Racism in the healthcare system


Summary 

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) is committed to addressing all forms of racism in the healthcare system.
 
This position statement focuses on racism experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and members of the primary healthcare workforce. The principles in this statement, however, are applicable to all experiences of racism in general practice and the healthcare system.
 
Last updated September 2018.

  1. Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet.  Overview of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health status 2015.  Perth: Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet. Accessed 10/01/2017 
  2. Priest NC, Paradies YC, Gunthorpe W, et al. Racism as a determinant of social and emotional wellbeing for Aboriginal Australian youth. Med J Aust. 2011. 194 (10): 546-550. Accessed 10/01/2017 
  3. Commonwealth of Australia. National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2013–2023. Accessed 26/03/18   
  4. Paradies Y, Ben J, Denson N, Elias A, Priest N, Pieterse A, Gupta A, Kelaher M, Gee G. Racism as a determinant of health: a systematic review and meta-analysis. 2015. 10 (9): e0138511. 
  5. Priest NC, Paradies YC, Gunthorpe W, Cairney SJ, Sayers SM. Racism as a determinant of social and emotional wellbeing for Aboriginal Australian youth. Med J Aust. 2011. 194 (10): 546-50.
  6. Marmot M, Friel S, Bell R, Houweling TA, Taylor S, Commission on Social Determinants of Health. Closing the gap in a generation: health equity through action on the social determinants of health. The Lancet. 2008. 372 (9650): 1661-9.
  7. Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework 2017 Report. 2017. Canberra: AHMAC.
  8. Henry BR, Houston S, Mooney GH. Institutional racism in Australian healthcare: a plea for decency. Med J Aust. 2004. 180 (10): 517-20.
  9. Artuso, S., Cargo, M., Brown, A., & Daniel, M. Factors influencing health care utilisation among Aboriginal cardiac patients in central Australia: a qualitative study. BMC Health Services Research. 2013. Accessed 24/08/2016
  10.   Coory, M. D., & Walsh, W. F. Rates of percutaneous coronary interventions and bypass surgery after acute myocardial infarction in Indigenous patients. Med J Aust. 2005. 182 (10): 507-512, viewed 29/11/2016
  11. Cunningham J,Paradies Y. Patterns and correlates of self-reported racial discrimination among Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults, 2008–09: analysis of national survey data.International Journal for Equity in Health.  2013. 12:47. 
  12. Australian Medical Association. Institutionalised inequity. Not just a matter of money. 2007. Accessed 30/04/18 
  13. NSW Nurses & Midwives Association. Prejudice impacts Aboriginal health. Accessed 30/04/18 
  14. Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework 2017 Report. 2017. Canberra: AHMAC.
  15. Couzos S, Delaney-Thiele D, Page P. Primary Health Networks and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. Med J Aust. 2016. 204 (6): 234-7.
  16. Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association. Report on the findings of the 2016 AIDA member survey on bullying, racism and lateral violence in the workplace. 2017. Accessed 26/03/2018
  17. Beyondblue. National Mental Health Survey of Doctors and Medical Students. 2013. Accessed 11/01/2016 
  18. Liaw S-T, Hasan I, Wade V, Canalese R, Kelaher M, Lau P, Harris, M. 2015. Improving cultural respect to improve Aboriginal health in general practice: a multi-methods and multi-perspective pragmatic study.Australian Family Physician. 44 (6): 387 – 392.  
  19. Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association. Racism in Australia’s health system. Policy Statement.2016. 
  20. Henry BR, Houston S, Mooney GH. Institutional racism in Australian healthcare: a plea for decency.Med J Aust. 2004. 180 (10): 517-20.
  21. Liaw S-T, Hasan I, Wade V, Canalese R, Kelaher M, Lau P, Harris, M. 2015. Improving cultural respect to improve Aboriginal health in general practice: a multi-methods and multi-perspective pragmatic study. Australian Family Physician. 44 (6): 387 – 392.  

Download this position statement

Racism in the healthcare system (PDF  1.9MB)

Advertising

Advertising