Caboolture Hospital leads national first in trialling anti-racism intervention

A Caboolture Hospital trial of a system-wide, Indigenous-led, anti-racism intervention in a major public hospital setting is paving the way for a scalable model that will transform cultural safety across the Australian healthcare sector.

In 2024, Metro North Health, in partnership with the University of Queensland’s Poche Centre for Indigenous Health, the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health and the Lowitja Institute, launched an Australian-first anti-racism trial targeting racism in hospital care.

The trial, funded by the Medical Research Future Fund, is being implemented at Caboolture Hospital in two high-use areas for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients: emergency and maternity.

The intervention combines Courageous Conversations about Race training and the Lowitja Institute’s Cultural Safety Audit Tool, embedded within a suite of co-designed activities to tackle racism at personal, interpersonal and institutional levels.

Caboolture Hospital Executive Director Karlene Willcocks said the research was deeply aligned with Metro North’s Health Equity Strategy and spoke to the heart of the health service’s commitment to Closing the Gap.

“By walking alongside the community in this work, we’re not just trialling a program — we’re building a blueprint for safer, fairer healthcare,” Ms Willcocks said.

Using participatory action research and Indigenous research methodologies, the intervention is being co-designed with the community and staff to ensure cultural relevance, feasibility and impact.

The findings will be used to evaluate acceptability and feasibility and to develop indicators for potential scale-up.

Led by Indigenous researchers and guided by Indigenous methodologies, the study captures the voices and lived experiences of both staff and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consumers through qualitative interviews and yarning.

UQ’s Poche Centre Director Professor James Ward said this project’s difference was that it was co-designed with the community it’s meant to serve.

“It’s not a top-down policy but a ground-up, culturally grounded solution backed by evidence,” Professor Ward said.

Key elements of the project are:

• targeted interventions in emergency and maternity services
• culturally safe, co-designed training and audit tools
• ongoing feedback from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consumers and staff
• governance through the Caboolture, Kilcoy and Woodford Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Governance Committee.

The study aims to evaluate the acceptability, feasibility and early outcomes of the intervention, with the goal of developing indicators for wider implementation across Metro North Health and beyond.

With racism still a major driver of health inequity, this pioneering approach could set a new national standard for culturally safe healthcare environments.

Ms Willcocks said the trial was more than research.

“It’s a moment of change and Caboolture Hospital is proud to lead it,” she said.