top of page

South Asian Lives Matter

In Western Australia, the South Asian community faces significant health disparities due to systemic racism within the healthcare system. Implicit racial bias has been linked to the deaths of young women and babies, primarily of South Asian origin. Despite these tragedies and subsequent internal investigations, the Western Australian health service has done little to meaningfully address the issue and implement training that specifically addresses medical racism. As a result, ethnic women and children continue to bear the brunt of this neglect and are paying for it with their lives. In response, we have collaborated with health advocates from the South Asian community to create an information sheet that helps individuals advocate for equitable medical treatment when seeking emergency care, while also documenting their treatment to create a paper trail. Unfortunately there is little accountability when healthcare providers cause patients to die from medical negligence so it is important to be an active participant in your healthcare. 

It is also important to understand that racism is very much embedded within the health service, in politics and in health consumer groups in WA. A common trope pushed mostly by white health advocates is that "WA doesn't like strangers coming in who don't understand their conservative values." This is a racist belief cloaked as a concern for protecting local values, maintaining cultural harmony, or safeguarding a "way of life." These justifications are often framed as well-meaning but serve to exclude or marginalise those who don’t fit the dominant racial or cultural group. This rhetoric disguises systemic racism as a benign preference for familiarity or tradition, making it more insidious and harder to challenge directly. This rhetoric has had a devastating impact on the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD), First Nations, and migrant communities in WA. It has contributed to systemic inequities that have directly resulted in preventable deaths of minority women and children in healthcare settings. These outcomes are a stark reminder of how dangerous it is to allow exclusionary attitudes to persist unchecked. Moreover, this belief system undermines the efforts of health advocates supporting these communities, creating barriers to meaningful change. Advocates often face resistance or dismissal, making it harder to address the systemic racism embedded in healthcare policies and practices. Therefore, whenever someone expresses this rhetoric, it’s an opportunity to remind them that it’s inherently racist, cloaked in the guise of protecting local values or traditions. Challenging these beliefs is essential to dismantling the structures that perpetuate harm and inequality.

Let’s Work Together

Get in touch so we can start working together.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram

Thanks for submitting!

bottom of page