Racism and Cultural Safety in Australian Healthcare (401206)

This essay delves into the pervasive issue of racial discrimination within the Australian healthcare system, particularly focusing on the experiences of Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders. It highlights the historical and ongoing disparities in healthcare access and quality faced by these minority groups, attributing these issues to both overt and subtle forms of discrimination. The essay explores the efforts of organizations like the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) and the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association (AIDA) in combating racism and promoting cultural competency among healthcare professionals. The author, drawing from personal experiences as a nurse, emphasizes the importance of involving all stakeholders, including families, schools, and institutions, in fostering a culture of respect and understanding. Furthermore, the essay outlines practical steps for cultivating cultural safety in nursing practice, such as effective leadership, strong workplace values, and the elimination of biased categorization. Ultimately, it underscores the critical need to prioritize cultural safety to reduce racial discrimination and ensure the physical, emotional, and mental well-being of all individuals within the Australian healthcare landscape.

RUNNING HEAD: RACISM AND CULTURAL SAFETY 1
Racism and Cultural safety
Student’s name
Institutional affiliation
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In many multiracial societies such as Australia, racial discrimination is still rampant.
Despite the fact that government has formulated laws against racial segregation, organizations
also have to enforce measures that also supplement government efforts of ensuring equality of all
people not only in the face of law but also in service delivery. Organizational policies therefore
are some of the major mechanisms that are used to cultivate high moral and ethical standards that
can stand out against racial discrimination. This essay focuses on what can be done to end racial
discrimination in the field of health care and clinical practice in Australia.
Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders are among Australia’s minority groups
that have more than often been faced with certain racial discrimination based on their
differences. The aboriginal Australians have lived the longest in Australia but they contribute
only a little percentage of Australia’s population. It therefore happens that these aboriginal
Australians are often overshadowed by larger section of the population. The aboriginal
Australians have often been segregated and discriminated due to their genetic differences and for
a very long time in Australia, they received poor health services and were considered more prone
to disease than the non-indigenous Australians (Hunt, Ramjan, McDonald, Koch, Baird, &
Salamonson, 2015).
There are several things that can be done to end discrimination in Australian healthcare
system. Burke, & Cooper, (2018) explains that in the recent past, the Royal Australian College of
General Practitioners (RACGP) and the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association (AIDA) have
made various efforts towards ending racial discrimination in hospitals in Australia. AIDA is a
committed organization towards elimination of racism in the health sector and advocates for zero
tolerance to discrimination. Besides AIDA also advocates for increased cultural tolerance and
competency among health workers as well as promoting traditional medicine and values to

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increase cultural safety. Lastly, AIDA seeks government support towards ending racial
discrimination in healthcare organizations.
In my practice as a nurse, I have encountered racial discrimination during my study and
placement. One of the greatest lessons I have learnt is that discrimination is not always overt. In
some instances, discriminations perceived or perpetuated through beliefs that are held by people
about a certain group of people (Stomski, Gluyas, Andrus, Williams, Hopkins, Walters, &
Morrison, 2018). In order to bring change, it is therefore necessary to involve all stakeholders
that are present. These include the government, the social sector and the institutions. One of the
most critical institutions is the family. At the family level, children need to be taught to love and
care for one another.
In school and other institutions, people need to be taught to have respect for diversity of
all cultures, peoples and races. According to McGough, Wynaden, & Wright, (2018) value for
diversity is essential in understanding one another in that it also helps to avoid culture shock. It
helps people to understand and appreciate differences in others. The respect for diversity helps us
to get the best in others. To focus on their strengths and to complement others in their
weaknesses. Health workers also need to be taught to respect the existing policies, ethical and
professional standards of care. With all these efforts, it is then possible to create a culturally safe
environment.
In my future career, I will also use various steps and methods towards cultivating cultural
safety. These include, effective leadership and a high emphasis on cultivating good personal and
organizational values. Effective leadership means showing others the way by leading as an
example, promoting high standards of clinical excellence and cultural safety argues Chun Tie,
Birks, & Mills, (2018). It also requires of other workers to understand beliefs and values of the

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patients in order to be able to deliver to their expectations. To improve cultural safety, it is also
important to formulate strong workplace values and professional standards that keep workers
committed to improving cultural safety.
There exists a cultural bias in the categorization of people as either aboriginal or non-
indigenous. This is because, people will always tend to handle the two groups of people
differently. There also exists a feeling that aboriginal people are weak and vulnerable and they
therefore need more attention. This I believe is one source of profiling which can be eliminated if
the sub groups are eliminated and people are treated as Australians without inferring to their
ancestry.
In conclusion, it is important to point out that cultural safety in Australian healthcare
system needs not be undermined as it helps to reduce racial discrimination, not only in healthcare
but also in other realms of human life. According to Henderson, Horne, Hills, & Kendall, (2018)
cultural safety ensures physical, emotional and mental health of all people as they no longer have
to live in fear and anxiety or denial but they are able to constantly overcome barriers to health
care and feel proud of who they are.

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REFERENCES
Burke, R. J., & Cooper, C. (2018). 1 Violence and psychosocial safety climate; quantitative and
qualitative evidence in the healthcare industry. In Violence and Abuse In and Around
Organisations (pp. 63-80). Routledge.
Chun Tie, Y., Birks, M., & Mills, J. (2018). The experiences of internationally qualified
registered nurses working in the Australian healthcare system: An integrative literature
review. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 29(3), 274-284.
Henderson, S., Horne, M., Hills, R., & Kendall, E. (2018). Cultural competence in healthcare in
the community: a concept analysis. Health & social care in the community, 26(4), 590-
603.
Hunt, L., Ramjan, L., McDonald, G., Koch, J., Baird, D., & Salamonson, Y. (2015). Nursing
students' perspectives of the health and healthcare issues of Australian Indigenous
people. Nurse education today, 35(3), 461-467.
McGough, S., Wynaden, D., & Wright, M. (2018). Experience of providing cultural safety in
mental health to Aboriginal patients: A grounded theory study. International journal of
mental health nursing, 27(1), 204-213.
Stomski, N., Gluyas, H., Andrus, P., Williams, A., Hopkins, M., Walters, J., ... & Morrison, P.
(2018). The influence of situation awareness training on nurses' confidence about patient
safety skills: A prospective cohort study. Nurse education today, 63, 24-28.