NAIDOC Week 2025: Closing the gap with BDAC

Text on screen: Closing the Gap with BDAC

Drone footage of buildings surrounded by trees.

Voice of Donna: This site just really grounds you. When you hear the birds and you hear the gum trees and the sticks underneath your feet when you walk.

We see the fire pit at BDAC. Donna is sitting at a dining table in the staff room.

Donna: The birds sing to you. You get the breeze coming through. It has a real habit of grounding you and just sort of giving you a deep cleanse.

Text on screen: Bendigo and District Aboriginal Co-Operative (BCAD) is an Aboriginal Community controlled health organisation providing primary healthcare and services on Dja Dja Wurrung Country, including Greater Bendigo and surrounding areas.

State funding initiatives have strengthened BDAC’s ability to determine how to best serve the health needs of their local community.

We see Dr Chavy in her GP consulting room. She has short black hair and round red glasses.

Dr Chavy: At an ACCHO you have this really beautiful combination of a community led organisation that's also culturally safe.

We see Dr Chavy consulting with a patient.

Dr Chavy: It's such a privilege and an honour to hear people's stories and get to help them along their own journey.

We see Dallas standing outside with trees behind him in the morning sun.

Dallas: Thanks to the funding we have a much larger team in our clinic. Our staff have just been able to build a lot better relationships with our community.

We see a sweeping shot of the BDAC administrative building which is shaped like a leaf, and then we see Dr Chavy consulting with a patient.

Dr Chavy: The biggest change for me was that I was able to go up from working here two days a week to working four days a week. That has been a game changer.

We see a close up of the Aboriginal flag on Dr Chavy’s sleeve.

Dr Chavy: It's meant that I can do so many more health assessments. The most important thing is it opens with asking the patient what their priority is. Because it's really about that self-determination. There sometimes can be a reluctance in sharing more sensitive parts of someone's health story.

We see Dr Chavy doing a blood pressure test with her patient.

Dr Chavy: And a health assessment allows that conversation to happen in a safe environment. And the funding has allowed us to have a little bit more of that.

We see Ebony sitting in the BDAC kindergarten. She has her blonde hair in a ponytail, and a scarf around her neck.

Ebony: BDAC is not just about the health services that are offered. We've got a massive range of services that community can access.

We see different sites around BDAC including the men’s shed and a sign that reads ‘Djimbaya kindergarten, maternal and child health’ surrounded by trees,

Ebony: So being able to come to a place where you are getting support for your mental health and wellbeing and then being able to have culture embedded into that means that you can get your own identity back.

We see a mural a mural on the side of building in an Aboriginal art style, it’s coloured in yellow, blue, white and green on a black background.

Voice of Dallas: For us, we’ve identified the need and we’re able to deliver the service.

We see Dallas again.

Dallas: So that’s what self-determination means to us. It’s about us working with our community finding where those gaps are, and having those gaps funded. And that’s how I think we’ll close the gap.

Now we see Jenny, sitting in front of the firepit at BDAC. It’s sunny and there is some smoke coming from the fire pit.

Jenny: Since I've been coming here, my team have been so supportive and nothing’s too much for them to help me out.

We see a poster in a GP room that reads ‘Shield yourself from shingles’ and the wall in the room painted in patterns in blue, red and yellow.

Jenny: It makes you feel like you can take it easy and makes you feel comfortable with the disease and work with it. I've got a really good team behind me, and that's how I like it to be.

We see a drone shot of the BDAC buildings, they are shaped like a turtle. We see the BDAC kindergarten building, the sun through the gum trees

Voice of Ebony: For us, health is not just about our physical health. It's being connected.

We see Ebony sitting in the kindergarten again.

Ebony: It's sharing knowledge, having that embedded in every single aspect of our life is what we need to thrive.

We see the Aboriginal flag swaying in the wind.

Ebony: And so having somewhere like BDAC to go to means that we have that all the time. And I've been able to pass that on to my kids, too. Our next generation, they're the people that are going to be continuing our knowledge, our stories, our culture. We need them to be healthy so our stories and our culture can be healthy and carry on.

Aerial shot of buildings and the video ends.

End transcript.