ABORIGINAL HEALTH POLICY

67 Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (1 June 2010). What complexities were encountered in Aboriginal health policy and program planning for the recruitment and retention of staff?

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts): I am advised:

The following complexities were encountered in Aboriginal health policy and program planning for the recruitment and retention of staff:

Recruitment Issues

It is well documented that Aboriginal people still face significant educational disadvantage compared to the non-Aboriginal population, limiting employment opportunities for Aboriginal people and their ability to undertake further education and training.

Due to the nature of the services SA Health provides, a highly skilled workforce is required to deliver these services.

There are insufficient numbers of skilled Aboriginal people to recruit to SA Health.

There is a limited number of entry level positions in SA Health for people with no formal qualifications.

What We Are Doing To Address The Issues

SA Health has developed a number of Aboriginal specific employment and training programs to develop an appropriately and highly skilled Aboriginal health workforce supply.

A key initiative has been the Aboriginal Centres of Learning. Notably, the Pika Wiya Aboriginal Learning Centre in Port Augusta, which has trained and improved employment outcomes for many Aboriginal people in health related areas since its inception in 2002. There is also a Learning Centre within the Port Lincoln Aboriginal Health Service and planning is currently underway to establish an Aboriginal Learning Centre in Ceduna.

Other important recruitment initiatives include Cadetships and Traineeships, which offer training combined with on-the-job skill development and employment pathways into SA Health.

SA Health has recently developed a pre-employment program for Aboriginal people in the Southern Adelaide region. This program provides participants the opportunity to develop their skills and learn about SA Health in preparation for employment. On successful completion of the program, individuals are assessed and appointed to appropriate vacancies within the Southern Adelaide Region of Adelaide Health Service.

SA Health also offers Aboriginal health scholarships for Aboriginal people undertaking undergraduate or postgraduate health disciplines. Scholarship graduates are recruited in SA Health.

SA Health is promoting the use of the Aboriginal Employment Register from the Department of Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology to enable direct recruitment of Aboriginal people into SA Health positions.

SA Health has recently obtained a further three year exemption from the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to prefer Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for appointment to Aboriginal Health Worker positions in South Australia.

SA Health is also investigating a similar approach for new health worker roles that are being created specifically to implement the COAG Closing the Gap National Partnership initiatives in South Australia.

Retention Issues

SA Health recognises that cultural respect and safety are crucial factors to the retention of Aboriginal employees.

Burn out of Aboriginal front line staff due to increased complexity of work roles and Aboriginal community expectations and demands on their roles.

Difficulty with holding onto skilled Aboriginal staff—there is competition between Government agencies and other industry/sectors for skilled Aboriginal people.

What We Are Doing To Address The Issues

SA Health has implemented and is developing further strategies to support the retention and development of Aboriginal staff in SA Health:

The implementation of the Metropolitan Aboriginal Family Birthing program and state-wide expansion of the Port Augusta Aboriginal Family Birthing program are examples of creating ongoing positions for Aboriginal people, particularly in the delivery of clinical services to the Aboriginal community.

Identifying targeted training and development opportunities for current Aboriginal staff, which will provide greater career pathways and opportunities.

Increasing Leadership development opportunities for Aboriginal people and providing mentoring support where possible for middle management positions.

Identifying and providing opportunities across the health division for Aboriginal people to work in mainstream services where opportunities for cross cultural education and support for Aboriginal workers are enhanced.

Aboriginal Health Division is improving cultural safety by focussing on implementing The Aboriginal Cultural Inclusion Framework, which is a Social Inclusion Unit Board initiative. Aboriginal Health Division has identified the key activities that need to be undertaken and developed draft supporting documents and tools to complete the implementation of the framework across all SA Health divisions.

Aboriginal cultural awareness training for staff has been delivered at several SA Health sites and specific measures, such as the development of culturally respectful policies in human resource management are being considered (for example, culturally appropriate leave policies, Aboriginal providers in the Employee Assistance Program etc).

Over the past 18 months a number of divisions have developed or are in the process of developing Aboriginal Workforce Reform Strategies that further facilitate improved outcomes in workforce recruitment and retention activities.