Continuing our commitment to culturally safe practice

This year has seen the establishment of the ADC’s First Nations and Allies Reference Group. The group’s primary purpose is to provide expert advice on matters that relate to cultural safety and eliminating racism and improving health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Establishing the group aligns with the ADC’s vision for reconciliation, which includes a healthcare system that is free of racism, where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures are respected, and where First Nations knowledges are embedded in the education and assessment of dental practitioners in Australia.

The Reference Group includes four First Nations members and two allies, with group members bringing diverse clinical and consumer perspectives. Current members include:

• Kathleen Butler, First Nations academic
• Kellie Gleeson, First Nations dental practitioner and ADC Accreditation Committee member
• Lizzie Ramsay, First Nations ADC Assessments Committee member
• Dr Nic Reid, First Nations dental practitioner and Indigenous Dental Association Australia Board Director
• Dr Petrina Bowden, Dental practitioner and ADC examiner
• Jan Connolly, ADC accreditation assessor.

The group has met three times in 2025, twice online and once on Country, where it was fantastic to combine our yarns with a cultural experience at Birrarung Marr in Naarm (Melbourne). The ADC is grateful for the advice provided by the group, with a particular focus on the reviewing Domain 6: Cultural safety as part of the Accreditation Standards Review and informing the development of culturally safe training materials for overseas qualified practitioners. We look forward to progressing these and other projects related to the ADC’s reconciliation goals with the guidance of this group.