Utilising a grant received through WA Primary Health Alliance’s Organisational Strengthening and Development Grants Program, 360 Health + Community has developed their Inclusion, Diversity and Wellbeing Framework, laying the foundation for inclusive program and service design.
The Framework will underpin the development of services, programs, policies and projects with a view to creating a sense of belonging and greater well being for 360 Health + Community 
employees and clients from a range of communities.
Starting out as a journey to develop two frameworks – a cultural governance framework and a consumer and carer framework – as they progressed it was clear the organisation would be better served by one overarching framework that would support the development of inclusive practice across the communities 360 Health + Community currently works alongside and allow for growth within new communities in the future.
360 Health + Community Co-CEOs, Deborah Roberts and Darren Sumner, said in their commitment to health equity, they identified the need to improve organisational capability in culturally safe and informed care.
“We have worked hard over the past 18 months to understand our strengths, map any gaps in our workforce knowledge and experience, and build a framework to guide our actions.
“This Framework will guide strategic planning and quality improvement for the greater inclusivity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, LGBTIQA+ people, multicultural communities and those with lived experience.
“As new strategies are developed, we will review current service delivery decisions taking into consideration the impact of these practice decisions on a variety of communities we interact with, provide services to and from which our employees come.
Now the hard work really begins as the executive team and staff at 360 Health + Community embeds the Framework into organisational planning and undertake to review their policies and practices through a lens of inclusion.
The team at 360 Health + Community are excited to progress this work through:
- Undertaking a range of training including cultural awareness training, On-Country sessions, and multicultural training with Multicultural Futures.
- LGBTIQA+ training – Opening Closets with Living Proud.
- Rolling out a new Carer, Consumer, Family and Friends Payment Policy and related guidelines.
- Developing relationships with other NGOs and community groups with a view to diversifying partnerships and connecting clients, carers, and families to a broader range of supports that are culturally sound and best meet the needs of the individual.
- Developing and implementing a Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan.
- Reviewing relevant policies and procedures to align with Rainbow Tick Accreditation.
- Facilitating internal workshops to provide further education on client and carer engagement.
- Undertaking strategy development workshops for each site/program.
WA Primary Health Alliance’s own Cultural Competency Frameworks, launched last year, will guide and support us as we work with communities, primary health care providers and partners across the health system in WA to ensure everyone who needs them has access to culturally competent and safe services. Staff across the organisation are committed to implementing the activities of the frameworks aligning them to our Innovate RAP, LGBTIQA+ framework and recommendations of our Multicultural needs assessment.