Our Commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
Our Commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
At Aurora Healthcare, we believe healthcare is about more than treatment alone. It is about how people feel when they access care — whether they feel safe, respected, heard and supported.
Across our national network of hospitals, this belief shapes how we care for those who entrust us with their health, and how we work alongside the communities we serve. We are committed to fostering environments that are inclusive, culturally respectful and grounded in a genuine sense of belonging for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
This commitment is ongoing. It is reflected not only during times of national recognition, such as Harmony Week and Close the Gap Day, but in the everyday actions, conversations and care that take place across our hospitals throughout Australia.
Creating Culturally Safe Environments Across Our Network
Aurora Healthcare recognises that culture, identity and connection are fundamental to health and wellbeing.
Across our hospitals nationwide, we focus on creating culturally safe environments — where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients, families, staff and visitors feel acknowledged and respected. This includes listening to lived experience, strengthening partnerships with First Nations communities, and supporting our workforce to deliver care with dignity, sensitivity and understanding.
We understand that progress in health equity requires sustained commitment, not one‑off moments. Our approach is centred on learning, reflection and action, guided by respect for the world’s oldest continuing cultures.
Art as Storytelling, Healing and Connection
Art plays a powerful role in how we create welcoming and meaningful healthcare spaces. It allows stories to be shared, conversations to begin, and connections to form beyond words.
As part of our ongoing commitment to inclusiveness and cultural acknowledgement, Aurora Healthcare is proud to share Aurora – A Place of Healing, an original artwork by First Nations artist Jessica Rigby of J. Rigby Indigenous Designs.
Aurora – A Place of Healing
Created by Jessica Rigby, a Gamilaraay and Bigambul woman with Torres Strait Islander heritage from Mer Island, this artwork reflects both traditional healing knowledge and contemporary healthcare practice.
The piece draws inspiration from the role of water as a source of healing for First Nations peoples. For generations, families and Elders gathered by oceans and freshwater waterways, combining natural remedies, spiritual practices and ancestral connection to support those who were unwell.
Jessica shares the meaning behind the artwork
Part 1
Healing waters Represents a place of healing.
First Nation and Torres Strait Islanders have used water for one of many healing remedies.
If a family member wasn’t well, our People would gather
Families and elders by the water’s edge, Ocean or freshwater creeks. The first nation people would take their ill family member to a Medicine man, where he would use natural remedies from Country and knowledge that has been pass down from generation to generation.
Our Elders would speak out loud in Traditional language to our ancestors asking Country and Ancestors to heal the ill one as the flow of water washes over them.
Jessica’s mother always told her, “Your ancestors walk with you every day, they will hear you when you speak to them and show you in your dreams”. Jessicas mother had a very deep connection to dreaming as most of her elders did, a sight through dreams that not many people had.
The aqua, teals and beige dots represent the waterways, ocean and sand.
The lines connecting the connection circles represent the journey.
The Indigenous symbols represent the People gathering by the flowing waters. Indigenous symbols have been used by our People for thousands of years leaving their markings on rock art, it was a Tribes way of letting passing by Tribes know that part of Country was already home to another Tribe.
The white dots represent the natural energy from Country’s elements.
Part 2
This original piece also represents Aurora.
A place of healing for everyone.
The Indigenous symbols represent the doctors and nurses as they gather around a soul using their spirit to heal others.
The lines and aqua dots connecting the connection circles represent the hallways and the footsteps the nurses and doctors make walking between wards.
The Teal, aqua, blues and grey represent Aurora Private Hospital where the nurses and doctors are the healing waters.
Jessica Rigby
Walking Together
Partnering with First Nations artists and communities is one of the ways Aurora Healthcare puts respect, inclusion and cultural understanding into action.
Commissioning Aurora – A Place of Healing reflects our commitment to supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through meaningful engagement, collaboration and shared learning. By working with artist Jessica Rigby, we sought to elevate First Nations voices, honour cultural knowledge and recognise its enduring role in healing and wellbeing.
This partnership represents more than the creation of an artwork. It is part of Aurora’s broader responsibility to build relationships, strengthen cultural capability and contribute to safer, more inclusive healthcare environments across our national network.
We understand that walking together requires ongoing effort. Through partnerships, reflection and action, Aurora Healthcare remains committed to supporting First Nations peoples and contributing to better health outcomes now and into the future.