Dental Health Services Victoria (DHSV) marks the 7th anniversary since former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered the historic apology to Australia’s Indigenous Peoples on 13 February 2008.
To commemorate the anniversary, we spoke to DHSV Aboriginal Liaison Officer Carleen Miller and Aboriginal Community Development Worker Rebecca Crawford who shared their reflections on the momentous occasion 7 years ago.
Watch the video:
DHSV CEO, Dr Deborah Cole said the national apology was a huge step towards reconciliation and DHSV is working hard to bridge the healthcare gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
“We want to create a culturally inclusive team that can meet the needs of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.”
“This is why we are providing career opportunities such as Indigenous dental assisting traineeships to give the Indigenous community the chance to join our workforce and provide care to their communities.”
Dr Cole said in 2013/14, there was a 29% increase in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients accessing dental care in Victoria compared to the previous year.
“More Indigenous Victorians have been accessing care in our public dental clinics and we want to make sure we can provide dental access to even more in the community,” Dr Cole said.
We are working closely with organisations to ensure we are visible and accessible to as many Indigenous Victorians as possible.”
DHSV’s Indigenous Dental Assistant Traineeship program has been hugely successful so far, with two of its graduates being the first Indigenous dental assistants to be accepted in La Trobe University’s dentistry program.
One of them in Melissa Stevens, who won top honour for Indigenous Australian health professionals in training: the 2014 Koolin Balit Aboriginal Award, part of the people in Health Awards.
DHSV was also shortlisted in the Koolin Balit Aboriginal Health Workforce Initiative category in the 2014 People in Health Awards, proving itself to be a leader in this area.
