Building an Aboriginal allied health workforce to enhance culturally responsive care

The Central Adelaide Local Health Network (CALHN) SEED Allied Health Aboriginal Cadetship supports Aboriginal students into professional allied health roles, strengthening Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representation across the workforce. The programme responds to a longstanding societal barrier which leads to Aboriginal staff often being confined to support roles, with limited access to professional pathways and leadership.¹ By creating structured entry points into allied health careers, the cadetship contributes to a workforce that better reflects the communities it serves and supports culturally safe care.

Crucially, the SEED Allied Health Aboriginal Cadetship was co-designed with Aboriginal people through extensive cultural consultation. It was developed by CALHN Aboriginal Workforce consultant Lenore Bagnara, with ongoing input from senior staff Ngara Keeler, Samara Osborne and Trish Laccos, alongside community members. This approach is strengthening pathways into employment and embedding cultural expertise within the allied health workforce, supporting more culturally responsive care. These leaders also provided cultural authority for the conference poster and this article. Co-design remains central to the programme’s development.

• Six Aboriginal allied health cadets supported since 2022

• Cadets placed across four clinical sites and multiple disciplines

• Programme embedded within CALHN’s workforce recruitment and retention strategy

• Two further cadetships in development for 2025

• Forum participation informed strengthened evaluation and future workforce planning

The cadetship is a key action within Listening, Caring, Healing: Aboriginal Health Framework and Action Plan 2022 to 2027, developed in partnership with Aboriginal communities. It is also embedded within CALHN’s Allied Health Workforce Recruitment and Retention Action Plan, positioning the programme as a system-level workforce intervention rather than a standalone initiative. The cadetship challenges systems that have historically marginalised Aboriginal patients and staff by embedding cultural safety into workforce planning, supervision, and service delivery.

Cadets receive paid, hands-on experience across allied health disciplines, with flexible arrangements that recognise work, family, and cultural responsibilities. Since launching in 2022, six cadets have completed the programme across social work, physiotherapy, dietetics and podiatry, with two further prospective cadets identified for 2025.

The programme is driving broader organisational change and has influenced recruitment practices and workforce planning within the Allied Health Directorate. This work is supported by allied health leadership, who have helped establish partnerships with a local Aboriginal training organisation to support culturally informed supervision training and structured mentorship.

Early feedback from cadets has been positive. Leanne Stewart, practice lead at the Central Adelaide Local Health Network, SA Health, Government of South Australia, said participants described the programme as “very helpful” and reported feeling “like a staff member as well as a student” 

By building CALHN’s Aboriginal workforce, the cultural perspectives and lived experience of Aboriginal employees positively influence how services are delivered, with the goal that consumers experience culturally safe care. The programme also gives cadets exposure to acute, sub-acute, outpatient and community settings across CALHN, helping them build confidence, strengthen work readiness, and identify areas of professional interest.

Presenting this work at the Canberra Forum in 2025 shaped its next phase. Sharing outcomes and challenges with peers undertaking similar initiatives supported reflection beyond social work and informed plans to strengthen evaluation and feedback processes, ensuring the programme’s impact is clearly demonstrated and sustained. 

These discussions are now helping the team consider how to expand cadetships across allied health disciplines and involve cadets more directly in working groups and committees.

CALHN SEED Allied Health Aboriginal Cadetship Programme team tell us they attended the Forum because it was the best place to showcase the programme, learn from similar approaches internationally, and make connections with others undertaking this work. The International Forum has since prompted internal discussions with senior leaders and working groups focused on recruitment and retention of Aboriginal staff.