A new program that encourages Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander woman to undergo breast cancer screening in the ACT will change lives, and provide them with an added sense of safety and dignity, community leaders say.
The inaugural ACT "Beautiful Shawls Day" was held on Friday at the Canberra City Community Health Centre, where 16 First Nations women were gifted a locally designed shawl before they underwent the screening test.
The Breast Screen ACT event was set to continue annually. Territory Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the initiative had been adapted from Victoria, where it was a success.
"For any of us who've had a mammogram, it can be an uncomfortable and an awkward experience," Ms Stephen-Smith said.
"The use of these shawls [is] to create a safe environment for people to feel like their dignity is supported and protected in a way that also acknowledges their culture, their connection to country."
People in Canberra's First Nations community were told about the Beautiful Shawls Day event and encouraged to attend before Friday.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, only 38 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women aged 50 to 74 received a mammogram in 2017-18. That was compared with 54 per cent of non-Indigenous women.
Ngunnawal woman Caroline Hughes, a member of the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body, said the new initiative was going to change lives.
"We know that there is not one Aboriginal family that hasn't been impacted by breast cancer," she said.
"We know that women are the nurturers and the givers of life, and we need to be able to encourage our women to be able to come in and get their breasts checked.
"Even if people don't believe there's anything wrong, it's still important to get your breasts checked."
Ms Hughes said the shawls that were gifted to women on Friday were created with cultural respect and spirituality.
The artist behind them, Wiradjuri woman and Canberra resident Kristie Peters, dedicated the shawls to her cousin, who died in April 2019 after being diagnosed with breast cancer.
"There is nothing more painful in life than when we lose someone so dear," she said.
"It not only affects our families, it affects our whole Aboriginal community."
Ms Peters said the artwork on this year's shawls represented women from different nations coming together "with an unbroken bond and connection, sharing wisdom, strength, courage and determination, that keeps us culturally strong".
