Education & Training
AHW Registration
From 1 July 2012 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners must be registered under the national registration and accreditation scheme with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia and meet the Board's Registration Standards, in order to practice in Australia.
Only those people who will be working as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner and are required by their employer to use the title “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner“, “Aboriginal Health Practitioner” or “Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner”, to continue their work after 1 July 2012, will require registration.
After 1 July 2012, those Aboriginal Health Workers who are not required by their employer to use the title “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner“, “Aboriginal Health Practitioner” or “Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner”, are not required to be registered, and can continue to work using their current titles (for example, “Aboriginal Health Worker”, “Drug and Alcohol Worker” and “Mental Health Worker”).
Following consultation, the Board determined that an ‘eligibility for registration’ standard was not required and instead agreed to set the registration standard at a Certificate IV in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Primary Health Care (Practice), or equivalent as determined by the Board. In addition, the Board agreed that, once national registration commences on 1 July 2012, further work will be done to determine whether other qualifications should be included under the definition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner.
Cultural Competency Training
GP NSW has a strong focus on building the cultural competence of all staff within NSW Divisions, and as a result, provides all NSW Division staff with the opportunity to receive cultural competency training through the Centre for Cultural Competence Australia.
This course aims to provide a foundation of knowledge about the history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia, their cultures, and the effects of colonisation and government policies and practices. This foundation of knowledge can then serve as the basis for the development of skills to enable effective and appropriate communication and engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
RACGP Cultural Awareness Training
The online learning activity is available free of charge to general practice staff participating in the Indigenous Health Incentive and to other GPs and health professionals through the RACGP Quality Improvement and Continuing Professional Development (QI&CPD) program. It is available at www.gplearning.com.au for RACGP members. Non-members can access this activity at www.clined.com.au.
ThinkGP Training
About ThinkGP: ThinkGP is a leading provider of free online education solutions to GPs and other health care providers in Australia.
Aboriginal Health - Closing the gap in your practice
http://thinkgp.com.au/education/content/6846
This education discusses the reasons why it is important for general practices to have systems in place to identify their patients who are Aboriginal. The education discusses the specific Medicare item numbers applicable to Aboriginal patients, as well as other specific initiatives. The barriers to care are discussed and methods to overcome these are explored. The role of these initiatives and item numbers in patient management is discussed.
Points: RACGP: 2 Category 2 CPD points, ACRRM: 1 PD point, RCNA: 1 CNE point (1 hour)
Special Feature Video 1 Title: Closing the Gap - Aboriginal Identification with Dr Tim Senior
http://thinkgp.com.au/video/features/6342
GP NSW and ThinkGP bring you Dr Tim Senior, a GP from Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation in South West Sydney, and Medical Advisor in the RACGP National Faculty of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health. Dr Senior will discuss the reasons it is important for practices to facilitate the identification of Aboriginal patients and will provide advice as to how this may be done.
Special Feature Video 2 Title: Closing the Gap - Medicare and other initiatives with Dr Penny Abbott
http://thinkgp.com.au/video/features/6346
GP NSW and ThinkGP bring you Dr Penny Abbott a GP at the Aboriginal Medical Service Western Sydney and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Western Sydney. Dr Abbott will discuss the item numbers and their role in patient management.