The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner (ATSIHP) role became nationally registered from 1 July 2012 under the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for health professions.
ATSIHPs are registered with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia, which is a sub-board within the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).
In accordance with the National Board’s registration standards, registrants:
An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Worker (ATSIHW) is not required to be registered unless it is necessary for employment purposes and to use the title Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner, Aboriginal Health Practitioner and/or Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner. However, a person may independently apply for registration if they wish to do so.
The role of health and healing within the Aboriginal community in the NT goes back a long time. Long before contact with the British there were long traditions in midwifery and healing within Aboriginal society. The traditional healer can be traced back as far as 150 years ago and some of these were the first to join in working with Western doctors and nurses. These traditional healers became formally known in the NT as an Aboriginal Health Worker (AHW) well over 40 years ago. Crucial to the role has always been the trust and respect of the community.
The AHW role has required registration in the NT since 1985 and then became nationally registered from 1 July 2012 under the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for health professions. It had been identified that some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health care roles across Australia involved a significant clinical component and the performance of a number of high risk clinical activities. On this basis, Health Ministers agreed that national registration was required to provide for the protection of the public by ensuring that only health practitioners who are suitably trained and qualified to practice are registered with AHPRA.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia (National Board) has been established to regulate the profession. With a broad aim of protecting the public and guiding the profession, the National Board establishes registration standards and professional guidelines for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioners. The website of the National Board includes details about current registration standards.
Those who are eligible for this recognition are variously entitled Aboriginal Health Practitioners (AHPs) or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioners (ATSIHPs).
Many who have been AHWs/AHPs over a long period of time may have very advanced clinical skills and the ability to take on clinic management and program manager positions. They are also likely to have the strong community relationships that are essential to being effective in this role, and form part of the support and safety for visiting medical staff. You will still hear people talking about Aboriginal Health Workers when really they mean Practitioners.
Unfortunately this confusion is likely to persist for some time and it is worth asking to clarify your understanding of what clinical skills a colleague has and is allowed to use. Some still employed as AHWs rather than ATSIHPs will no longer have a strong clinical role but may still be an important part of the clinic team and have essential knowledge and relationships.
In the NT the waters have been further muddied with the advent of a role entitled Aboriginal Community Worker (ACW). This is a very broad designation, generally in use in NT government health centres. Training for this role includes the Certificate III in Community Services and the NT DoH has done a lot of work defining the role and job description. Sometimes these workers may fill some of the roles previously held by AHWs.
Howard, D. (2006). Mixed Messages: cross-cultural management in Aboriginal community controlled health services.
Culture shock is very destructive, undermining the ability of dominant culture personnel to satisfactorily perform their professional tasks. People suffering culture shock get depressed and angry, or feel demoralised and hopeless because they cannot accomplish what they are used to accomplishing.
Many start to blame themselves … Another common response is to blame the host community and its strange culture. These dominant culture personnel spend much of their spare time with others from the dominant culture, criticising the people. Others ‘lecture’ the people, telling them what they should be doing.
Almost all dominant culture personnel who come to Arnhem Land suffer these symptoms [of culture shock] in one way or another, but most do not know what they are suffering from. This makes them leave in an almost constant stream …
Trudgen, R. (2000). Djambatj Mala — Why warriors lie down and die. Darwin: Aboriginal Resource & Development Services.
Kartiya are like Toyotas. When they break down we get another one.
(Remark by a Western Desert woman about whitefellas who work in Indigenous communities.)
Mahood, K. (2012), Kartiya are like Toyotas. Griffith REVIEW, 36. Retrieved from https://www.griffithreview.com/articles/kartiya-are-like-toyotas/