A young Adelaide mother-of-two has shared the disgraceful comment a chemist said to her when she went to get her insulin prescription filled.
Adelaide resident Chelsea said the pharmacist told her she ‘must be 1/16th or something’ because she didn’t appear Aboriginal enough to him when she applied for a concession on her medication under the Closing the Gap scheme.
Chelsea, whose father is Aboriginal, said she was shocked that ‘in 2024 we’re still making comments about the colour of peoples’ skin’.
Pharmacists receive a co-payment from the government under the scheme which reduces the cost of medicines listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for Indigenous Australians.
‘I give my script to the pharmacist, the chemist and he asks am I sure I get CTG,’ she said in a now-viral TikTok video this week.
‘I didn’t think much of it. Next minute, he comes over to me, gives me my insurance, and says to me, well, you must be 1/16 or something.
‘I say ”sorry?” and he says ”well, you know, you have to be aboriginal to get CTG, so you must be 1/16” and I just went ”oh” then told him “not that it matters, but my dad’s Indigenous”.’
Chelsea said the pharmacist replied: ‘Right, I just couldn’t tell from looking at you’.
Adelaide mum Chelsea said in a now-viral TikTok video a chemist told her she must be ‘1/16th’ because she didn’t look Aboriginal enough to him to get a PBS co-payment
‘So it’s 2024 and we’re still making comments to people about the color of their skin? Cool, cool, cool.’
Aussies were shocked at the audacity of the chemist.
‘What a weird thing to say to a stranger,’ one person commented.
‘I had to have a blood test during pregnancy and I filled out that I was Aboriginal. The woman crossed it out and told me “you don’t look Indigenous”, ‘ a second shared.
‘I was so offended.’
‘The way racism is so casual and rife in Australia is crazy,’ a third said.
Others shared their own experiences in the comments.
‘My older brother and dad are pretty dark but I didn’t get as much of the dark skin,’ one commenter said.
‘Still pretty tanned but not as much as them’.
‘I took after my non-Aboriginal family members I’ve got blonde hair and my brother is tan with dark wavy hair,’ another said.
