Aboriginal Liaison Policy Advisory Committee
(ALPAC)
Terms of Reference
Preamble
In 1999 the staff and management of RCH and representatives from the Victorian Koori Community
developed the following statement which was endorsed by the then RCH Aboriginal Liaison Hospital
Policy Advisory Committee.
The Royal Children’s Hospital is unreservedly committed to improving the poor health status of
Aboriginal people through the ongoing provision for a quality of service that is at all times culturally
affirming and sensitive to the needs of Aboriginal Families.
The Royal Children’s Hospital acknowledges both the historical and current barriers that have impeded,
and continue to impede, Aboriginal families from accessing services that the Royal Children’s Hospital
provides.
The Royal Children’s Hospital embraces the belief that it is the right of all Aboriginal Children, Young
People, Families and their communities, to enjoy equality of access to culturally appropriate services.
The Royal Children’s Hospital continues to be committed to providing culturally appropriate care to
Aboriginal patients and families.
The Wadja Aboriginal Family Place and the Wadja Clinic are initiatives of RCH which work towards
addressing and improving the health of Aboriginal patients. Wadja is integral to RCH in providing
cultural safety.
ALPAC explore options and indentifies resources to support the RCH to be a leading example of best
practice in acute paediatric health care for Aboriginal patients and families
Objectives
ALPAC’s Role is to provide:
Advice to the RCH to ensure the discipline of cultural safety for Aboriginal patients and families is being
demonstrated in the patient journey.
Opportunities for the Aboriginal community to support to the RCH in meeting the key result areas of the
Department of Health’s Improving Care for Aboriginal Patients (ICAP) Program. The ICAP program
encourages and supports a whole of health service responsibility for improving access, identification and
culturally responsive care for Aboriginal patients within Victorian hospitals. The four key result areas of
ICAP relate to such areas as relationships with Aboriginal communities, culturally aware hospital staff,
appropriate discharge planning and primary care referrals.
Feedback on how RCH is meeting the targets of Closing the Gap (CTG), which includes closing the gap in
life expectancy within a generation, lowering infant mortality and decreasing low birth weight of
Indigenous children.
Advocate and ensure that processes and practices in RCH are:
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Fair and reasonable and result in positive and tangible outcomes for Aboriginal people and
families.
Reflect RCH commitment to Aboriginal patients, families and the community.
Adhere to recommended policies, practices and procedures in regards to Aboriginal patients
and their families
Supportive of an Aboriginal employment strategy
Ensure that Aboriginal health is acknowledged as being multi faceted, encompassing not only
the physical health of patients, but also the emotional, educational, spiritual and cultural
aspects of a patients health, as well as the social determinants of health.
Ensure that cultural awareness is offered to a large percentage of Aboriginal staff and have this
outcome monitored and measured.
Membership
The Aboriginal Health Advisory Committee is comprised of Aboriginal Elders, Aboriginal Health Workers,
community members, ICAP policy advisors and key staff from the hospital, including representation
from social work, Education Institute and executive.
The committee is co-chaired by the Executive Director, Nursing Services, and an appointed member of
the community.
Meetings
Meetings are held on a bi-monthly basis from February to December, and alternate community venues
are sought.
Review
These terms of reference are to be reviewed annually. The next review date is January 2014.