At Oqea we acknowledge reconciliation is a journey for all Australians.

As a community based, person centric platform Oqea celebrates the diversity of our community and the many cultural groups who exist within our network. We are dedicated to ensuring that we are inclusive of all Australians and work hard to be cognizant of meeting their needs, which are varied, including Indigenous Australians. We acknowledge that Indigenous Australians have different health needs to other cultural groups and are dedicated to listening and learning from Indigenous people and associated health associations to assist with closing the gap in health outcomes.

The gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous mental health outcomes are quite frankly not good enough. We must work together as a collective to ensure that all Australians are afforded care that is personalized, person centric and culturally appropriate; that is mental health care that meets the needs of everyone, taking in to account individuals as opposed to broad medical criterion. There is a large disparity between Indigenous Australians vs non-Indigenous Australians mental health, with 31 percent of Indigenous Australians reported as having high or very high psychological distress as compared to 14% of non-indigenous Australians. It is evident across many other wellbeing measures that Indigenous Australians are massively disadvantaged and this needs to change.

We remain committed to the prevention of suicide and the proactive management of ill mental health and are devoted to ensuring all our user groups are supported, taking in to account their cultural heritage and the associated differences in health needs.

The only way we see to making these changes is through connection and collaboration. Real honest relationships and conversations to lift the lid on what has remained uncovered properly in over 100 years. It is time for a change. In 2021 we mark twenty years of Reconciliation Australia and almost three decades since the inception of Australia’s formal reconciliation process.

Reconciliation takes more than words. Let’s make real change happen with action.

#MoreThanAWord

‍