National CHSP Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Safety Community of Practice underway

Prepared by Ian O’Reilly (Social Futures) and Danni Meredith (Your Side).

Cultural Safety is firmly embedded in the new Aged Care Act, which commenced on 1 November 2025. Inspector-General of Aged Care, Natalie Siegel-Brown’s September 2025 progress report on implementation of recommendations of the 2021 Royal Commission highlights concern about cultural safety in aged care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Reforms to deliver specific assessment, navigation and aged care service delivery for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders and communities are still under development or rolling out. Cultural safety needs to be strengthened across the whole aged care system, including the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP).

In response to this challenge, our cross-cultural team of CHSP Aboriginal Sector Support and Development (SSD) and general SSD teams from four organisations is facilitating the National CHSP Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Safety Community of Practice. This community of practice supports CHSP providers to strengthen cultural safety in their aged care service alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders and community members.

Fifty-one people attended the first session on 22 October 2025. Dunghutti woman Rhonda Smith and Minjungbal man Uncle Garry Kafoa grounded our discussion with truth telling – sharing their experiences generously with Community of Practice members. This included historical and contemporary experience in their communities.

If you work in a CHSP service we hope you can make for sessions two and three scheduled for 28 January and 29 April 2026. Please register here.

In session one, we spent time in small groups and our larger group discussing and reflecting on:

• what is important to each of us about our own culture
• when has our own culture, thinking or actions impacted others
• what supports us to feel culturally safe
• what do we you know about the history of the place and communities where we live and work?

We also explored our responses and strategies supporting an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Elder who experienced racism in the community – being singled out to have their bag checked – while shopping with a community aged care worker. Great strategies were shared by members. In the session evaluation participants strongly agreed:

• the session strengthened their commitment to building cultural safety and driving cultural change (4.6 stars out of 5)
• they would recommend this community of practice to a colleague (4.5 stars our of 5).

Other comments included

• Thank you for helping me see and feel my own culture.
• We’ve come a long way but there’s a long way to go.

With thanks, from the National CHSP Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Safety Community of Practice organising team – Social Futures, Your Side, Booroongen Djugun and Momentum Collective.

If you need to connect with us, please contact [email protected], [email protected], or call Ian at Social Futures on 0438 005 798.

This activity is supported by the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. Although Funding for this activity has been provided by the Australian Government, the material contained herein does not necessarily represent the views or policies of the Australian Government.