How we work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Queensland Health also has information about Cultural Capability, First Nations Health Equity, Closing the Gap and Reconciliation. You can also find more information about Closing the Gap on the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet website.

You can also find information about the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Division on the Queensland Health website. There is also information about myths associated with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders on Reconciliation Australia: Beyond the myths.

Our principles

The guiding principles that will help support our vision include:

• acknowledging and respecting the diversity in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and cultures and their right to equitable, accessible, and quality health care
• providing effective and cohesive integrated care across health care services
• improving access to the right service in the right place at the right time
• striving for innovation and evidence based best practice
• operating within strong clinical and corporate governance frameworks
• working in partnership with key stakeholders and engaging the community.

Our success indicators

We’ll measure success by our ability to close the gap, using these indicators:

• decrease in potentially preventable hospitalisations
• decrease the number of discharges against medical advice
• increase in the 'identification' of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status on hospital records.

Community partnerships

To support partnerships with community, we run the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Local Health Forum. This is important to the success of closing the gap.

In addition to us, members of this forum include:

• Community Elders
• North Coast Aboriginal Corporation for Community Health (NCACCH)
• Central Queensland, Wide Bay, Sunshine Coast Primary Health Network (PHN).

We also partner with other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, including:

• Community Solutions
• Institute for Urban Indigenous Health
• Refocus
• Suncare
• Sunshine Coast Council
• University of the Sunshine Coast (USC), specifically with Alliance for Suicide Prevention and Thompson Institute
• Reconciliation (Queensland Government)
• Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artworks at Sunshine Coast University Hospital

WUNYA

In the main entry, WUNYA, welcomes everyone on behalf of the Gubbi Gubbi people. It also provides Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders a sense of belonging when they visit the hospital.

WUNYA by Colleen Wall, Hope O’Chin, Maurice Mickelo, Dhana Bokelund, Lyndon Davis.

WUNYA means ‘welcome’ from the Kabi Kabi (Gubbi Gubbi) First Nation people, the traditional owners and custodians of this area.

This collaboration symbolises a call to country where the artists represent specific elements of our native flora and fauna in this unique compilation.

Kabai Bee, the endangered Bulimbirjari Butterfly and Mibir Mary River turtle are all very important spirit people of our land law. Colleen Wall

The Dolphin, Yuloo, and the Goanna, Waruee, in their environment, both embody our values of ‘Place’, ‘Belonging’, ‘Respect’ and ‘Lore’. Hope O’Chin

We look after our ancestral country, Djaagan – from the ocean and rivers, to the rainforest and mountains - and the land looks after us. Maurice Mickelo

The Bauple, Macadamia Nut signifies the uniqueness of our flora and fauna as it grew only in the Kabi Kabi catchment originally. Dhana Bokelund

The Black Swan, Goolooin, represents Maroochy, an ancestral being searching for the spirit of lost love Guloom, Mt Coolum. Lyndon Davis

Other artworks

There are more than 400 artworks at Sunshine Coast University Hospital, 30 per cent of these are by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

Find out about other artworks at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital, Artworks - Sunshine Coast University Hospital [PDF 6.3 MB].

Local stories

The following stories are identified as local history of the Sunshine Coast area. It is well documented that the area from the Pine River in the south to Maryborough in the north was the Gubbi Gubbi language group.

• The Dreamtime - In the beginning [MP3 3864.3 KB] | Text version [DOC 41.5 KB]
• Murdering Creek [MP3 2082.25 KB] | Text version [DOC 35 KB]
• Coolum and Maroochy. The Legend of Mount Coolum and the Maroochy River [MP3 1943.79 KB] | Text version [DOC 35 KB]
• The Dindweri and Gujum: The Legend of the Stones and the Mary River [MP3 2296.85 KB] | Text version [DOC 35.5 KB]

Significant Dates for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people

We hold events in our hospital and health services on the following dates. We also attend Community events on these dates.