The RACGP is committed to improving the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples through the provision of culturally safe healthcare in line with our innovate Reconciliation Action Plan. The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) definition of cultural safety states:

“Cultural safety is determined by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals, families and communities. Culturally safe practise is the ongoing critical reflection of health practitioner knowledge, skills, attitudes, practising behaviours and power differentials in delivering safe, accessible.”

Judgement of cultural safety is based on the experience of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person within an exchange. It is this experience that determines whether cultural safety has been achieved.
 
In a healthcare setting, an important means by which a practitioner provides culturally safe care is by reflecting on their own cultural identity, views, and biases and how these could affect their decision-making and interaction with the patient (National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Worker Association - NATSIHWA, 2016) and reflecting on feedback from patients and colleagues which can be sought in many different forms (like changing behaviours to improve their interactions and outcomes).

Cultural safety is an essential part of clinical safety and patient safety (Phillips cited in Wilson and Blow, 2019) and cannot be seen as an optional extra. Being aware of the power differential between the healthcare professional and the person seeking care and empowering the person seeking care to make decisions in collaboration with their doctor, and in alignment with their cultural identity, can contribute to the achievement of positive health outcomes and experiences.
 
For RACGP the aim of cultural safety education is to ensure that all GPs and GPs in training can provide culturally safe care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. It is also essential that the training environment and educational process are culturally safe for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, whether they are trainees, medical educators, supervisors or training support staff. Enhancing cultural safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples will ultimately improve outcomes for other cultural and linguistically diverse cohorts.
 
Embedding the principles of cultural safety across a workplace is an ongoing and integrated process of individual and whole organisational reflection, deconstruction of unconscious biases, relearning, continual professional development and mentorship which needs to be adequately resourced and systematically implemented.