Career Pathways
The voices and opinions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers are guiding a Career Pathways project that will improve the recruitment and retention of such workers, and support their development and career pathways at a national level.
The project is sponsored by the Lowitja Institute and recognises that Aboriginal health professionals ~ with their values, language and culture ~ are crucial in improving the health and wellbeing of people in remote, regional and urban areas.
“We raise our own Aboriginal health workers, and we do it very well,” says AMSANT senior policy officer, Karinna Demasi.
“We’re growing our workforce every day and, despite considerable barriers and workforce shortfalls in some areas, we’re making the health sector an attractive career option for our young people.”
Career Pathways is strictly evidence-informed and is guided by more than 500 health workers who responded to an extensive survey, and hundreds of others who were interviewed to develop the project.
It is built on five pillars: leadership and self-determination; cultural safety; cultural values; investment in the workforce; and, education and training.
“This project is a call-to-action to encourage governments, agencies and our own health services to find new ways to recruit more of our own people to community controlled services, and then support their careers in the long-term,” says Karrina.
“We need to improve the mentoring, leadership and training options we can offer in the health sector … after all, this sector is the highest employer of Aboriginal people in the NT.”
AMSANT is a key partner in the project and received strong funding from the Central Australian Academic Health Science Network (CAAHSN). Initial work in the NT is being done in the Barkly and Central Australian regions.