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NACCHO Aboriginal Health Youth Leadership Opportunity : NIYP is a week-long leadership program for Indigenous Australians

 

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“Our Constitution was written a little more than a century ago and does not recognise the first chapter of our national story, of my family history, of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who lived in this land for more than 40,000 years, and continue to live as the world’s oldest continuous cultures,”

Rachelle Maluga of Colony 47’s Aboriginal Community Links program was one of just six young people chosen from Tasmania to participate in the 2014 National Indigenous Youth Parliament (NIYP).

Ms Maluga is a member of the well-respected Maluga family with close links to the Maynard family group is a young Tasmanian who is passionate about changing the constitution and removing laws that discriminate against Aboriginal people

The first Indigenous youth parliament was held in 2012 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Australia’s First Peoples gaining the right to vote in federal elections and it aims to help close the gap on Indigenous disadvantage in electoral participation.

Canberra calling young Indigenous leaders

Applications are open for the 2017 National Indigenous Youth Parliament (NIYP).

The NIYP is a week-long leadership program for Indigenous Australians aged 16 to 25, to be held in Canberra in May 2017. Applications are open until Friday 3 March 2017

Electoral Commissioner, Tom Rogers, said this is a golden opportunity to learn about government and leadership directly from the people making decisions that affect Indigenous communities.

“The AEC will bring to Canberra 50 young Indigenous Australians, six from each state and territory and two from the Torres Strait Islands,” Mr Rogers said.

“Participants will receive training in public speaking and in dealing with the media. The young parliamentarians will learn from the nation’s leaders, members of the parliamentary press gallery, Indigenous leaders and senior public servants.”

NIYP will run from 23 to 29 May 2017. The centrepiece of the NIYP is a two-day simulated parliament in the House of Representatives chamber at Old Parliament House. Participants will debate bills and issues important to themselves and their communities.

“The NIYP brings together Indigenous leaders of the future who are prepared to step up, debate important issues and look for solutions to Indigenous disadvantage,” Mr Rogers said.

“Youth parliamentarians will meet decision makers, build networks and develop their leadership skills.”

No specific skills or experience are required to participate in the NIYP, apart from a desire to have a say in what’s going on in your community.

“I urge young Indigenous Australians to grab this opportunity and apply today.”

Applications are open until Friday 3 March 2017.

Participants will be chosen based on their ideas, community activity and leadership potential.

To apply visit www.aec.gov.au/indigenous.

 

Aboriginal Mental Health : NACCHO welcomes funding model for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention from the PHN

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“Congratulations Galambila Coffs Harbour  on the successful tender to address Mental Health and Suicide Prevention in your region.

NACCHO applauds the Galambila Aboriginal Community Controlled efforts to ensure our people have ready access to these vital services at the local level.

We believe Galambila will be best placed to ensure these services are not only high quality and professional but most certainly are culturally relevant, appropriate and safe for our people who need to use them”.

“NACCHO welcomes the funding for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention from the PHN and looks forward to this outcome being replicated with all our Member ACCHs throughout the country.

Well done in leading the way in this important initiative“.

Pat Turner CEO NACCHO

Pictured above with PHN representatives are Local Federal Member Hon Luke Hartsuyker MP with Galambila Chair Reuben Robinson, Board members Christian Lugnan , Kerrie Burnet and CEO Kristine Garrett

North Coast Primary Health Network (NCPHN) is excited to announce funding of $300,000 for Galambila Aboriginal Health Service in Coffs Harbour to deliver the Aboriginal Mental Health Capacity Building Project in partnership with Werin Aboriginal Medical Service in Port Macquarie.

The project will:

  • Put in place integrated social and emotional wellbeing plans for Aboriginal people in Port Macquarie with complex needs, focussing on improving wellbeing and recovery
  • Develop a tailored care model for Aboriginal mental health in Coffs Harbour and Hastings Macleay
  • Improve cultural competence for health professionals working with the Aboriginal community
  • Improve awareness among the Aboriginal community of mental health and suicide prevention services

NCPHN’s Chief Executive Dr Vahid Saberi said the project would be an innovative and much needed addition to mental health services available for Aboriginal people.

“The latest figures available show that Aboriginal people on the Mid North Coast and Hastings Macleay are experiencing nearly twice the yearly hospitalisation rate (2857) of non-Indigenous people (1654) for mental health related issues.

“We are pleased with the scope of the Galambila project which includes the development of a special care model for Aboriginal mental health,” he added.

Galambila’s CEO Kristine Garrett welcomed the project funding.

“The Aboriginal Mental Health Capacity Building Project will improve mental health outcomes for local Aboriginal people,” Ms Garrett said.

Galambila Aboriginal Medical Service was awarded the funding as a result of a tender process. Organisations were invited to establish novel mental health services, as well as implement projects to increase the capacity of the mental health system to respond to the needs of Aboriginal people and support their access to services.

