker Association	Associate Professor Stephen Gough ASM Chair, Paramedicine Board of Australia	Associate Professor Peter Hendicott Chair, Optometry Council of Australia and New Zealand
Ms Gill Callister PSM Chair, Ahpra Board	Mr Brett Simmonds Chair, Pharmacy Board of Australia	Mr Brett Vaughan Chairperson, Australasian Osteopathic Accreditation Council
Ms Renee Owen Chair, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia	Ms Kim Gibson Chair, Physiotherapy Board of Australia	Associate Professor Sue Kirsa President, Australian Pharmacy Council
Adjunct Professor Danform Lin Chair, Chinese Medicine Board of Australia	Associate Professor Cylie Williams Chair, Podiatry Board of Australia	Associate Professor Shane Patman Chair, Australian Physiotherapy Council
Dr Wayne Minter AM Chair, Chiropractic Board of Australia	Ms Rachel Phillips Chair, Psychology Board of Australia	Dr Rolf Scharfbillig Chairperson, Australian and New Zealand Podiatry Accreditation Council
Dr Murray Thomas Chair, Dental Board of Australia	Adjunct Professor Elaine Duffy Chair, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Accreditation Committee	Professor Caroline Hunt Chair, Australian Psychology Accreditation Council
	Dr Meeuwis Boelen Chair, Chinese Medicine Accreditation Committee

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice - Statement of Intent (43.2 KB,PDF), Word version (24.8 KB,DOCX)

¹Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, as in force in each state and territory (the National Law).