Culture, nursing and Indigenous health

his chapter aims to provide the beginnings of an understand-ing of culture, nursing and Indigenous Australian health. It is centred on the following philosophical belief: ‘If we take the time to develop enough trust to learn from each other how not to be Binan Goonj—that is, “hearing but not listening”—we can arrive at a shared understanding of how best to communicate’ (Eckermann et al. 2006, p. 104). It is acknowledged from the outset that Indigenous Australian cultures are unique to the Australian continent and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (known collectively throughout this text as Indigenous Australians) have a specific mention in this chapter as they are the first peoples of Australia and because of the significant dis-parities in health outcomes for Indigenous Australians. The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2013–2023 seeks a culturally respectful and non-discriminatory health system with nurses playing a critical role in transform-ing the health system (Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) 2013a).