Indigenous Eye Health – In Conversation: Shaun Tatipata with Karl Briscoe

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioners are essential to ensuring health care is culturally safe. They play a critical yet undervalued role in the eye health care system. In this webinar, Shaun Tatipata, the previous Country Manager of the Indigenous Australia Program at The Fred Hollows Foundation interviews Karl Briscoe, the CEO of the National Association of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioners (NAATSIHWP).

Shaun was the Country Manager of the Indigenous Australia Program at The Fred Hollows Foundation from 2018 – 2020. He worked in previous roles in the Indigenous Australia Program for almost a decade (2011 – 2020) and has worked in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health for over 18 years, with a background as an Aboriginal Health Worker. Born and raised on Larrakia country (Darwin, Australia), he is a descendant of the Wuthathi people of Far North Queensland, with family connections on his mother’s side to the Ngarrindjeri of South Australia.

A leader in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander eye health, Shaun worked to improve cultural safety in the eye health system and championed the role of Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) in designing and delivering eye health care to their communities.

At the beginning of 2021, Shaun left The Foundation to set up Australia’s first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander owned and operated optical and eye care provider – Deadly Enterprises.

Shaun’s vision, commitment and drive in working with Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations to increase access to eye care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples is unwavering. His absence at The Foundation will definitely be felt, but he will continue this amazing work through his own business.