NAIDOC Week 2026: Learn from First Nations knowledge to enhance patient care
NAIDOC Week is held annually in July and is a national celebration of Australia’s First Nations peoples, histories and cultures—the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth.
This NAIDOC week is a timely reminder of the opportunities available to healthcare professionals to celebrate First Nations culture and excellence, learn more about traditional cultural concepts of health, and reflect on ways to ensure health services are culturally responsive in day-to-day practice.
Learn more about NAIDOC Week 2026.
Discover how First Nations’ knowledge shapes systems of health and wellbeing
National broadcaster the ABC looks at the role of First Nations knowledge in healthcare and medical education in, ‘Tomorrow’s doctors are learning from the oldest surviving culture’.
This piece explores some of the way that First Nations peoples have developed extensive knowledge of native plants and natural resources to inform cultural medicines, and further lends evidence for the value of culturally safe healthcare practices.
Southern Cross University senior researcher Dr Alana Gall, a Truwulway and Litarimirina woman, explains how First Nations knowledge could help inform future developments in Western medicine. And Kuku Yalanji man Christopher Davis shares his professional experience of how patients who feel respected and culturally safe are more likely to follow treatment plans, take prescribed medication, and are less likely to leave healthcare settings against medical advice.
‘Embracing the wisdom of traditional Indigenous medicine’ is 10-minute podcast, published by SBS, that gives insight into how traditional medicine and modern medicine can overlap, and how this can align with some First Nations concepts of health and wellbeing.
First Nations cultural awareness training for health professionals — Why it makes a big difference for your patients
Healthcare professionals that undergo cultural awareness training are better equipped to engage with patients in ways that build respect, ensuring that care is delivered without prior misconceptions or unconscious bias.
Most healthcare professionals proactively provide care without racism or unfair treatment, knowing that when patients feel safe and supported, they also feel confident to return for their follow-up appointment.
Patients may avoid seeing a doctor or health service if they have had bad experiences in the past. Culturally safe practice means healthcare workers are aware of biases that can unfairly impact a patient and perpetuate poor healthcare experiences.
An introduction to First Nations cultural awareness in general practices is an online learning module delivered by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP).
The Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH) provides face-to-face accredited cultural awareness training. Register for the upcoming session on 21 July 2026, or phone the IUIH team 07 3828 3600 to participate in future training.
Programs and funding options now available to support your care for First Nations patients
RACGP’s Five Steps Towards Excellent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healthcare resources give practice teams and general practitioners (GPs) an overview of programs and funding available to support First Nations patients. The resources were developed to provide practical guidance to help healthcare providers deliver high-quality, culturally appropriate healthcare, and understand what support is available and how to access it.
The Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH) works to provide better access to coordinated and multidisciplinary care for First Nations peoples who have chronic conditions through their Care Coordination and Supplementary Services (CCSS) program.
Learn more about the program or access the GP referral form for the CCSS on IUIH’s website.
More information
For more information and support on training and resources for First Nations health, please contact our team via [email protected] or visit the Brisbane South PHN First Nations health page.
View Brisbane South HealthPathways to access localised Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health pathways.
Catch-up on older news: National Reconciliation Week 2026: Going ‘All In’ for reconciliation through culturally safe healthcare | Brisbane South PHN