A path towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice, representation and leadership within the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA).

The first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander NSWNMA members’ meeting held in February was a great success in our path towards increasing voice, representation and leadership of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives within the union.

Following the Welcome to Country by Uncle Allen Murray, an Elder from Gadigal Land, the meeting opened with a listening session where Shaye Candish, NSWNMA General Secretary, and Michael Whaites, NSWNMA Assistant General Secretary, acknowledged the Association’s systemic and structural failures in not addressing representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members sooner.

During the listening session, co-facilitated by Sye Hodgman, First Nations Strategy, Policy and Research Officer for the Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union (QNMU),  members engaged in robust and productive discussions about issues of importance to them, such as:

• cultural safety;
• creating opportunities for members to identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander;
• empowering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members;
• advocating for better health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients;
• staffing issues;
• industrial entitlements around culturally specific issues like “sorry business”, and the Yes for Voice campaign.

Members then grappled with questions around representation and leadership within the union, proposing several initiatives which include:

1. Forming a statewide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander NSWNMA Branch;
2. Creating two dedicated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander positions on NSWNMA Council, one each for a nurse and a midwife.

Council supported both proposals which will be put to NSWNMA Annual Conference in August this year. In the meantime, meetings will continue to be held on a monthly basis.

All Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander NSWNMA members will receive an invite to this meeting, keep an eye on your emails!