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Yuma! We are glad you’re here.

We are a family of Indigenous and non-Indigenous allies dedicated to doing our bit starting with the pharmacy profession.

Our vision is to transform pharmacy education and professional practice through Indigenous leadership.

Culturally safe pharmacy practice can only be achieved when Indigenous leadership is empowered so that Indigenous values can shape the context of service delivery.

LIPPE began with a relationship between two pharmacists. In 2019, Australian Pharmacy Council’s leader, Bronwyn Clark connected with Wiradjuri yinaa (woman) Prof Faye McMillan AM FPS. Leveraging off their individual platforms, they sought to explore how pharmacy education and accreditation can improve health outcomes for Indigenous Australians. Together they established the first APC Indigenous Health Strategy Group.

The LIPPE Network was born in 2021 out of building relationships and connection with the Indigenous Health Strategy Group and a desire to be inclusive of the pharmacy profession.

The vision of LIPPE is led by the Indigenous Health Strategy Group and supported by its partnership with the Australian Pharmacy Council and Council of Pharmacy Schools ANZ.

In Wiradjuri, Winhangarra means to listen, hear and think.

When we listen, hear and think, we are taking intentional steps towards personal transformation.

LIPPE provides a platform that ensures Indigenous voices are heard and can influence pharmacy education and practice for the benefit of all Australians.

We do this by a commitment to our mantra of capacity, capability and allyship.

Capacity

We are stronger in numbers. We aim to boost the number of pharmacy professionals who are actively engaged with and support the commitments of LIPPE.

Capability

Knowledge (and skills) is power. We focus on strengthening the capability of pharmacy professionals to deliver culturally safe services and pharmacy education programs.

Allyship

We value the role of non-Indigenous people through their actions, behaviours, and practices to advocate for Indigenous leadership and ways of knowing, being and doing, to prevent and address racism and to enable cultural safety.

Our strategy is structured according to three pillars that guide the work of LIPPE in shaping the pharmacy profession, both internally and externally – leadership, profession and education. Engagement and relationship are connecting threads that are relevant to and will feature in each pillar.

Leadership

Strengthen the pharmacy profession’s leadership role in creating a culturally safe health system:

• Advocate for reform within and beyond the pharmacy sector that supports improved Indigenous health outcomes.
• Work collaboratively with other health professions in eliminating racism and embedding cultural safety across the health system.
• Advocate for Indigenous leadership in workforce development, teaching and research that supports the identified needs of Indigenous peoples.

Profession

Strengthen collaboration and support for cultural safety across the pharmacy profession:

• Provide a peer network of Indigenous and non-Indigenous pharmacy professionals for professional development and support.
• Advocate for professional development on cultural safety for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous pharmacy professionals.
• Work collaboratively with pharmacy service providers to deliver culturally safe pharmacy services.

Education

Improve the consistency, quality of Indigenous health curriculum in pharmacy programs, and improve cultural safety in the teaching and learning environments of pharmacy programs:

• Support pharmacy programs in culturally safe development and delivery of Indigenous health content in pharmacy curricula and assessments.
• Support pharmacy programs with creating and embedding processes and tools for monitoring and evaluating Indigenous health content in pharmacy curricula and assessments.
• Identify and share resources for Indigenising pharmacy curriculum.
• Support pharmacy programs with effective strategies for recruitment and retention of Indigenous pharmacy students.
• Support pharmacy programs with developing strategies for expanding clinical placement opportunities that engage all learners with Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing.

Support pharmacy programs to provide culturally safe learning and clinical placement opportunities for First Nations students.

Collectively, the work implemented under each pillar will contribute to realising the overall goal, which is:

To transform pharmacy education and professional practice through Indigenous leadership.