Aboriginal Health at Eastern Health

australian aboriginal flags

Eastern Health acknowledges the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, the Traditional Owners of the land on which its services operate, and pay respect to their Elders past, present and emerging. We also pay respect to the cultural authority of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from other areas of Australia who reside in our region. Eastern Health acknowledges the colonisation of Country and the continuing impact on all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Eastern Health is committed to Closing the Health Gap and reducing inequality in healthcare status and outcomes between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians. We are also committed to the empowerment of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community through employment, career progression, and encouraging the celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices in our organisation.

For Patients and Community

Eastern Health strives to ensure all our services are Culturally Safe and welcoming for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

We have a dedicated Aboriginal Health Team available for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living in Eastern Health’s catchment that spans across the municipalities of Boroondara, Knox, Manningham, Maroondah, Whitehorse and Yarra Ranges. The Aboriginal Health Team provides a range of services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their families.

We also have a dedicated team of Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officers (AHLOs) that, with a strong focus on Cultural Safety, provide a range of supports for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients within the hospital environment.

Aboriginal Health Team

The Aboriginal Health Team is a community-based health service located in Healesville available for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their families living anywhere in Eastern Health’s catchment. The service adopts a holistic approach in line with cultural best-practice, and provides a broad range of services which are available both on-site in Healesville and through home visits and outreach including:

Primary Health Care:

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Checks (all ages)
Nursing support including chronic disease management and maternal-child health
Health information and education
Visiting specialists

Case Management and Advocacy:

Care-planning
Referral & advocacy to other services including transport to medical appointments where appropriate
Case management

Social and Emotional Well-Being

Social & Emotional Well-Being Counselling
Drug and Alcohol Counselling

Home and Community Care

Domestic assistance and shopping assistance
Yard Maintenance
Social events and outings including Men’s and Women’s Group and Planned Activity Groups

Location and Contact Details

Location: 377 Maroondah Highway, Healesville

Phone: (03) 5957 1100

Email: AHTintake@easternhealth.org.au

Hours: 8.30 - 5pm Monday – Friday (Closed Public Holidays)

Aboriginal Health Team Referral Form (DOC, 32KB)

The Aboriginal Health Team acknowledges the support of our funding bodies:

Victorian Department of Health (Home and Community Care Program for Younger People)
Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care (Indigenous Australians Health Program and Commonwealth Home Support Programme)
Eastern Melbourne Primary Healthcare Network (Integrated Team Care Program)

Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officers

The Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officer (AHLO) program supports Aboriginal and or Torres Strait islander patients within the hospital environment. AHLOs work in collaboration with other staff in supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients and their families, and are available to:

Advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients.
Support the cultural, spiritual, mental and physical wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients.
Provide cultural and liaison links between the patient and families, medical staff and external referral services.
Increase awareness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health issues amongst healthcare professionals.
Assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients to understand the hospital system (e.g. why tests and/or procedures are required, explaining healthcare options).
Assist patients and their families following discharge to ensure they are supported and understand their future medical care.
Improve healthcare services and relationships between the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and government departments.

When you are admitted to hospital, ask the admitting clerk to contact an Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officer.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social and Emotional Wellbeing

Eastern Health acknowledges the Traditional custodians of the land upon which our health service is built, and pays our respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.

Working at Eastern Health

At Eastern Health we are committed to becoming an employer of choice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Built on a foundation of self-determination, our new Aboriginal Workforce Plan 2023-2026 will support our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff to:

Be empowered to earn, develop and grow
Have access to diverse, flexible career pathways
Practice their cultural identity without fear of discrimination or bias
Feel a strong sense of belonging and Cultural Safety
Have the flexibility to manage work, life and community needs.

We will support our non-Indigenous workforce to:

Demonstrate cultural competence
Build Culturally Safe environments within their immediate and broader teams
Have access to ongoing development and experiences regarding our history, cultural awareness and cultural competence.

When you come to work at Eastern Health you also have access to a number of Employee Benefits

If you are interested in working at Eastern Health, contact our Aboriginal Employment Coordinator at Aboriginal.Workforce@easternhealth.org.au

View our Aboriginal Workforce Plan

Meet Some of Our Team

Tanya Ellard - Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officer Team Leader

Proud Bangerang woman Tanya Ellard has been assisting

consumers since 2022.

Tanya is a friendly, familiar face who supports our Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander community by liaising with their

healthcare team during their time with Eastern Health.

Tanya believes the Aboriginal Workforce Plan gives a clear

view of the support and opportunities for growth Eastern Health

will offer. “It’s great knowing that Eastern Health are supportive

of Aboriginal people. The Aboriginal Workforce Plan

lets us know what is coming and how exciting

it's going to be. It helps us give back to the community

and keeps Eastern Health accountable for what we need.”

Megan Austin - Aboriginal Employment Coordinator

Megan Austin has been at Eastern Health since 2022,

working hard to put the Aboriginal Workforce Plan together,

to ensure impactful change and growth in the organisation.

It is through her time working on the

Workforce Plan that has Megan looking forward to

the progress that can be made at Eastern Health.

“Not only do we have Culturally Safe and

welcoming environments for staff, we have a very strong

plan to support our Aboriginal workforce, to support them

in their roles and to grow and develop into leadership

positions. It's incredibly exciting, I think it's the most

wonderful time to join Eastern Health.”

