Yuwa! Welcome to Karlkurla Country!
Did you know that Kalgoorlie’s name is thought to have derived from the ‘Karlkurla’ (pronounced gull-gurl-la) – the local Aboriginal name for the native silky pear found in the area? Aboriginal people from 17 distinct language groups have called the vast lands of the Goldfields region home for tens of thousands of years. Behind each language is a ‘people’ meaning family, community, culture and lands – each from a different area of this unique and beautiful part of Western Australia.
The Goldfields UDRH cultural education program helps you build your understanding of the region’s rich Aboriginal heritage, and gain confidence in communicating and working with Aboriginal people, in clinical settings.
Cultural education
Our cultural education program is led by the UDRH’s Aboriginal Liaison Advisor and includes classroom learning, town tours, health service organisation visits, and on Country experiences with elders and local families.
On Country experiences
Where possible, you will participate in an on Country experience during your time in the Goldfields, spending time ‘in the bush’. There will be opportunities to help gather, prepare and taste traditional bush foods such as Kangaroo tail and honey ants. These experiences enable you to learn about the significance of Country and its connection to health.
Aboriginal health experts servicing our communities
There are three Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) servicing the Goldfields and its Aboriginal people. You may visit or connect with any one of these ACCHOs during your placement, as you learn to provide culturally appropriate healthcare to Indigenous people living in our communities.
The National Leadership body defines an ACCHO as “a primary health care service initiated and operated by the local Aboriginal community to deliver holistic, comprehensive, and culturally appropriate health care to the community which controls it, through a locally elected Board of Management.” ACCHOs play an important role particularly in regional health care, as they are able to provide flexible and responsive services that are tailored to the needs of local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.