NAIDOC Week started early this year, giving a chance for students to partake in an event in Echuca via their school before going on school holidays.

The week celebrates culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people current and past. But the week also highlights the difficult past of these two cultures throughout Australia.

This year, Echuca Regional Health has liaised with three schools, Echuca East Primary, Echuca Primary and Echuca Twin Rivers Primary, inviting students to learn about the hospital and its services.

ERH population health manager Danielle Paterson said the health service wanted to build trust within the community to ensure that no matter who was visiting ERH, they knew it was a place for them and a place for everybody.

“We wanted to really make sure that we were building cultural safety for the children so that they feel safe attending Echuca Regional Health for whatever reason that they may need to in the future,” Ms Paterson said.

The students moved around some of the different departments of the hospital, learning from the staff and using some of the equipment.

The students toured the emergency department, where they learnt about x-rays and experienced having plaster casts applied.

They then visited the dental clinic to sit in the dentist’s chair and learn about oral health before finishing in the physiotherapy gym, where they took part in rehabilitation exercises and learnt how to use crutches.

“I captured some great feedback and data from the students and the teachers,” Ms Paterson said.

“The children voiced to us that they felt safe, and that they would definitely feel more comfortable attending the health service after having this experience.”

Aboriginal liaison officer Merinda Slater said that this program and experience stemmed from a lack of representation of young people in previous NAIDOC weeks.

Ms Slater recounted an experience she had when speaking with a young girl who expressed her deep mistrust of hospitals, even though she had never been a patient in one.

“These kids need to have the opportunity to assure them that they’re going to be safe at the hospital,” she said.

Ms Slater said the children’s perceptions of hospitals often stemmed from the experiences of their parents or grandparents, who may have had negative encounters with the healthcare system.

“You know, some of these kids, their great-grandmothers, maybe even some of their grandmothers, were born on the verandah at ERH. That history is there, it’s not that long ago,” she said.

Ms Slater said the idea was based around trying to get the children to have a greater understanding of the hospital and what it did.

“We’re not Echuca Hospital, you know, we’re Echuca Regional Health. We’re not just ED, even though that’s where some of you may have gone,” she said.

“We are mitigating some of the trauma and the stories that they’ve heard.

“Some have gone home, and they’ve actually said ‘I've heard you say some bad things about the hospital, but what I saw today, it wasn't that bad,’” Ms Slater said.

“Like we always say, reconciliation is a journey; it’s a marathon, not a race.”

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Tuesday, 18th December 2029

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