Thursday, 23 October 2025
Stories and events of the Kaurareg homeland of Kaiwalagal, the Torres Strait homeland and Cape York homelands of the Anggamuthi, Atambaya, Wuthathi, Yadhaykenu and Gudang Peoples.
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Healthcare patterns ‘ignored’ in report BY CHRISTINE HOWES Loban Marine founder and owner Yen Loban with his granddaughter Teiya Lee Mosby Loban. Pic supplied.
Loban Marine’s much-loved yellow ferry has new potential to grow into a local tourism venture thanks to a Business Growth Package (BGP) from the Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA). The vital daily ferry service was set to continue transporting children from Ngurupai (Horn Island) and Muralag (Prince
of Wales) to school on Waiben (Thursday Island) until June 2030. As part of a multi-year school service contract with the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, Loban Marine has bought a vessel to meet disability access requirements.
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The second part of an investigation into serious concerns from across the Torres Strait and northern Cape about the quality of services provided by the Torres & Cape Hospital and Health Service (TCHHS) has found no evidence of systems and processes being culturally unsafe for staff and community members. Torres Strait Island Regional Council (TSIRC) said they were concerned that “despite years of advocacy and repeated concerns raised by our communities and leaders, there remains a significant disconnect between official findings and the lived experiences of our people”. The Queensland Healthcommissioned independent inquiry into the health service was carried out in two parts. Part A of the investigation focused on service delivery and models of care. Key findings included little improvement in avoidable deaths and hospitalisations, health inequities and service fragmentation, continued disadvantage in perinatal outcomes and preventable conditions, declining and undervalued Indigenous Health Workers (IHW), and a lack of integrated cultural safety for patients and staff. A Queensland Health spokesperson told the Torres News those findings were “consistent with outcomes for First Nations people across Queensland, including in regional and metropolitan areas”. “This is despite the fact communities within the Torres
and Cape health service region are very remote and isolated and suffer very significant socioeconomic disadvantage, compared to other regional and metropolitan areas,” they said. Part B, released in August, assessed the “current cultural safety of systems and processes provided by the TCHHS for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees and those receiving care”. Director-General Dr David Rosengren said while the Part B report found no evidence of culturally unsafe systems and processes at TCHHS, both reports provided an important opportunity to improve public health care delivery for First Nations people, not just by TCHHS, but by all HHSs across Queensland. TSIRC has called on Queensland Health to engage directly with local leaders, frontline workers and communities to “restore trust and ensure that the design and delivery of health services reflect the cultural, social and linguistic realities of the Torres Strait”. “We urge Queensland Health to revisit the findings of Part B with transparency, integrity and a genuine commitment to accountability,” TSIRC Mayor Phillemon Mosby said. “Our people deserve culturally safe, equitable and quality health care, not reports that fail to reflect the truth of their experiences.” Story continued on PAGE 3 N