Cultural Safety in the Australian Health System
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to experience unsafe and racist care in Australian hospitals. This project builds on a proven Cultural Safety Survey (CSS) to better understand care from Indigenous patient perspectives.
The CSS will form the basis of a digital platform to track progress, support reform, and improve hospital services in partnership with communities and health organisations.
Our research
Many Indigenous people avoid or delay hospital care because of past racism or culturally unsafe treatment. Past ways of measuring cultural safety have not worked well, as they often miss people’s real experiences or fail to provide clear information for improvement. Without good data, hospitals find it hard to change.
The CSS was developed to address this. Created by Dr Elissa Elvidge and Professor Yin Paradies, it measures cultural safety by listening directly to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients. It has been tested in 59 hospitals in New South Wales with over 400 participants and adapted for First Nations communities in Australia and overseas.
This project builds on that work by strengthening the CSS and creating an easy-to-use digital dashboard for health services across Australia. By focusing on Indigenous peoples’ lived experiences, it aims to support real and sustained improvements in hospital care.
The project
This research provides a transparent, evidence-based way to identify problems and track progress toward culturally safe care by:
- Working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia
- Refining and expanding the Cultural Safety Survey to include experiences of racism and discrimination
- Developing an easy-to-use digital dashboard for hospitals to assess cultural safety
- Trialling the tool in hospitals across NSW, QLD, SA and NT
- Supporting Indigenous governance, data sovereignty, and workforce capacity building.
Our team
The study is led by Dr Elissa Elvidge and carried out by a diverse research team, most of whom are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. The team includes researchers, health workers, and community leaders with experience in Indigenous health and hospital care.
We will work with Indigenous organisations, universities, and health services across Australia, and partner closely with communities to make sure the research is culturally safe, guided by community voices, and focused on practical improvements.
Get involved
If you are interested in participating, or would like more information, please email the study team at HERCL@newcastle.edu.au.
Funding
This study is funded by Medical Research Futures Fund – 2025 Early to Mid-Career Researchers Grant Opportunity.
The University of Newcastle acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands within our footprint areas: Awabakal, Darkinjung, Biripai, Worimi, Wonnarua, and Eora Nations. We also pay respect to the wisdom of our Elders past and present.