JCTS programme grows under 2026 to 2030 funding

Joint Colleges Training Services will expand its Cultural Health Education and Safety Training programme after securing increased Commonwealth funding for 2026 to 2030.

During NAIDOC Week, which marks Fifty Years of Deadly, JCTS, the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners tied the funding increase to a renewed strategic plan for the same five-year period.

Under the expansion, JCTS will create more Senior Cultural Educator, Cultural Educator and Medical Educator roles across Australia. As a result, more general practice registrars and Rural Generalist registrars will learn directly from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educators.

Those new roles recognise the work of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, leaders and educators who continue to shape how future general practitioners and Rural Generalists train.

JCTS educator roles expand

JCTS Senior Cultural Educator Phillip Dreise described the investment as part of a much longer history of teaching and care. “For more than 65,000 years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have shared knowledge, taught the next generation and cared for community.”

He added that the new funding would give Cultural Educators more chances to work alongside registrars, share knowledge and support learning.

Meanwhile, JCTS Head of Medical Education Dr Jacinta Power called the increase a practical step toward lasting change through Cultural Health Education and Safety Training.

Registrars in the programme now will still be caring for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients decades from now. Because of that, JCTS is expanding training to help make culturally safe healthcare the standard.

According to JCTS, the programme aims to address conscious and unconscious bias and support equitable healthcare for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

More direct learning with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educators is intended to strengthen both day-to-day care and formal medical education.

Alongside the funding announcement, JCTS, ACRRM and RACGP acknowledged the leaders, educators and communities whose contributions brought the programme to this point during NAIDOC Week.

All three organisations say they remain committed to addressing racism and bias in healthcare and creating positive social change for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

For the 2026 to 2030 period, JCTS will work under its vision of “Strong communities and healthy futures”. That vision is grounded in Cultural Safety and strengthened through relationships.