The Community and Oral Health Reconciliation Action Plan (COH RAP) Working Group pays our Acknowledgement and respect to the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands on which we work.
Within Metro North Health this includes the Yugara, Turrbal, Kabi Kabi/Gubbi Gubbi and Jinibara peoples. We also pay our Acknowledgement and respect to all other nations across the country.
We pay our deepest Acknowledgement and respect to all Elders, past and present. We recognise the strength and resilience that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the ancestors have displayed in laying strong foundations for the generations that follow.
For it is through building a join understanding of spiritual connection to country, land, wind, water and community that we work together to reduce health inequities across Queensland and improve Reconciliation between and with non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
National Sorry Day is held each year on 26 May to remember and acknowledge the mistreatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
who were forcibly removed from their families and communities, which we now know as ‘The Stolen Generations’.
National Sorry Day is a day to acknowledge the strength and resilience of Stolen Generations Survivors and reflect on how we can all play a part in the healing process for our people and nation.
While this date carries great significance for the Stolen Generations and other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, it is also commemorated by Australians right around the country.
We must allow for and create opportunities for truth telling, we cannot fix the problems without this knowledge and acceptance. Sorry Day reminds us of the historical injustices and intergenerational trauma and asks us to acknowledge the Stolen Generation.
The National Reconciliation Week 2022 theme, “Be Brave. Make Change.” is a challenge to all Australians, individuals, families, communities,
organisations and government, to Be Brave and tackle the unfinished business of reconciliation so we can Make Change for the benefit of all Australians.
As we transition towards implementing the Metro North Health Equity Strategy, the COH RAP Working Group remains committed to Be Brave and Make Change under our actions and commitments.
This year will see the development of our next level ‘Stretch’ Reconciliation Action Plan that will build on and stretch our previous RAP commitments and further embed reconciliation initiatives into our ongoing business strategies so they become ‘business as usual’.
Each year since 2016 during Reconciliation Week, Community and Oral Health hold the Reconciliation Shield. This year the Reconciliation Shield is being held at the Brighton Wellness Hub from 12:30 pm onwards.
Staff are invited to come along and have lunch at 12:30 pm and meet and greet other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff and/or enter a team or nominate yourself for the Reconciliation Shield Barefoot Bowls from 2:00 pm.
It is a time we encourage staff to learn, listen and consider what change you can make in your role, team, family and community.
We encourage you to take the time to learn about Reconciliation by engaging with your colleagues, especially Aboriginal and Torre Strait Islander colleagues and visit the Reconciliation Australia website Home – National Reconciliation Week 2022
Kind Regards
Paul Drahm and Tanya Beaumont
Co-Chairs, Community and Oral Health Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group