Ensuring First Nations patients feel culturally safe
20 August 2025
Peter Mac is working to improve the cultural safety of First Nations people receiving cancer care, via two new Australian Government and Cancer Australia-funded projects.
These projects will foster new connections between healthcare providers and Aboriginal-led organisations, and ultimately aim to support better outcomes for First Nations patients.
The first project - titled “Walking together with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples to enhance culturally safe cancer care” - will focus on lung and breast cancer screening, and psycho-oncology care.
It involves Peter Mac, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Western & Central Melbourne Integrated Cancer Service, St. Vincent's Hospital and the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service (VAHS).
It includes appointing a new Aboriginal Patient Navigator to be based at VAHS and who can support First Nations patients as they attend these different hospitals.
“This important project places the First Nations health workforce - along with those undergoing cancer screening, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship - at the centre of a new, collaborative approach to improving health outcomes and experiences,” says Andrea Casey, who is Peter Mac’s Aboriginal Health Unit Project Officer.
“These initiatives aim to enhance accessibility to care, enable earlier detection and diagnosis, and provide culturally appropriate mental health support, ultimately working towards better cancer outcomes for First Nations people.”
The other project involving Peter Mac is titled “Healing together our way: A regional approach to improving cancer outcome for Aboriginal communities in the South West Victoria”.
This project also involves South West Healthcare VIC, Western District Health Service, Portland District Health, Winda-Mara Aboriginal Corporation, Gunditjmara Aboriginal Cooperative, Kirrae Health Service and Victorian Aboriginal Controlled Health Organisation.
Both projects received funding in the latest round of the Australian Government and Cancer Australia’s “Partnerships for Culturally Safe Cancer Care” grant program. In total, $24.6 million in funding was allocated to 20 successful projects. Read the official announcement.
Assistant Minister for Indigenous Health the Hon. Rebecca White says: "Cancer remains the leading cause of death for First Nations people and we must do more to change that”.
“These grants are a step forward in making sure First Nations communities receive the quality care and support they need, in ways that are led by and respectful of culture.”