Do you feel culturally safe at work?

It is a simple question, yet not always an easy one. Here is a harder version: how safe do people feel when you are in the room?

Most of us like to think we are welcoming, fair and easy to approach. But what would the people around us say?

This is a question to sit with, especially when we are leading others. Cultural safety at work is not a poster on the wall. It is something people experience, or do not, in every conversation.

What is cultural safety at work?

Cultural safety is when people can bring their identity, knowledge and perspective to work without being doubted, dismissed or made to feel small.

It does not mean everyone agrees. It does not mean conflict disappears. And it does not mean we get everything right.

It means people can speak, and they are heard.

For First Nations people, this matters deeply. Cultural safety is closely linked to trust, to health and to a sense of belonging. It is also something every workplace can learn to build.

Why “I don’t see race” can shut a conversation down

Some phrases may come from a wish to connect or to show empathy. Think of “I don’t see race” or “we all bleed the same coloured blood“.

However, they can dismiss the very experience someone is trying to share.

Take a moment to imagine it. You share something painful, and this is the reply.

Would you feel heard? Would you keep talking?

That is why we pause when we hear these phrases. Safety is not built by looking away from difference. It is built by staying curious about it.

A story about courage, racism and change

Dr Kris Rallah-Baker has long been an inspiration to us at Evolve. He is Australia’s first Indigenous eye surgeon, and his story was recently featured on Australian Story.

There is so much to learn from what he has faced and continues to achieve.

And yes, racism is part of that story. Even after he became a specialist, another doctor sent him a racist email questioning his Aboriginal identity. It asked, “You are not full-blood, are you?“

All that work. All that achievement. And still this.

It is a reminder that being qualified does not make someone immune from being questioned. Cultural safety is not only for the early stages of a career. It matters at every level.

What difference does cultural safety actually make?

Here is the part of Kris’s story we want to spend time with.

His great-grandmother Lena was so frightened of white institutions that she would not go to hospital. She died of pneumonia. That history helped shape his decision to become a doctor.

Today, Kris is restoring sight in remote communities. As he explains, helping an Elder see again can mean helping them get back onto Country and pass knowledge to the next generation.

Then there are the doctors coming behind him. The ABC reports six Indigenous trainees in his specialist college’s program. He is mentoring others, and the college has changed its processes after he spoke out about racism.

Think about how far that can reach:

• More Indigenous doctors coming through.
• Patients feeling understood.
• Sight restored.
• Elders getting back onto Country and sharing knowledge.

Those are some pretty Deadly ripple effects.

They began with one person’s courage. They grew because others were willing to listen and change.

What becomes possible when people feel safe?

Now bring it back to your own workplace.

What becomes possible when people feel safe enough to bring their knowledge, their perspective and themselves?

Perhaps there is more honest feedback. As a result, teams grow stronger. Problems can also be raised early, before they grow.

This is also why cultural safety belongs alongside psychological safety, inclusion and belonging. These ideas are not separate projects. They are different ways of asking one thing: do people feel they can be themselves here?

Questions to sit with

You do not need to answer these today. Simply notice what comes up.

• How would the people around me describe my response when they share something difficult?
• Whose knowledge and perspective are welcome in our team, and whose are not yet?
• What would change in our workplace if more people felt safe to speak?

If one question feels uncomfortable, stay with it for a moment. That discomfort often points to where the learning is.

Take cultural safety into everyday practice

Cultural safety is built in small, everyday moments. It shows up in how we listen, how we respond and how we handle things when they get difficult.

At Evolve, we believe cultural safety grows through conversation. So start a yarn at work about what this means in the everyday, including when things get difficult.

You can also read Kris’s story on the ABC or watch Australian Story on ABC iview.

Who would you like to have this yarn with at work? A colleague, your manager, your team? Sometimes hearing the same story together opens up a conversation you have not quite known how to start.

So, who came to mind as you read this? And what stays with you?