Bush tucker meals now on the menu at Rockingham General Hospital

Rockingham General Hospital (RGH) has introduced bush tucker meals to its patient menu, offering a meaningful way to celebrate and support Aboriginal culture.

The idea started while the Aboriginal Health Liaison Officers (AHLO_, including Jesse Van Der Snoek, were planning for their NAIDOC Week morning tea (Wednesday 23 July).

As they looked through cultural recipes for the morning tea, they found themselves asking if some of these traditional meals could be served more often in hospital – that simple thought sparked something bigger.

While browsing cultural recipes for the morning tea, they began to wonder – “Could some of these traditional meals become a regular part of the hospital’s menu?” That simple question led to an inspiring initiative.

Working collaboratively with the RGH Catering Coordinator, the team were able to make the initiative happen with the hospital’s meal supplier.

The team are now providing a variety of bush tucker meals from kangaroo goulash to wild boar stew.

They then organised a dedicated tasting session with the AHLOs, executive team and key Allied Health staff including a dietitian and speech pathologist, to ensure the meals met cultural and clinical needs.

RGH Dietitian Emily Wayne was thrilled to be able to bring the initiative to life.

“As dietitian, we were able to taste test and do some nutritional analysis on the meals to ensure they were suitable for all patients across the hospital,” said Emily.

While the bush tucker menu is still new, AHLOs are already letting their patients know about it. When a patient is interested, the AHLO team notifies the ward’s nurse unit manager or dietitian to support access to the meals.

RGH has the highest percentage of Aboriginal patients within South Metropolitan Health Service and by providing bush tucker meals the team believe this a big step toward providing an exceptional and culturally safe patient experience for Aboriginal people.

“Food in Aboriginal culture is not just about nutrition, it’s deeply connected to identity, tradition and the land,” said Jesse.

“Having bush tucker meals helps our patients feel seen and respected.

“It reinforces cultural identity, improves wellbeing and builds trust in the health system.”

The team hopes this initiative will not only grow over time, but also inspire other health services to embed culture more meaningfully into patient care.

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