Meet Sarah Ong, our Operations Director of Aboriginal Health and Engagement who commenced in the role in late 2022.
Sarah previously worked with Monash Health, first as a graduate nurse and then as a neonatal intensive care nurse. After gaining a sound clinical background, Sarah worked with the Nursing and Social Work departments at Monash Health to lead the development of the Monash Health Aboriginal Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Cadetship and Graduate Program.
“For me, it was about identifying that Aboriginal patients required a culturally appropriate workforce to care for them,” Sarah says. “In my mind, having been a nurse myself, it was really important to grow that nursing and midwifery workforce, by establishing the career planning and the progression opportunities that could be offered through a cadetship program.”
For that program, Sarah was presented the Aboriginal Health Workforce Initiative Award by the Department of Health in 2014.
Sarah has extensive experience in the health sector and a proven track record of supporting initiatives which address priority Aboriginal health issues. After leaving Monash, Sarah was appointed Regional Manager for Aboriginal Health at the Department of Health.
“I oversaw the Koolin Balit policy implementation across Southern and Metro regions and Gippsland,” explains Sarah. “What came out of that were the gathering places that are situated in Dandenong, Frankston and Hastings. That all came from consultation with community, where community was saying, ‘We want somewhere where we can come together.’ I was able to allocate the funding to have those.”
Sarah was also able to allocate funds for the Healthy Koori Kids clinic, a Monash Health service that provides care to Aboriginal kids in out-of-home care.
“There was a need there, identified by the community, to support the Aboriginal children in community, particularly the vulnerable ones, who were at risk of entering into the child protection system.”
As a non-Aboriginal woman, Sarah emphasises that consultation and collaboration with community is especially important in her role.
“There are over 100 employees at Monash who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. We’ve got an absolute wealth of cultural expertise in the organisation.”
“That’s why a document like the Reconciliation Action Plan is so important,” Sarah says. “It provides that cultural framework, in partnership with the community and in partnership with the Aboriginal workforce here at Monash Health.”
We look forward to publishing our 2022-2024 Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan later this year.
