Over 30 members of our JCTS team recently gathered at the Murrook Culture Centre in Williamtown NSW for our all-staff meeting. Thank you to everyone at Murrook for their warm welcome and generosity in sharing their rich heritage with us amongst the beautiful sanctuary on Worimi country.
Our two-day meeting commenced with a Welcome to Country and history of the Murrook Cultural Centre from Worimi Elder, Aunty Lorraine Lilley. Aunty Lorraine talked about her own personal story from her memoir ‘Mop Dolly’ and what life was like to live in a world where government bureaucracies controlled her family, and the triumphs and successes achieved in spite of that.
The team at Murrook performed a Traditional Aboriginal Smoking Ceremony, using local Australian native medicinal plants. Each staff member was invited to touch the smoldering leaves, and bathe in the smoke for an individual cleansing. It was an incredibly moving experience for all involved and an ideal way to ward off bad spirits and promote wellbeing of all JCTS staff and guests.
To kick off formalities, we were joined by our colleagues from RACGP and ACRRM to share updates with JCTS staff, which included a discussion about the recently launched RACGP Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural and Health Training Framework, the remote supervision model, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research and quality frameworks. We would like to say a special thanks to the following presenters for sharing their knowledge and time with us; Isabel Broderick (ACRRM), Debbie Forsdike (ACRRM), Dr Olivia O’Donoghue (RACGP), A/Prof Jillian Benson AM (RACGP), Anna Gheng (RACGP), Kerrilee Gow (RACGP), Prof Parker Magin (RACGP) and Emma Straney (RACGP).
We were also fortunate to be joined by external presenters including Carla Taylor from the General Practice Supervisors Association and Dr Elizabeth McEntyre, who discussed the consultation stage of the National Plan to end the Abuse and Mistreatment of Older People 2024 – 2034.
From a JCTS perspective, being able to come together and reflect on our achievements from the past year and reconnect with each other is incredibly beneficial. It gives us the chance to share knowledge amongst regional teams and highlight areas for improvement and innovation. As part of our discussions, we reviewed feedback from evaluations from those who have attended our cultural education workshops, and we are so pleased to receive such overwhelmingly positive results. Feedback is incredibly valuable for us to continue to deliver a high-quality program for GP registrars, so we thank all of those that took the time to provide their thoughts.
Another highlight of the all-staff meeting was a unique adrenaline-filled guided tour of the Worimi Stockton sand dunes, for a cultural team on country experience. Those brave enough got to ride their own ‘All-Terrain Vehicle’ (ATV), our staff gained insights into the cultural, ecological and social prominence of the magnificent sand dune landscape. The activity was great for team building with everyone getting out of their comfort zone and pushing themselves to the limit – and nobody fell off!
A sincere thank you to all presenters, the Murrook Culture Centre for hosting us and everyone involved in organising our two -day meeting.