Ebony Keenan – Associate Nurse Unit Manager/Registered Nurse

Proud Palawa woman Ebony Keenan gained early

acceptance into the graduate program through the

Indigenous Program in 2019 and is now focusing on

her post graduate studies. As a Registered Nurse

working in the mental health space, she understands how

imperative her knowledge and understanding of

Aboriginal culture and history is to informing her work.

“The knowledge of generational trauma is incredibly

important because we have a lot of Indigenous consumers.

When they come to see us, some of the staff don't always

understand the concept of generational trauma

and why people behave the way they behave and

the decisions that they make in their life.

I think knowledge about that definitely

helps in the area that I work in.”

Daniel Howell – Mental Health Trainee

Proud Biripi man Daniel Howell joined Eastern Health

in 2021, working as part of the mental health service

whilst completing his degree in the same discipline.

Daniel is passionate about supporting consumers

and fellow staff, through his knowledge and

understanding of Aboriginal peoples and their cultures.

“Aboriginal staff incorporate local community knowledge

into their work every day. This enables us to liaise with

clients and staff in a way that bridges communication gaps

between community members and our non-Indigenous healthcare workers.

The more mob we have working at Eastern Health,

the better our health service will be at educating non-Indigenous

staff to deepen their understanding of Aboriginal culture

and contribute to the decreasing of subtle and

covert racism within workplaces and

share the cultural load.”

Nicole McErlain - Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officer

In 2022, proud Palawa woman Nicole McErlain joined

Eastern Health to support Aboriginal consumers and

their families as they engage with our health service.

Nicole knows how beneficial it is for Aboriginal

consumers to know they are among others who have

a deep understanding of culture and community.

“As people, we need to be around each other,

everything we do is not for the individual,

it's for the whole community. So to be removed from

your Country and your family is scary. There's a lot of

trauma attached to what's happened in the past, especially

with institutions and hospitals. So when they see us and they know that

there are other blackfellas around our consumers

instantly feel more safe and comfortable.”

Caroline Dowling - Co-Director, Medical Student Programs

Caroline Dowling has been caring for the Eastern Health

community since 2013. She was Head of Urology for six years,

before moving on as Co-Director of Medical Student Programs.

Having close to two decades of experience in healthcare,

Caroline is aware of the many barriers Indigenous people face.

“It is important to have staff who are representative of all the

cultural breadth in our community and our Indigenous culture

is the first culture of this country and one that should be proudly

seen and celebrated. In doing so, we provide a Culturally

Safe space for the care of Indigenous Australians

who have the worst health outcomes of any group

and the improvement of these

will only come through providing Culturally Safe care.”

For Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Staff

Current News

National Reconciliation Week

National Sorry Day Statement

National Sorry Day is a day to acknowledge

the strength of Stolen Generations survivors and

reflect on how we can all play a part in the healing

process for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Bringing Language to Wantirna

Aboriginal Elder Aunty Joy Murphy, generously provided

her insight in thenaming of our new residential

aged care facility. A recommendation stemming

from our Reconciliation Action Plan, it was important to

Eastern Health, to bring language back to the community.

Introducing our Aboriginal Workforce Plan

In the 2023-2025 Eastern Health Strategic Plan we

made a promise – Healthier Together.

This was a promise to ourselves, to our patients

and families and to our community.

Eastern Health is proud to announce the establishment

of our Aboriginal Workforce Plan

Fostering a culturally conscious workplace for all

Aboriginal Employment Coordinator Megan Austin

has been recognised by her colleagues for her

courage in challenging the status quo,

to ensure our Aboriginal workforce is supported.

Eastern Health is celebrating some of our incredible women

during the week of International Women’s Day (8 March).

National Close the Gap

Today (16 March) is National Close the Gap Day, an event to

advocate andmark our commitment to health equity for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples,

educate the public about the health issues and

barriers to closing the life expectancy gap,

and encourage all Australians to take meaningful

action to create better and more equitable

conditions for First Nations people.

Strategic Plan 2023-2025

A roadmap for our future together.

Titled ‘Working Together Towards 2025,’ the plan includes a promise – ‘Healthier Together’ – ensuring we consider the incredible breadth of people that interact with our services each day.

We also describe how we are going to do this – through our ‘Values in Action’ – the behaviours that matter most.

And we list four Strategic Goals – from which stem our focus areas for the years ahead.

Our plan is not just about serving the growing and changing needs of our community.

But also about the care and development of our staff - the very essence of Eastern Health.

Thank you to the more-than 2,000 people who provided incredibly valuable feedback in the formulation of our plan – your insight is truly appreciated.

Reconciliation Action Plan

After several years of planning, consultation and development, we have launched our inaugural Reconciliation Action Plan. Many people in our health service and in our community have contributed to make this a commitment to the journey of reconciliation.

Aboriginal Health Cultural Safety Plan

Eastern Health is proud to announce the launch of our Aboriginal Cultural Safety Plan. The plan aims to improve Cultural Safety in our services, demonstrating our promise of being healthier together.

Thank you to everyone involved in the development and consultation process of this plan.

The Plan features artwork created for our Reconciliation Action Plan by proud Wurundjeri and Yorta-Yorta woman, Simone Thomson.

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