Strategic Litigation and Racism in Healthcare

Abstract

In Australia, until recently, the use of strategic litigation to achieve broad societal change has not been widely employed, due to historical, constitutional, social, and cultural factors; however, the landscape is changing. This article traces a ground-breaking Australian case, the Inquest into the death of Wiradjuri woman, Naomi Williams, which was run as part of a broader campaign to seek justice for First Nations people affected by racial bias in the healthcare system. The tragic circumstances of the case reignited a national conversation on health inequality through the judicial finding of ‘implicit racial bias’ and served as a platform for Aboriginal communities, organisations, and academics to demand new ways forward, notably by mandating culturally safe care — demands which are being slowly implemented. The authors demonstrate, through a detailed breakdown, how strategic litigation theory functions in practice, showing that litigation is most effective when conducted in conjunction with public advocacy within a multi-faceted campaign for change.