Cultural competency is often promoted as a strategy to address health inequities, although evidence linking cultural competency to patient outcomes is scarce. We conducted a narrative review of the recent literature on cultural education programs and found 13 published evaluations, mainly reporting improvements in health professionals’ attitudes and knowledge, and improved confidence in working with First Nations patients. Although cultural education has a positive short-term impact, none of the studies included measured improved patient health outcomes.

Providing an equity lens to measure cultural approaches used in smoking cessation interventions is important. Despite this, there is a research gap between how to provide culturally appropriate support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pregnant women that meets their needs, is accessible and evidence-based in Australia. We advocate the ongoing use of the ‘Cultural Identity Intervention Systematic Review’ Proforma tool within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health interventions to assess scientific rigour and ethical standards associated with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research principles and values.

Strong primary health care (PHC) is required to address health inequity. Well-resourced university departments of PHC and general practice have potential to drive key research and inspire a future workforce. Lessons learned in Australia and internationally, suggest strategies likely to enhance capacity of such departments to support and lead efforts to address health inequity.

This paper examines the implications of the second sentence in Tudor Harts statement about inverse care – that its operation was strongest when exposed to market forces. Examples of inverse care can be found in the disparities access to primary health care in Australia, which can be attributed to both supply-and-demand factors in Australia’s hybrid market model of health care. Correcting these requires changes to the funding and workforce models, as well as specific actions at the service and community level.

Trans and gender-diverse individuals tend to experience poor mental health, often exacerbated by culturally unsafe services in primary care. This paper offers four key frameworks for understanding and anticipating the potential benefits and harms of different psychological therapies when caring for trans and gender-diverse clients. The article concludes with recommendations for implementing the frameworks in practice, and discussion of the scope for involving peer workers in multidisciplinary care teams.

There is a GP workforce crisis across the UK, felt most acutely in deprived areas. The Deep End GP Pioneer Scheme involved recruitment of early career GP fellows, retention of experienced GPs, and their joint engagement in strengthening general practice as the natural hub of local health systems. This qualitative evaluation highlights the importance of protected time and peer support, and the recognition that more resources are required to mitigate health inequalities.

Diabetes is a complex condition that substantially impacts quality of life and disproportionately affects Aboriginal Australians. This qualitative study identified that patient-reported outcome measures do not adequately capture the health-related quality of life of Aboriginal adults in the Shoalhaven. Development of culturally tailored health outcome measure tools, resources or methods is feasible if Aboriginal community and researcher-led approaches are prioritised.

People with multicultural or refugee backgrounds are more likely to have poorer long-term health outcomes compared to natively born people, and experience barriers accessing health care. We piloted a multicultural healthcare coordinator service and demonstrated that it was acceptable to patients and primary healthcare practitioners, well-utilised and demonstrated good outcomes. The service has the potential to reduce healthcare inequities if implemented into ongoing primary care services.

Equitable access to gender-affirming hormone treatment (GAHT) for trans and gender-diverse people is universally poor, with most services located in highly medicalised, culturally unsafe environments. Normalising GAHT by locating services within culturally safe mainstream primary healthcare services increases engagement for the trans and gender-diverse community. This project identifies the impact of a trans and gender-diverse co-designed and led GAHT service on client engagement and satisfaction.