My Rural Story

communities, an Aboriginal man, he was earning a lot more money than I was as a mechanic. He came in to do the course because he wanted to change his work and he just slammed his fists down on the table and he said ‘I didn’t come to university to be asked what I think! You need to tell me, that’s your job!’ I thought, OK, here I was thinking that I was being culturally safe but no, I hadn’t actually engaged the person, the recipient in the sort of care or the sort of education that they wanted. That for me was a big moment and that was when I first really started thinking about how it doesn’t matter if you’re

teaching nursing or landscape gardening, you need to work in a culturally safe manner so it’s actually engaging with the person and negotiating with them. I think it’s absolutely critical. Certainly, as health professionals we’re taught, in particularly if you’re a medical practitioner, you’re taught that you’ve got the answers and you tell people what to do and I think it’s unlearning that in many ways and taking that on board.

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