New officer making health culturally safe

NEW Gippsland Southern Health Service Aboriginal liaison officer Sonia Weston wants local Aboriginal people to feel comfortable using their local hospital.

Ms Weston’s new role, shared with South Gippsland Hospital at Foster, is designed to make the health services more culturally safe for Aboriginal people to access.

As someone who previously travelled out of the area to access an Aboriginal health service, Ms Weston is well placed to help the community.

“Members of our local Aboriginal community aren’t accessing local services and are instead going outside the region to go to Aboriginal health services,” she said.

“I was one of them – I used to go to the service in Fitzroy. They want it to feel culturally safe and it’s also generational stemming back to the Stolen Generation and we’re trying to overcome that. 

“People will know that I’ve been in the same boat and struggled to access services and hopefully they can benefit from that.”

Ms Weston said she was attracted to the job to try to help others.

“I wanted to be able to make the service more accessible for our mob,” she said.

She is already making a mark.

“Because it’s a new position, there has been a lot of networking to get it started, including connecting with other Aboriginal liaison officers at other hospitals including Latrobe, Warragul and Bass Coast,” Ms Weston said.

Ms Weston recently conducted a welcome ceremony at Hillside Lodge where two residents are from the Stolen Generation, and she has introduced a possum skin cloak to be given to Aboriginal children born at the health services.

The welcome ceremony was an emotional time.

“One of the residents cried because he felt so overwhelmed by being recognised for who he is. It makes a big change for him to have a cultural connection,” Ms Weston said.

“We also heard stories from non-Indigenous residents who didn’t know much about Indigenous people when they were young. They really embraced it and it’s very rewarding for me.”

Before taking this role, Ms Weston worked in cultural heritage and community engagement and had earlier managed an Aboriginal health service.

GSHS CEO Lou Sparkes said the position was funded as part of the health service’s Aboriginal Cultural Safety program to help First Nations people to feel safe in accessing local health services.

“We are aiming to connect with our First Nations groups because we know their health outcomes are poor and they often don’t seek treatment because they are scared to come to hospital, a lot of which is connected to what happened in the past, particularly those from the Stolen Generation,” Ms Sparkes said.

The role also involves supporting GSHS staff to understand why it’s important to have a welcoming environment for Aboriginal people.

“Sonia will often sit in the staff team room and yarn about how First Nations people see things and what the barriers might be, which helps with our staff education and understanding about what supports them to access services and feel safe,” Ms Sparkes said.

Ms Weston is GSHS’s first Aboriginal Liaison Officer. Ms Sparkes added that GSHS was sharing the role with South Gippsland Hospital to ensure Aboriginal people across the region feel safe accessing services in both health services in South Gippsland.