We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land and their strong connection to lands, seas, skies, winds and community. We pay respect to Elders past, present and future. We value all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the perspectives, contributions and cultures that enrich our society and our workplace.

Our commitment

We respect and respond to the cultural needs of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This includes our patients and staff, and their communities and families.

Our Statement of Commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples [PDF 869.87 KB] sets our commitments to cultural safety, equity, diversity and inclusion.

Our promise

Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Safety Policy Statement [PDF 600.67 KB] supports our commitments.

The policy acknowledges disadvantages and injustices suffered by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the past. It sets out our promises to give safe, effective, quality health care that's free from racism and discrimination.

What we’re doing

Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Capability Action Plan 2023–2026 [PDF 4994.59 KB] sets out the steps we’re taking to improve cultural safety.

The plan builds on our past work and is helping to:

  • improve the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
  • provide services that are culturally safe and meet cultural needs
  • achieve health equity
  • build cultural capability so the people we work with all have the same chances.

We worked with the QAS Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership Committee and Indigenous Network to help us develop this plan.

Cultural Safety Benchmarking Reflection Tool

As an action item out of the Cultural Capability Action Plan the QAS has embarked on a journey to understand the current experiences of cultural safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employees in the QAS through the development and implementation of the Cultural Safety Benchmarking Reflective Tool [PDF 7065.73 KB].

This tool builds on available literature and the lived experiences of QAS staff and seeks to:

  • Articulate what organisational cultural safety looks like, feels like and sounds like within the QAS
  • Provide District leaders with insight into areas of growth and success to help prioritise initiatives out of the Cultural Capability Action Plan
  • Provide District leaders with structure to engage in difficult and courageous conversations about challenging topics including culturally safe leadership, reflexive practice and connecting with community and;
  • Clearly sets the organisational expectation that these conversations are part of business as usual processes that help QAS address health equity challenges and contribute positively to closing the gap, embedding cultural safety within the organisation and eliminating institutional racism along with our partners within the HHS.

Last updated: December 2024