14 June 2024

The NACCHO Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health News is a platform we use to showcase the important work being done in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, focusing on the work of NACCHO, NACCHO members and NACCHO affiliates.

We also share a curated selection of news stories that are of likely interest to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health sector, broadly.

NT leprosy case linked to inadequate housing

A case of leprosy has been detected in the NT, prompting outcry over remote living conditions for Indigenous Australians. A much-misunderstood bacterial infection, leprosy can cause skin lesions and permanent nerve damage if left untreated. It is nearly eradicated in the developed world, but cases remain common in large developing countries including India, Bangladesh and Brazil.  Leprosy was introduced to Australia during colonisation in the mid-1800s, but today cases are extremely rare and almost solely recorded among migrants and Indigenous people living in remote areas. Although its exact causes are unknown, the disease is associated with severe overcrowding.

Steve Rossingh, CEO of ACCHO Miwatj Health, said Australia “should be pretty ashamed” the disease was continuing to impact Indigenous communities. “It’s not because people are unclean themselves, or dirty. It’s because of the conditions they’re forced to live in – and there’s no alternative,” the Kamilaroi man said. There are 50 people on the waitlist for every vacant public home in Darwin, according to the NT government’s website, and in remote areas of the NT, families of 10 to 20 people can occupy a three-bedroom house.

The NT and federal governments are pouring $4b into efforts to reduce overcrowding in remote communities over the next 10 years. But Mr Rossingh said in the short-term, simple solutions such as mobile and community laundries were needed right now, to help reduce cases of leprosy and other infections including scabies.

To view the ABC News article NT leprosy case sparks outrage over disparity in Indigenous health outcomes in full click here. 

CEO Miwatj Health, Steve Rossingh

Steve Rossingh says living conditions in remote communities urgently need to be improved. Photo: Pete Garnish, ABC News.

Stronger data needed on excess deaths

A public hearing for the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs’ Inquiry into Excess Mortality was held yesterday (Thursday 13 June 2024) at Parliament House in Canberra. The inquiry was set up in March 2024 to look overall at excess deaths during the pandemic years of 2020, 2021 and 2023. According to the Department of Health and Aged Care’s submission, COVID-19 data are becoming “increasingly unreliable” due to changes in the way states and territories report the data.

Improving data collection and reducing excess mortality align with the National Agreement on Closing the Gap and its four Priority Reform Areas, the NACCHO wrote in its submission to the inquiry. This is particularly important as currently the provisional mortality data used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics to show excess deaths does not include Indigenous status, according to NACCHO.

While improvements have been made in the “underlying data quality” in recent years, NACCHO wrote that “further data improvement is required to ensure that mortality data adequately captures people from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds”. NACCHO said it is also important to address the social, structural, cultural and other determinants that influence health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and that ACCHOs “are uniquely placed to address the social determinants of health”. “A well-resourced Aboriginal community-controlled health sector addresses many potential drivers of excess mortality,” it said.

To view the Croakey Health Media article Senate inquiry highlights need for stronger data on excess deaths in full click here.

ATSI man looking at preterm baby in humidicrib

Image source: Australian Preterm Birth Prevention Alliance website.

Indigenous diplomat: world took notice of Voice vote

He had been appointed to the role of Australia’s Ambassador for First Nations People a few months earlier, and the Indigenous Voice referendum result the previous night had him questioning not only his future in the job but also his place in society. “I’m not sure I could have been true to myself if I didn’t,” he says in a suburban Paris hotel. “Of course it was personal. Yes or no, it was always going to be a defining moment.” “It really made me question this role, and how and what impacts can I make, and how committed the government was to its goals.” In the months that followed Mohamed has been at the coalface when foreign governments ask: what happened?

“I think most countries understand how difficult it is to get a referendum through, so there was some sympathy … they get it, it’s not an easy process,” he says. “However, it’s what Australia does next and how we did it that counts. The world is watching … the spotlight’s on Australia. For all the right reasons and wrong reasons. If we stumble, they’ll see that now. If we move forward, they will see that too.”

Mohamed, a Gooreng Gooreng man originally from Bundaberg, Queensland, has been an Indigenous leader for more than three decades in the Aboriginal community controlled government and corporate sectors, on issues spanning health, social justice, human rights and reconciliation. Most recently he was the deputy secretary of Aboriginal justice in the Victorian government, while he has also held the positions of chief executive of Reconciliation Australia and chaired NACCHO. He was clear when offered the role that he was not prepared to be an apologist for the federal government’s lack of progress on Indigenous issues.

The above has been extracted from an article ‘The spotlight’s on Australia’: Indigenous diplomat says world took note of Voice vote published earlier today (14 June 2024) in WAday.

