Sixteen health care practitioners travelled from across the north coast to TAFE NSW Port Macquarie to celebrate the milestone and the finalisation of their Certificate IV in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Care Practice.

Once they complete the remaining 300 workplace clinical hours of the 18-month course, they will be the first-ever student cohort in the NSW North Coast to graduate with the nationally-recognised qualification.

The students – all of whom already work as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) health practitioners and identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander – completed their sixth and final block of the course’s theory component last week. The big milestone was celebrated with a dinner at The Mercure restaurant.

TAFE NSW manager service delivery Aboriginal health, Daniel Morrison, said everyone was delighted to finish the face-to-face training blocks, each of which they travelled to TAFE NSW Port Macquarie to undertake.

“I am really proud of my students for achieving such a momentous milestone. I know they will be valuable community members with the skills and knowledge they’ve gained over the past 12 months,” he said. 

“The TAFE NSW Certificate IV in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Care Practice empowers practitioners to offer streamlined care to patients, upskilling them to provide professional practice work in a clinical setting. The overarching goal is to improve health outcomes for our communities and families."

TAFE NSW partners with the Aboriginal Medical Service and several Local Area Health Districts to support and service qualifications that upskill the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health care workforce.