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Indigenous Health


The College of Intensive Care Medicine of Australia and New Zealand (the College) recognises the inequities in health outcomes for Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Māori, and Pasifika peoples across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.

We are committed to ensuring Māori, Pasifika, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have equitable access to intensive care medicine and receive culturally safe health services within intensive care units delivered by FCICM and non-FCICM intensive care practitioners.

This page provides information and resources to support members to deliver culturally safe care. 

For any questions or more information, please contact the Policy Department.

About the Artist

The College is grateful to Dr Gene Slockee for granting us permission to display his artwork. The artworks represent the College and Gene’s shared vision to improve the overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients across intensive care units.

Dr Slockee is a Bundjalung, Darumbal and South Sea Islander man, who grew up on the lands and waters of the Ngundawul, Minjungbal and Coodjinburra people.

  • Indigenous Health Committee
  • Resources

In 2018, the Indigenous Health Committee (IHC) was formed to oversee the College’s commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Māori and Pacific peoples across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.   

The IHC is responsible for progressing strategies to support the recruitment and retention of indigenous doctors into intensive care medicine and celebrating their achievements. The Committee also works to develop opportunities for Trainees and Fellows to improve their knowledge and skills in cultural safety and cultural capability. The IHC is a committee of the College Board.

To see the members of the IHC, please click here.

The College is committed to supporting Trainees and Fellows in acknowledging cultural differences and health inequities, demonstrating cultural capability and promoting cultural safety, whilst providing high quality care to critically ill Māori, Pacific, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients.

These resources are reviewed and updated regularly.

Indigenous Health Committee e-newsletter articles

The Indigenous Health Committee have produced articles below:

Unconscious Bias – Time to Change by Dr Penny Stewart 

Navigating Communication video

The following resources has been developed by the College and Rural Health Continuing Education Stream One.  

'Navigating Communication' is designed to assist cultural awareness and understanding within Aboriginal health delivery by offering practical advice and suggestions from experts in the field and members of the Aboriginal community. 'Navigating Communication' is designed to encourage and enable medical practitioners to understand and communicate more successfully with Aboriginal patients and their families.  

The College is solely responsible for the content of, and views expressed in any material associated with this project.  

Navigating Communication Videos 

E-learning Modules

CICM Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Cultural Safety Online Learning Resource

This module aims to provide participants with an introduction to the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to enhance cultural safety, to improve the quality of clinical services and engagement in intensive care medicine when working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, colleagues, patients and communities.

Start now 

Foundation Course in Cultural Competency (Mauriora Associates)

The online Foundation Course in Cultural Competency was developed specifically for the registered New Zealand health workforce and provides a basic understanding of cultural competency & health literacy in the Aotearoa New Zealand Health context.

Start now 

Learning and education modules on understanding bias in health care 

This resource includes three online modules that focus on understanding and addressing implicit bias, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, colonisation and racism and experiences of bias, produced by the Health, Quality & Safety Commission New Zealand.

Each module is 10 – 15 minutes in length and is accompanied by a quiz. If completed via the Ministry of Health LearnOnline platform, a certificate of completion can be obtained. This is a free resource.

Start now 

Yuwahn Wupin

This resource was developed by Griffith University, with five modules that cover cultural respect, cultural safety and quality, reflection, communication and advocacy. 
These modules have a focus on the history and health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The modules appear as information on a webpage and it will take approximately 2 hours to complete all five. 
 
You will need to scroll down to the bottom of the webpage to ‘begin your Yuwhan Wupin journey.’ This is a free resource. 
 

Start now

Unconscious bias in medicine

This resource is an online module on unconscious bias in medicine. It was created by the Stanford School of Medicine, and is free.

It will take approximately 1 hour to complete.

Start now

Australian Indigenous Health InfoNet 

The Australian Indigenous Health InfoNet contributes to improving the health of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and assist in ‘closing the gap’ by facilitating the sharing and exchange of relevant, high-quality knowledge. This includes links to publications, policies, and information on different health topics.

Go to Health InfoNet

Māori Health Review

The Māori Health Review is a regular publication that provides the latest information on Māori Health. It is available for health professionals and anyone with an interest in Māori Health.

Go to Māori Health Review

Reo Māori  

Reo Māori is the official website of the Te Taura Whiri I Te Reo Māori (Māori Language Commission). It provides several resources on Maori language (Te Reo) and promotes Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori.

Go to Reo Māori 

Seminars

Slice of LIME Seminars*

The Leaders in Indigenous Medical Education (LIME) website hosts seminars on diverse topics related to Indigenous health and health professional education. These seminars aim to share knowledge and promote reflection and are freely available via the website.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that Slice of LIME Seminars may contain images, voices and names of deceased persons.

Watch now

*These resources are not produced by College of Intensive Care Medicine (CICM)

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Acknowledgement of Country

CICM acknowledges and pays respect to the Traditional Custodians of the lands across Australia on which our members live and work, and to their Elders, past, present and future. We pay respect to the Wurundjeri Peoples of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which CICM’s office stands.

CICM acknowledges Māori as tangata whenua and Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi) partners in Aotearoa New Zealand.