A new South Australian study has found road accident compensation schemes are not culturally safe or appropriate for First Nations people. Researchers say while Indigenous people carry a higher burden of road trauma, many are not aware of what they're entitled to.
00:00This is where Talia Scriven grew up along the banks of the River Murray.
00:07It was hard but it's beautiful.
00:10Her father, Darryl Rigney, moved to this region after losing his leg in a car accident when he was 18.
00:17The head was fractured, fractured skull, leg was shed all the way down.
00:22When they wiped the leg with a rag, the tips of bone would come off as well.
00:27Being on country with the emus far from the city was important for Darryl's healing.
00:32But the accident compensation he received didn't account for the ongoing impact on his family.
00:37There's still that chunk that I think was missing holistically as a family.
00:42And little aspects of that are stuff like financial support or transport support.
00:48A recent Flinders University report confirms road traffic crash survivors are likely to experience lifelong effects.
00:55And those effects extend to their families and communities.
00:58And when it comes to First Nations people, there isn't enough culturally appropriate support and the outcomes aren't good enough.
01:05First Nations people are 1.6 times more likely to be hospitalised and 3.8 times more likely to die due to a road accident.
01:14But a lack of information about what compensation is available has left many with nothing.
01:19They weren't even aware that they could access compensation or how to even go about the approach.
01:26And those who did access compensation struggled to get ongoing support.
01:30These processes are actually designed for dominant populations and don't actually, are not relational or representative for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
01:40And there is a call for change.
01:43Compensation and these claims is such an administrative heavy area of healthcare.
01:50It makes it very difficult to be accessible and be reactive.
01:53South Australia's Traffic Injury Compensation Regulator says its system is designed to support all eligible people.
02:00And looks for ways to educate all claimants and motorists about the scheme.
02:04But declined to say what it's doing to improve its processes.
02:08Culturally safe, equity driven approaches that meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities needs to be implemented across all schemes and processes.
02:20The Federal Government says it will continue to work closely with state and territory compensation schemes and industry on road safety measures, including supporting better outcomes for First Nations people.
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