A multidisciplinary care approach has many benefits to consumers, including increased survival, reduced time from diagnosis to treatment, and an improved satisfaction with care. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people affected by cancer often have barriers to accessing culturally safe, equitable and responsive cancer care. This can be due to systemic barriers, including racism, discrimination, remoteness, affordability, health literacy discrepancy, limited place-based services and the importance of dying on Country.

While many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cancer consumers may access Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services, there is great opportunity for closer alignment between all community health, tertiary care providers and primary care to enable earlier diagnosis, increase the likelihood of treatment completion and improve overall health and wellbeing outcomes.

All cancer care professionals working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be trauma-aware, healing-informed, considerate of the unique experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the impacts of intergenerational trauma arising from past policies.

It is also critical for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to be involved from the beginning of their care journey, with holistic supportive care wrapped around the person, including social, emotional, spiritual, and other cultural supports. Embedding Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Health Practitioners into multidisciplinary cancer care teams will have significant benefits for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Activities to achieve this 5-year action may include:

• implement cultural, trauma-aware, healing-informed education and support for the non-Indigenous members of multidisciplinary care teams for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
• expand availability of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cancer care coordination and navigation models to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as advocates throughout their cancer care journey
• ensure care treatment plans are developed in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, their carer and/or support network, including Aboriginal Liaison Officers and Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Health Practitioners
• empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities to meaningfully collaborate on the design, implementation, and evaluation of tailored cancer care services
• further integrate cancer care with Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services and other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations.

Alignment to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workforce Strategic Framework and Implementation Plan 2021–2031 [133] and other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workforce initiatives is critical to ensuring national coordination and successful implementation of the action.