To be able to provide culturally capable healthcare to our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients, clients, their families and communities, we need to know which of our patients and clients are of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin.  The only way to know this is to ask every patient, either verbally or in writing.  If patients are correctly identified as being of Aboriginal and / or Torres Strait Islander origin, specifically designed services such as hospital liaison services may be available for them.

Across Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are under-represented in health data sets.  Accurate data is important for many reasons, in particular so that we can monitor health status, and know if our efforts to close the health gap are working.

A project ran across Queensland Health over 2009-2011 to understand why this information is not always accurate, and what could be done to improve data accuracy.  The Indigenous Identification Project developed resources that can be useful in any clinical environment for improving data accuracy.  A DVD, poster and brochures are available to assist staff with asking the question so that they know who their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients and clients are, and can appropriately record and use this information.  Shirts, posters and banners featuring the Making Tracks artwork were distributed to all districts.

Many Health Service Districts also developed excellent local resources, including improved administrative forms, brochures, mouse pads and posters.  Local initiatives also included purchase or commissioning of local artwork for patient areas.

Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Australian flags are now very visible both inside and outside health service facilities.

Queensland Health policy and implementation standard

• Queensland Health Policy: Collection of Indigenous Status in Health Data Sets (Policy # QH-POL-349:2012)
• Implementation Standard for Collection of Indigenous Status in Health Data Sets (Standard # QH-IMP-349-1:2012)

External links

• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, National Best Practice Guidelines for collecting Indigenous status in health data sets
• Improving the Identification of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Mainstream General Practice

Poster: Are you of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Origin? 

The state-wide project team developed a 15 minute training DVD titled, Are you of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin?  The DVD was launched on National Close the Gap Day 24 March 2011.

DVDs are available on request.

The DVD has been incorporated into Queensland Health's mandatory training, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Practice Program.