Healthy Futures Report - LIME Network

1. INTRODUCTIONIt is well known that Indigenous people arethe most disadvantaged group in Australia.Overall, they have poorer physical and mentalhealth; are less likely to complete primary,secondary and tertiary education; and do nothave the same employment opportunities asnon-Indigenous Australians. They are alsodealing with the compounding impact ofmultigenerational grief, loss and traumarelated to colonisation, the stolen generation,racism and discrimination, and culturaldislocation on a daily basis. 13Indigenous Australians are also dying at amuch younger age than either non-IndigenousAustralians or Indigenous people in other firstworld countries. The life expectancy gapbetween Indigenous and non-IndigenousAustralians remains at twenty years. Incomparison, the life expectancy gap inCanada, New Zealand and the USA has fallento between five and seven years. 24For both state and national Australiangovernments, the question remains: why doIndigenous Australians continue to live insuch extreme comparative disadvantage withwidening disparities, despite governmentpolicies and strategies aimed at eliminatingsuch disadvantage? More importantly, whatcan we all, Indigenous and non-Indigenous,do about it?In relation to medicine, the positive effects ofIndigenous doctors for Indigenous people’sphysical, emotional and cultural wellbeinghave long been recognised by government andother Indigenous and non-Indigenousstakeholders. 15 Clearly, more Indigenousdoctors are needed. According to theAustralian Medical Association (AMA), 928Indigenous doctors need to be trainedimmediately to reach workforce levelsproportionate to that of non-Indigenousdoctors to population ratios. 16Current government and university policiesrelevant to Indigenous medical studentsinclude allocated places for Indigenousstudents, alternative entry options andIndigenous (student) support units (ISU). Yet,most Australian medical schools still struggleto recruit and retain Indigenous students, andallocated Indigenous medical student placesmay be filled by other students.To better understand this, the AustralianIndigenous Doctors’ Association (AIDA) weresupported by the Australian GovernmentDepartment of Health and Ageing throughthe Office of Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander Health (OATSIH) to research andreport on best practice in the recruitment andretention of Indigenous medical students.This project has become known as the HealthyFutures Best Practice Project.1.1 The Australian IndigenousDoctors’ AssociationThe Australian Indigenous Doctors’Association (AIDA) is the leadingorganisation for Indigenous medicalworkforce issues and through this projectconfirms its commitment to leadership andinnovation in this area.AIDA provides collegiate and professionaldevelopment support to Indigenous medicalgraduates and undergraduates. It strives todevelop and maintain strong workingpartnerships with Australian medical schools,medical colleges, and key health andeducation organisations.AIDA recognises the outcomes of this projectas critical work in Indigenous medicaleducation and to that end will work withpartners in ensuring the implementation ofthe framework.1