My name is Lisa.I’m descended from Barapa Barapa, Wamba Wamba tribes.I was born & raised in Barham NSW. My cultural background is Aboriginal & Irish on my mother’s side & Italian on my fathers.I am in Cohuna 1 day per fortnight servicing the Acute ward, Aged Care facility, Community nursing team and Midwifery Group Practice.My hours are 9:00 – 16:00.Please feel free to contact me via email – [email protected]
Aboriginal Liaison Officer (ALO) role
Provide patient & family with Cultural & social support.
Talk with doctors, nurses, allied health staff at patient request.
Connect patient with other services in community. Eg. Dental, Optometrist, Mental health, Aboriginal Health orgs. to name a few.
Help patient understand any information they are unsure of.
Assist with appointments after discharge.
Link patients with other AHL if they need to attend another hospital.
Support hospital staff to better understand needs of patients, my door is always open & no question is offensive to me, don’t be afraid to ask.
As ALO I can be if needed a point of contact if patient requests this.
Why do we ask about Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) origin?
The question was developed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Everyone is asked this question, we can never assume someone is an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander or is not.
The question is asked to improve the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people because there is still a big and unacceptable difference in health and life expectancy. To know if these are improving, and to know if we are providing services in the right way, we need to know if people are of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin.
In 2020–2022, life expectancy at birth was estimated to be 71.9 years for ATSI males and 75.6 years for ATSI females. The gap between ATSI people and non-ATSI Australians was estimated to be 8.8 years for males and 8.1 years for females. It is all about achieving health equality for all Australians.
It is also important to ask because Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients may wish to see an Aboriginal Health Worker, or access specific Medicare services such as a Health Check.
A popular misconception is that ATSI people get preferential treatment, this is not the case when the question is being asked, and it is simply asked to improve health outcomes for ATSI people.
