First Nations

The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2021–2031 is the new national policy to improve health and wellbeing outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people over the next ten years.

Review of the project aimed to increase the number of registered Indigenous nurses and improve the competency of the Australian nursing workforce to deliver appropriate care to Indigenous people.

As an experienced nurse, midwife, and nurse educator and trainer, Relmah Harrington has witnessed first-hand the reproductive healthcare challenges faced by the communities and healthcare workers in her home nation, the Solomon Islands.

For Townsville GP Jacinta Power, seeing women through their pregnancies, the birth of their babies and watching their children grow never grows old. She is only the second Indigenous doctor to complete the JCU General Practice Training program so far.

A move to the bush has led Emily Hapgood to a new career, after graduating from JCU’s Bachelor of Nursing Science. She also took home the Sally Goold prize, recognising her as the Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander graduate of the Bachelor of Nursing Science with the highest GPA.

In the north-western corner of Australia, health professionals and Aboriginal pregnant women and new mums are forging stronger relationships and coming to a deeper understanding of each other, with a mental health screening tool having unexpected added benefits for Aboriginal communities.