Aboriginal Menu (and Segregation?) in Australia Hospital

Canberra is the capital of equality and fair treatment, right? Well… Here’s the Government’s Canberra Health Services website. Unsurprisingly, they have a page (or ten) dedicated to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health. They being with the mandatory acknowledgement of the Traditional Custodians of the land, the Ngunnawal people. “All our services are located on Ngunnawal Country”, with the Ngunnawal people having lived here for more than 20,000 years. They’re committed to providing a culturally safe environment for Aboriginal people, and they acknowledge that hospitals aren’t always places Aboriginal people go for healing.

They have a CT scanner with Aboriginal art on it. Apparently this is to help calm Aboriginal people when they get a scan. I’m not joking. “Indigenous artwork eases medical imaging journey”. “Namadgi Sky has been professionally wrapped around the CT scanner so that instead of being surrounded by a clinical white machine, our patients are instead immersed in the imagery of Namadgi Sky in the Brindabellas.” What if I want a clinical white machine? What if I don’t like the artwork? What if I find it distracting? To be clear, I’m not picking on Aboriginal people here. I’m not even suggesting all Aboriginal people agree with this, but why are Canberra Health Services only trying to appease one subset of society?

What if people of Chinese descent wanted some Chinese artwork on their CT scanner? Can the hospital provide that? What about people of Dutch heritage? Do they get a special CT scanner? If not, why not? What about British people? I could go on. Why is it only one subset of Australian society entitled to special artwork on their medical devices?

But it’s not just artwork. It’s menu items! On their Food Services page, of course they provide special meals to Aboriginal people. “Menu for Mob”. They provide “culturally appropriate meals”. The menu includes traditional foods but focuses largely on familiar, comforting dishes shared between many generations of Australian First Nations people.” Kangaroo Stew, okay, I’ll give them that. Barramundi in Sweet Chilli Sauce? I thought Sweet Chilli Sauce originated in Thailand, but I was wrong, it originated in Zhongshan City in China. Either way, I can’t see how this is a traditional Aboriginal meal. I’m not saying Aboriginal people don’t like it, but is it really a dish shared between many generations of Australian First Nations people? Savoury Mince, where do I start? Curried Sausages with Rice? Curry clearly originated in India, and rice is obviously Chinese. And sausages? They came from Mesopotamia. I don’t mean to tease, but Curried Sausages with Rice just doesn’t make any anthropological sense. But the worst part, the menu is only available to people who identify as being Aboriginal. What about Chinese patients who like Barramundi in Sweet Chilli Sauce? This is so discriminatory, but the woke Government in Canberra can’t even see it, or choose not to. If they really wanted to include these menu items for Aboriginal people, couldn’t they have not just included them on the main menu for all to enjoy?

But it gets worse! On their “If you could design a hospital” page dated July this year, they state, “New Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lounge”. There’s pictures of it floating around on the internet. Presumably, only Aboriginal people are allowed to enter. Is this not reminiscent of South Africa 40 or 50 years ago where access to places was determined by one’s ethnicity? Supposedly, the ACT Labor-Greens Government are very progressive. But does this not seem regressive to you? Segregating hospital patients by ethnic background?

Under “Care and birthing options… Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander”, “If you’re Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, or pregnant with an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child”, you can access special services. Pregnant with an Aboriginal child? I get it, the father could be Aboriginal, while the mother is not, but identifying the baby as Aboriginal before it’s even born? Is there a test for that? My wife is Chinese, but my children identify as Australian. They see themselves as Australian, and my wife sees them as Australian. We certainly didn’t go to the birthing suite and the midwife said, “Oh, your Chinese baby is about to come out.” When my children were born, we weren’t rushed off to the Asian baby room. All the babies born in Australia were considered Australian. My children just happen to have a Chinese mother.

Perhaps I’m being a bit facetious here, but instead of labelling babies “Aboriginal” before they’re even born, wouldn’t it make more sense to label them “Australian” just like the rest of us? What’s the point of all this division?

This segregation going on in Canberra Health Services is not going to help Aboriginal relations. If anything, it’s just pushing us all further apart.

MUSIC
Allégro by Emmit Fenn