New Yarning Circle Healing Garden for Broken Hill Hospital
A new Yarning Circle Healing Garden is providing Aboriginal people, staff and partners a culturally safe and respectful space to gather at Broken Hill Hospital.
Located in the hospital’s courtyard adjacent to the Aboriginal Health Room, the garden offers a space for people to come together, collaborate and listen, while increasing cultural awareness.
It is the latest yarning circle healing garden to be established in the Far West Local Health District, with yarning circle healing gardens also recently opened at Menindee and Ivanhoe Health Services.
“The cultural yarning circle healing gardens across the Far West LHD will help increase cultural awareness and the capacity for our Aboriginal people, and our health staff and partners to gather in a culturally safe and respectful space,” said Ms Corina Kemp, Director Aboriginal Health and Community Relations, Far West LHD.
Yarning circles healing gardens were traditionally used by Aboriginal people for relationship building, sharing of cultural knowledge, working together to problem solve and for ceremonial gatherings.
The gardens have been designed to be accessible and can be used by anyone. They encourage an equal presence by people gathering in a circle, having visual connectedness and an equal voice.
The gardens can also be used to celebrate key cultural events including Reconciliation Week and NAIDOC Week.
“We hope that the yarning circle healing gardens will be welcomed and provide a warm, inclusive space for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people alike to gather, to talk, to share their experiences and work collaboratively to improve health outcomes for everyone,” said Ms Kemp.
The Far West LHD worked in collaboration with the Ivanhoe, Menindee and the Broken Hill Aboriginal Community Working Parties to co-design the yarning circles healing gardens for each community, including input from staff at each health service facility.
The codesign process included gatherings to discuss the location of each of the yarning circles and elements for each site that included screening, shade, seating, fire pit and ground flooring.
Mungarna Koolie Enterprises were contracted to construct them at each LHD site.