Improved accountability and systems to ensure cultural safety and racial equality are needed to tackle racism in Australia’s healthcare system, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) said today.
Releasing its anti-racism position statement, the AMA said 54% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander trainee doctors reported having experienced or witnessed bullying, discrimination and harassment, including racism, compared with 21% of all trainees nationally.
Research has also found that international medical graduates frequently report high levels of racism, discrimination, and prejudice from patients and colleagues, including microaggressions. Racist behaviour is also directed at doctors from second or third generation migrant families even though they were born and have grown up in Australia, the AMA said.
“It is distressing to hear about the racism being experienced by doctors in Australia,” AMA President Professor Steve Robson said.
We need to act as allies and advocates to support professionals who experience racism
“Racism, which is unacceptable in all its forms, can have terrible impacts on individuals, families and communities.”
Prof Robson said the AMA’s anti-racism position statement called for everyone in the healthcare system, including leaders, to take responsibility for tackling racism and ensuring systems are in place to deal with racism in a culturally safe way.
“We need to act as allies and advocates to support professionals who experience racism,” Prof Robson said.
“This requires a commitment from everyone, including those in executive and senior leadership roles, to create systems and processes that ensure individuals and groups are held responsible for their decisions and actions and ensure people who experience racism have access to reporting systems that are trusted and safe.”
He said cultural safety and racial equity must be embedded in governance and leadership processes and should be guided and led by Indigenous peoples and other culturally and racially marginalised people.
“We know that systems that are informed by those who are impacted by an issue are more effective.
“Doctors should also be aware of the codes, guidelines, and policies that regulators have set condemning discrimination and racism; their obligations under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law to provide healthcare that is culturally safe and free from racism; and what is reportable to Ahpra (the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency).”
The AMA’s anti-racisim position statement is available online.