Arche Health Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) has been endorsed by Reconciliation Australia.
Our Innovate RAP guides and direct our commitment and work in supporting reconciliation from 2019 through to 2022. In developing our Stretch RAP, we had one clear objective in mind: to increase opportunity and improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals, families and communities.
In our Innovate RAP, Actions have been identified that support our Reconciliation vision to:
- ensure the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff, carers and people we support inform our work.
- build the cultural competency of all staff and carers.
- increase recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners and Custodians.
- improve employment outcomes and professional development for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in primary healthcare.
At Arche Health we believe that reconciliation must live in the hearts and minds of all Australians. As a nation we need to work together to close the gap in life expectancy between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the rest of the population by improving cultural, spiritual, physical and emotional wellbeing. But reconciliation is more than a belief for us, it is embedded in all of our actions and activities.
Arche Health’s vision for reconciliation is a nation where all Australians have the opportunity to live in healthy and safe communities. We are committed to collaborating with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to improve the health, well-being and life opportunities of their communities. This is an acknowledgement of the substantial cultural trauma and continuing harms of past practices and social policies Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities have withstood over the last two centuries. Arche Health seeks to add to the redress by providing services that empower and promote access and equity.
This Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (2023-2025) formalises our ongoing commitment to reconciliation, to closing the gap in health outcomes, and to building respectful and positive relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This plan also sets out the strategies and practical actions that have emerged from our ongoing consultations with staff, our clients, with elders, and with community leaders.
We are deeply grateful to the members of our Aboriginal Community Advisory Committee (CAC) who have assisted us in developing this plan. The CAC committee via its Terms of Reference provides advice and input from the community, ensuring the right services are delivered to the most needy people in the right place, at the most appropriate time. Together, we will work with sincere intention to achieve measurable outcomes that make a real difference for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and also help Arche Health to achieve its purpose of making sense of the healthcare we all seek.
(CAC Quarterly Meetings)
