Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and/or Health Practitioners are critical to the delivery of comprehensive, culturally safe, trauma-aware, healing-informed care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, ensuring they feel supported and represented during their cancer care journey. The current cancer care workforce does not reflect the representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the patient population, exacerbating the challenges in delivering trauma-aware, healing-informed care and communication to patients.

This 2-year action requires data-driven insights to identify priority areas of need based on the experiences of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cancer care workforce. Workforce modelling should be designed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and include an opportunity for them to provide insights into the need for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander specialists, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Health Practitioners and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Liaison Officers across the cancer care workforce and across Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services.

The aim is to better incorporate the roles of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people into the current and future cancer care system, guided by a quality standards framework. It builds on Action 5.2.1 Identify current and emerging workforce undersupply in line with cancer workforce modelling and other national health workforce strategies, and initiate planning with the sector towards building future workforce capacity and capability.

A plan to recruit, train and retain the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cancer care workforce may include:

• expanding training and career pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people seeking to enter the cancer care workforce or upskill their capabilities to reach the top of their scope of practice, including in leadership roles
• co-designing and delivering recruitment, training and upskilling programs with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people working in cancer care and leveraging digital technologies to make programs more accessible
• working with tertiary education institutions to encourage enrolment, course completion and career mentorship for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people undertaking courses relevant to the cancer care workforce. This could include expanding formal partnerships between National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services and tertiary institutions
• addressing the specific needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the workforce to improve job satisfaction, wellbeing and mental health, for example support for dealing with discrimination
• developing workforce ratios and metrics around the employment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the workforce, to be considered as guidelines that reflect the representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of the patient population
• developing measures to ensure cultural safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the cancer care workforce.

Implementation of this action should strengthen Indigenous Data Sovereignty and governance of cancer data and information. Activities should also include considerations of intersectionality with priority population groups for healthcare practitioners and patients.

Activities should align education and training programs with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Curriculum Framework[158] and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workforce Strategic Framework and Implementation Plan 2021–2031.[133]