First Peoples in Australia tend to have shared holistic understandings of health and wellbeing that emphasise strong interconnections among family, community, culture and Country. Central to this holistic health framework is First Peoples’ cultural medicines, which most First Peoples use or want to use, and have been used for millennia to heal the bodies, minds and spirits of First Peoples. 

This paper explores the inclusion and representation of cultural medicines across national level policies and practice guidelines for health professionals. These policies intend to support effective and appropriate healthcare for all Australians including First Peoples.

Three overarching themes were found: 

• absence of national leadership
• disproportionate onus placed on Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander health practitioners
• lack of detail and actionable directives. 

There was a distinct lack of representation of cultural medicines in national health policies with most of these policies not providing any clear guidance for health professionals. The responsibility was too heavily placed on First Peoples health professionals to lead the healthcare related to cultural medicines. 

To uphold cultural safety and the rights of Australia’s First Peoples, it is critical to have clear policy guidance, resources and training that support all Australian health professionals to engage with cultural medicines and see it as part of their responsibility.