The work of St Vincent's Health is grounded in our Mission and Values and invariably concerned with health and wellness of individuals and communities. Our ministries reach beyond the walls of hospitals and aged care homes to marginalised members of our communities.
Across most indices reflecting social, economic, health, justice, education and wellbeing in Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians fare significantly worse than non-Indigenous Australians.
We strongly believe reconciliation and practical measures designed to address disparities between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians will only achieve long-term success if they are matched with meaningful change in our relationships with each other.
Today, this commitment is formalised through the development of organizational Reconciliation Action Plans, developed in partnership with Reconciliation Australia.
Our current national RAP deliverables are designed to address five important reconciliation measurements, namely historical acceptance, race relations, equality and equity, institutional integrity and unity.
Operationally, our commitment is brought to life in many ways, including (but not limited to) formation events, enhanced employment opportunities for Indigenous staff, greater procurement via Indigenous owned or controlled businesses and powerful symbolic actions. The expression of our actions in these areas are vibrant and distinctive between facilities and communities.
At St Vincent's, we understand reconciliation is everyone’s business.
Our ongoing commitment to this movement calls us to accept that unjust structural barriers exist in our society and cause Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians to lag behind non-Indigenous Australians across almost every important social, economic, housing, education and justice indicator. We must work together to ensure these barriers come down.
Working towards true and sustained reconciliation won’t be easy, and each of us will need to be open to challenging truths in order to achieve this goal, but the benefits we will gain as a result of our shared journey will be great.
