Employing more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the health sector is a key to bringing true equality to health care.
That’s the view of Ashleigh Munro, a Gunaikurnai woman with ties to the Kamilaroi and Dunghutti mobs through her father, who is the manager of Bairnsdale Regional Health Service’s Aboriginal Health Unit and has just been appointed the chair of the Centre of Excellence for Aboriginal Health in East Gippsland (CEAHEG).
With Close the Gap Day on Thursday, 16 March renewing the focus on delivering health care equality for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and with CEAHEG in hiatus until recently following the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Ashleigh’s appointment comes at an important time.
She said CEAHEG began around 2007 with local Koori elders who helped establish the Gippsland and East Gippsland Aboriginal Cooperative (GEGAC), local doctors and others.
“We wanted to get Koori kids to study to be doctors. It had to stop for the past couple of years because of the pandemic but we’re just working out how to re-launch it,” she said.
“Now, I would like to make it broader than just doctors and show the kids all the health careers that you can do, building it from there.”
Ashleigh’s Aboriginal Health Unit colleague Narelle Bragg is also a CEAHEG member.
Ashleigh started at BRHS as a trainee allied health assistant more than 10 years ago, and stayed for another six years after her traineeship. She left for a period to become a youth worker at Nungarra Youth Accommodation before returning as BRHS’ Aboriginal Health Unit Manager.
Before the pandemic, CEAHEG worked with East Gippsland kids of all ages. “They were trying to work out how to get kids involved in health to go and study, come back and look after their community, I was a part of that too, and some really good things have come out of it,” she said.
“They ran health camps where they taught primary school kids how to do CPR. Some of the local interns got involved, and the kids learned about the heart and other health stuff.”
Ashleigh said she is working with BRHS’ Education Unit to improve Koori representation. She aims for BRHS to develop Aboriginal health practitioner traineeships so Aboriginal people can build their skills and practising hours across a range of disciplines and, hopefully, become employees.
In the past, these positions have been associated with Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) or GP clinics rather than in acute hospital settings, Ashleigh said.
“I think the traineeship that I did got my name and face out there, and it led to a job.” she said.
Aboriginal representation in health is the best way to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders feel safe and secure in a hospital environment where, historically, many injustices occurred.
“Aboriginal people know their own community, they know the health issues and health conditions, and, most importantly, they know the people,” Ashleigh said.
“One of the things I’ve learned in my job – and I didn’t realise it before – is that it makes it a more comfortable space for that community member if they know you. It’s about creating that safe space.
“With CEAHEG and my job now, I want to push to get more Kooris all over the hospital to create that familiar face. And I want to deliver more training opportunities for some of these local kids.”
