The team at Clinical Excellence Queensland is thrilled to introduce the establishment of the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Clinical Network.
Acting Deputy Director-General Shelley Nowlan said the Network would be a driving force to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s knowledge and practice enabled healthcare workers and consumers to make a positive difference to health outcomes and improve life expectancy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders.
“I would like to thank the Network’s Co-Chairs for their commitment to this cause: Dr Mark Wenitong, Kubi Kubi Aboriginal and South Sea Islander and General Practitioner, and Dr Alicia Veasey, a Torres Strait Islander woman and in her final year of her Obstetrics and Gynaecology Fellowship with Metro North.”
Dr Mark Wenitong has mostly worked in primary health care both in Queensland and the Northern Territory and also has experience in policy and research. His background also includes sexual health, public health, men’s health, and he is an Adjunct Professor at QUT (Nutrition Exercise Sciences). He was a founding member of the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association.
Dr Alicia Veasey was a paediatric nurse before she started studying medicine. She has a subspeciality interest in paediatric and adolescent gynaecology and has completed a Master of Health Management and Master of Public Health. She is the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representative on the Statewide Maternity and Neonatal Clinical Network and a member of RANZCOG’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s health and Reconciliation Action Plan Committee.
“The vision of the Network is to address social determinants of health and the provision of culturally safe and clinically excellent and equitable care closer to home, and in partnership with families and communities, continue to build the capability of future generations,” Shelley said.
Advancing Health Equity for First Nations people is one of the key priorities in Queensland Health’s Strategic Plan. “The establishment of this Network will enable us to take a great leap forward in achieving those objectives and of course in Closing the Gap.”
Find out more via the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Clinical Network website.