Australia’s Ambassador for First Nations People, Justin Mohamed

ustin Mohamed says because his role is both a first in Australia and globally, there’s no real blueprint on how it should work. Photo: Kiran Ridley. Image source: WAtoday.

Veggie gardens boost nutrition in remote NT

For 11-year-old Pauline Meal, eating fresh fruit and veggies is somewhat of a luxury. The Yipirinya School year 6 student said her family only “sometimes” bought fresh produce, because it was too expensive. “It’s a big family, that’s why,” she said. Pauline is among a number of students who have been learning about nutrition and how to grow fruit and vegetables as part of a program to increase access to affordable and fresh produce in Aboriginal communities.

The EON Foundation builds edible gardens in remote Aboriginal schools and communities and uses them to teach health and nutrition with the aim of reducing preventable and chronic diseases. The foundation  was established in 2005 in response to the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research’s investigation into Aboriginal Child Health in WA. It has been running the program in the NT’s Top End for a few years, but it’s the first time the program has been delivered in the southern Territory, at Yipirinya School and Ampilatwatja community, about 300kms NE of Alice Springs.

Cardiovascular disease is the biggest single cause of death among Indigenous Australians, accounting for 30% of all deaths, while NT operations manager Donna Donzow said central Australia has the highest rates of diabetes in the world. “Ampilatwatja, that’s a community of 500 people, with over 50 per cent of those with diabetes,” she said. “Yipirinya School services 17 town camps around Alice Springs, and even though they live in Alice Springs, they still suffer the same food insecurities, diabetes, heart disease, middle ear infections — all that through poor nutrition.” Ms Donzow said produce was often low quality in remote community stores, because it could take up to two weeks to be delivered.

To view the ABC News article EON Foundation fruit, veggie gardens boost nutrition and budgets in remote NT communities in full click here. 

Yipirinya School students Pauline Meal and Nigella Scrutton

Yipirinya School students Pauline Meal and Nigella Scrutton have been learning about how to grow their own fresh produce. Photo: Victoria Ellis, ABC Alice Springs.

Reflecting on mental health and wellbeing webinars

Coming up this month Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Australia has two free webinars, both hosted on Zoom, perfect for: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members; mental health professionals and service providers; non-Indigenous allies and individuals passionate about social justice.

Reflecting on mental health and wellbeing during the Voice Referendum – 1:00-1:45pm, Friday 21 June 2024

Bronwyn Wilkes and Katie Thurber from the ANU National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research, will lead a discussion, reflecting on the mental health and wellbeing impacts of the Voice to Parliament referendum on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

You can secure your spot at this free webinar here.

Unpacking the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander landscape – 1:00-2:00pm, Friday 28 June 2024

Understanding cultural contexts for wellbeing, examining policy and government action for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Professor Helen Milroy AM, Rachel Fishlock, CEO of Gayaa Dhuwi, and Michael Cook, Director of Policy at the National Suicide Prevention Office, will conduct a  critical conversation on the social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

You can secure your spot at this free webinar here.

Sector Jobs – you can see sector job listings on the NACCHO website here.

Advertising Jobs – to advertise a job vacancy click here to go to the NACCHO website current job listings webpage. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find a Post A Job form. You can complete this form with your job vacancy details – it will then be approved for posting and go live on the NACCHO website.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) is commemorated each year on 15 June to highlight one of the worst manifestations of ageism and inequality in our society, elder abuse. Elder abuse is any act which causes harm to an older person and is carried out by someone they know and trust such as a family member or friend. The abuse may be physical, social, financial, psychological or sexual and can include mistreatment and neglect. In many parts of the world elder abuse occurs with little recognition or response. It is a global social issue which affects the health, wellbeing, independence and human rights of millions of older people around the world, and an issue which deserves the attention of all in the community.

In Australia the safety of older Aboriginal people and a better understanding of Elder abuse prevention is a clear priority as the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 55 years and over is increasing and is projected to more than double from 59,400 in 2011 to up to 130,800 in 2026. Identifying and measuring Elder abuse in Indigenous settings is challenging. The Australian Institute of Family Studies (2016) reported that mainstream conceptualisation of elder mistreatment requires reconsideration in Indigenous contexts; substantially more work and the collection of quality and consistent data is required to better understand Elder mistreatment amongst Indigenous peoples. There are no precise statistics on the prevalence of Elder abuse in the Aboriginal population in Australia and the strategies which would be effective in preventing this abuse have not been identified.

You can read more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elder abuse in the South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute report What keeps you safe: approaches to promote the safety of older Aboriginal people here. You can also access a range of resources associated with the The Queensland Government’s Together we can stop elder abuse campaign, including the video below here.