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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.
