SESLHD marks National Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week
Our District and nation have recently marked two important events in the ongoing journey to reconciliation with our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
National Reconciliation Week took place last week with the theme: Now More Than Ever. This is a call for us all to come together and push for equality and justice for our first Australians.
During Reconciliation Week, Sydney/Sydney Eye Hospital (SSEH) in partnership with the Sydney Eye Hospital Foundation, unveiled the concept for a new clinic that will transform Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander eyecare (event pictured left).
The current Bicentennial Clinic at SSEH will be renamed Gadigal Eye Clinic, honouring the traditional custodians of the land.
The Clinic is being repurposed to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island patients, providing in-person services as well as virtual care capabilities for eye patients in remote communities.
“Sydney/Sydney Eye Hospital is located on the lands of the Gadigal People, and so it is incredibly fitting that the Gadigal Eye Clinic honours them, but it is so much more than a name change” says Skye Parsons, SESLHD Director of Aboriginal Health.
“This follows consultation with community to ensure we are creating a culturally welcoming, accessible and safe clinic for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander eye patients.”
Jennie Barry, General Manager of SSEH says: “This is an important service which we hope will help close the gap.”
“SSEH is a world-recognised specialist eye hospital and our patients come from across the state. It’s essential that Aboriginal people can access our care wherever they are.”
National Sorry Day took place on 26 May, an important opportunity to acknowledge Stolen Generations survivors and the role that NSW Health played in forcibly removing Aboriginal children from their families, country and culture.
Every facility in our District has received a plaque featuring an inscription of NSW Health Secretary, Susan Pearce’s 2022 apology to Stolen Generations survivors.
“I would like to acknowledge the strength and resilience of our Stolen Generation survivors and acknowledge the intergenerational trauma that continues for my community, and how it presents itself in the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal people,” says Skye.
“I encourage everyone to take a look at these plaques, which will be displayed next to the Acknowledgement of Country at each facility, reflect on its meaning, and consider what role you can play in healing and true reconciliation”
These plaques were unveiled at a special event at Prince of Wales Hospital (POWH) on Bidjigal country, and Sutherland Hospital, on the lands of the Dharawal people. At POWH, two special guests were in attendance: Wiradjuri woman, author-filmmaker and Stolen Generations survivor, Brenda Matthews (pictured right), and local Bidjigal/Dharawal Aboriginal health worker, Sharon Brown. Both women shared their unique perspectives on loss, reconnection and healing.
