Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Identification

Why ask the question?

Improving access to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people relies on practices having a system in place to ask all patients whether they are of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin. That is, to deliver the right services at the right time, you must identify the individual needs of your patients.

In addition, the 5th Edition Standards for General Practice outlines the recording of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status patients as a standard. This can be found in “Standard 7: Criterion C7.1E”:

Standard 7- Content of patient health records: Our patient health records contain an accurate and comprehensive record of all interactions with our patients.

C7.1 E Our practice routinely records the Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander status of our patients in their patient health record.

There are tools available to help your practice achieve this. Indigenous Health Project Officers within your region are also able to support the work of General Practice in this area by providing knowledge around Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identification, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagement, strategies and supporting resources that can assist the practice in creating welcoming environments for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to feel safe to identify.

The protocol in Health is to undertake a self-identification process of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status.

Suggestion on obtaining the necessary demographic information

Putting in place a PDSA or continuous quality improvement cycle around the issue is likely to yield good results. Example of some quality improvement activities include:

Asking the question on new patient forms. Asking the question at the time of patients making an appointment. Asking the question at the next consult/during a consult. Identify the patient records for which there is no available information surrounding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status and contact the patients (in various forms) to update their patient records. An example of how this could be approached includes:

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are at risk of certain illnesses more than non-

Aboriginal people. We want to make sure that we give you thorough and proper care which is tailored to your needs.

You can ask: ‘Are you (is the person) of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin?’ Or you can include the following text in a form when updating client information:

Question

‘Are you (is the person) of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin?’ (For persons of both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin, mark both ’yes’ boxes.)

No Yes, Aboriginal Yes, Torres Strait Islander

Alternatively, a fourth response category may also be included if this better suits the data collection practices of the agency or establishment concerned: • Yes, both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s 2010 National best practice guidelines for collecting Indigenous status in health data sets

Resources

RACGP

Identification of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Status in General Practice

Standards for General Practice (5th edition). Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

The National Best Practice Guidelines for collecting Indigenous Status in health datasets

Taking the next steps: Identification of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status in General Practice

Training Tool on Asking the Question

Asking the Question Brochure

Asking the Question Poster

Asking the Question Fact Sheet

Indigenous Health Project Officers

Indigenous Health Project Officers can support your changes by providing strategies, ideas and some resources to assist you in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identification.