ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER-LED TRANSFORMATION When we think about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led transformation, we need only look to Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) as the living embodiment. ACCHOs offer a model of holistic care, focused on the social determinants of health, and have transformed care in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The evidence shows strongly that their model could also transform health care for all Australians if mainstream services followed their lead. ACCHOs were founded more than 50 years ago, first in Redfern and then across Australia, in response to the inability of mainstream institutions to provide culturally safe, holistic services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. As ACCHOs show, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led transformation goes beyond mere change. It is about radical change and asserting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being and doing. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership is critical because trust, belonging and knowing are at the heart of any positive change. We need transformation not just of systems, but also of the mind. We need the systems to listen and respond to good practice based on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being and doing that have been shared and demonstrated over many decades under colonisation. What does this involve? Understanding and ceding control, where mainstream funders and services recognise and embrace Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership, learn from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and change their ways through dedicated and sustained action at all levels of the systems. This will result in transformation of mainstream services that is guided by the wisdom gained over millennia about what works on this country. In fact, at its heart, this is much more than transformation. It is a reinstatement of what works for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and that which has rightfully worked for our Country for millennia. We have seen this through generations of courageous reform pursued by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ancestors and Elders, and by so many communities and organisations today urging transformation, for example, in education, responses to rheumatic heart disease, and lived experience of mental health issues and suicide. They show us that those who are most at risk in our systems, or let down by them, should lead change. What is best for them will benefit everyone, be it truth-telling, addressing the social determinants of health, or understanding the unique experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in this country. Transforming Power: Voices for Generational Change 19

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