First Peoples members of our community now have access to expanded public healthcare with the appointment of an Aboriginal Health Liaison Officer at local services.
Bass Coast Health (BCH) and Gippsland Southern Health Service (GSHS) have welcomed Sariba Bin Garape to the role.
Sariba will work across Bass Coast and South Gippsland shires, providing cultural support, advocacy, and guidance for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander inpatients and outpatients, their families and staff. She will also work closely with care teams to strengthen culturally safe and responsive care across the services.
“I’m looking forward to working for and with the community to help them to receive the healthcare they need and in a culturally sensitive way,” Sariba said.
“Coming from Cairns in Queensland, I’m keen to build relationships with our First Peoples community and staff at both health services, and optimise their health.”
Her appointment supports the health services’ shared commitment to closing the gap in health outcomes between First Peoples and the wider community, by delivering culturally safe and inclusive care to their communities.
GSHS CEO Louise Sparkes said the appointment of Sariba as the new Aboriginal Health Liaison Officer was a vital step in strengthening cultural safety, equity and trust across the community.
“Both GSHS and the local community have benefited from the AHLO role that has been in place since 2023. The role is a commitment to listening deeply, walking alongside First Peoples, and ensuring that care is culturally safe, respectful and responsive to community needs,” she said.
“We know that better health results are achieved when people feel seen, heard and supported in ways that respect their identity and culture. Our new Aboriginal Health Liaison Officer will play a central role in continuing to bridge care, advocating for self-determination and building stronger partnerships with First Peoples communities.
“Sariba will work across both GSHS and BCH, with both services working together in shaping a health system that not only delivers clinical excellence, but also reflects the voices, traditions and strengths of the communities we serve."
BCH Interim CEO Simone Alexander said Sariba will be a valuable addition to BCH’s Aboriginal Health team: Clinical Team Lead and Aboriginal Clinical Nurse Consultant Darelle Van Haaster (cultural identity: Yorta Yorta/Palawa) and Aboriginal Health Nurse Lauren O’Dwyer (cultural identity: Gunaikurnai/Brayakaulung).
“Offering dedicated staff and a culturally-safe setting is essential to improving the health of our First Peoples community,” she said.
“BCH has had an Aboriginal Health Liaison Officer for many years and together with the broader Aboriginal Health team, the officer role has resulted in more First Peoples people accessing our healthcare service and receiving the care they need.
“We look forward to Sariba continuing this important work and welcome her to our community.”
Sariba’s Aboriginal blood ties are with the Wuthathi people of Cape York and her Torres Strait connection is to Mabuiag Island. She brings a diversity of life experience, having worked as a community education counsellor in a high school, in retail and as a cartographer in the Australian Army. Sariba also ran her own mobile coffee business.