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Medical, Health & Aged Care

Investment in Cultural Safety Education strengthens future healthcare workforce

Royal Australian College of GPs

As NAIDOC Week marks ‘Fifty Years of Deadly’, Joint Colleges Training Services (JCTS), the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) celebrate the expansion of JCTS and an increase in funding for the next five years.

With increased Commonwealth funding secured from 2026 to 2030 and a renewed strategic plan for the period, JCTS will expand its Cultural Health Education and Safety Training program, creating additional Senior Cultural Educator, Cultural Educator and Medical Educator positions across Australia.

This increase in funding recognises the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, leaders and educators whose work continues to shape how Australia’s future general practitioners (GPs) and Rural Generalists (RGs) learn and train.

The expansion of JCTS’s Cultural Health Education and Safety Training program will allow more registrars to learn directly from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educators. This aims to create a culturally safe healthcare workforce by addressing conscious and unconscious bias and providing equitable healthcare for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

JCTS Senior Cultural Educator, Phillip Dreise, said the investment in JCTS builds on work that began long before the organisation existed.

“For more than 65,000 years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have shared knowledge, taught the next generation and cared for community. The work we're doing at JCTS today sits within that much longer story.

“This funding means more opportunities for Cultural Educators to walk alongside registrars, share knowledge and support learning. We're building on work that generations of people have contributed to before us.”

JCTS Head of Medical Education, Dr Jacinta Power, said the increased funding and workforce growth is about creating lasting change through Cultural Health Education and Safety Training.

“The registrars we support today will still be managing the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients decades from now.

“If we want culturally safe healthcare to be the standard in the future, we need to keep investing in Cultural Safety Education now. This expansion helps JCTS do that in practical ways, by supporting educators and creating more opportunities for registrars to learn.”

As NAIDOC Week celebrates Fifty Years of Deadly, JCTS, ACRRM and the RACGP acknowledge the leaders, educators and communities whose contributions have brought us to this point. Together we are committed to building an Australian healthcare system that addresses racism and bias and creates positive social change for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The 2026-2030 funding period will be shaped by JCTS’s vision: “Strong communities and healthy futures – grounded in Cultural Safety, strengthened through relationships, and driven by excellence in embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways in GP training.”

~ENDS


About us:

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) is the peak representative organisation for general practice, the backbone of Australia’s health system. We set the standards for general practice, facilitate lifelong learning for GPs, connect the general practice community, and advocate for better health and wellbeing for all Australians.

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Joint Colleges Training Services (JCTS)