Through North Coast Primary Health Network, the Australian Government has provided funding of $3.8 million for mental health, suicide prevention, drug and alcohol services and projects to improve the health system. Over coming months, NCPHN will use this funding to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of mental health and drug and alcohol services across the region.

 

ABOUT NORTH COAST PRIMARY HEALTH NETWORK (NCPHN)

We work alongside community members and health professionals to improve access to well-coordinated quality health care. Our aim is to work together to transform the healthcare system and reduce health inequities.

Our work begins by gaining an understanding of health care needs of the North Coast.

This needs assessment involves our community, clinicians and service providers and is available for all to use. We use this information to work with health professionals and community members to find gaps and facilitate local solutions.

We do this by commissioning services – this is a new way of all of us working together to design services that best meet our community’s needs.  Our priorities are

  1. Better mental health and emotional well-being
  2. Closing the gap in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health
  3. Improving our population’s health and wellbeing
  4. Building a highly skilled and capable health workforce
  5. Improving the integration of health services through electronic and digital health platforms
  6. Improving the health and wellbeing of older people

For more information, go to: http://www.ncphn.org.au

NACCHO Aboriginal Health and #Smoking : Pack warning labels help Aboriginal smokers butt out

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‘Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services across 140 health settings are helping smokers in our communities to quit.

Pack warning labels are also an important element as smokers read, think about and discuss large, prominent and  graphic labels.

This comprehensive approach works to reduce Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smoking and the harm it causes in our communities,’

Matthew Cooke from the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO).

Pack warning labels are motivating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smokers to quit smoking according to new research released by Menzies School of Health Research (Menzies) today.

The study has shown that graphic warning labels not only motivate quit attempts but increase Indigenous smokers’ awareness of the health issues caused by smoking.

Forming part of the national Talking About The Smokes study led by Menzies in partnership with Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services, the 642 study participants completed baseline surveys and follow-up surveys a year later.

The study found that 30% of Indigenous smokers at baseline said that pack warning labels had stopped them having a smoke when they were about to smoke.

Study leader, Menzies’ Professor David Thomas said, ‘This reaction rose significantly among smokers who were exposed to plain packaging for the first time during the period of research. The introduction of new and enlarged warning labels on plain packs had a positive impact upon Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smokers.’

Professor David Thomas, explained the significance of this finding, ‘Reacting to warning labels by forgoing a cigarette may not seem like much on its own. However, forgoing cigarettes due to warning labels was associated with becoming more concerned about the health consequences of smoking, developing an interest in quitting and attempting to quit. This is significant for our understanding of future tobacco control strategies.’

In addition, Indigenous smokers who said at baseline they often noticed warning labels on their packs were 80% more likely to identify the harms of smoking that have featured on warning labels.

Just under two in five (39%) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 and over smoke daily. Smoking is responsible for 23% of the health gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians.

In 2012, pack warning labels in Australia were increased in size to 75% on the front of all packs and 90% of the back at the same time as tobacco plain packaging was introduced.

The study was funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and published in the Nicotine & Tobacco Research journal and available at:

http://ntr.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2017/01/08/ntr.ntw396.full.pdf+html.

Summary of findings
  • The research is part of the Talking About the Smokes study http://www.menzies.edu.au/page/Research/Projects/Smoking/Talking_About_the_Smokes/
  • A total of 642 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smokers completed surveys at baseline (April 2012-October 2013) and follow-up (August 2013-August 2014)
  • At baseline, 66% of smokers reported they had often noticed warning labels in the past month, 30% said they had stopped smoking due to warning labels in the past month and 50% perceived that warning labels were somewhat or very effective to help them quit or stay quit
  • At follow-up, an increase in stopping smoking due to warning labels was found only those first surveyed before plain packaging was introduced (19% vs 34%, p=0.002), but not for those surveyed during the phase-in period (34% vs 37%, p=0.8) or after it was mandated (35% vs 36%, p=0.7). There were no other differences in reactions to warning labels according to time periods associated with plain packaging.
  • Smokers who reported they had stopped smoking due to warning labels in the month prior to baseline had 1.5 times the odds of quitting when compared with those who reported never doing so or never noticing labels (AOR: 1.45, 95% CI: 1.02-2.06, p=0.04), adjusting for other factors.
  • Smokers who reported they had often noticed warning labels on their packs at baseline had 1.8 times the odds of correctly responding to five questions about the health effects of smoking that had featured on packs (AOR: 1.84, 95% CI: 1.20-2.82, p=0.006), but not those that had not featured on packs (AOR: 1.03, 95%CI 0.73-1.45, p=0.9) when compared to smokers who did not often notice warning labels.

NACCHO Advertisement

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NACCHO has announced the publishing date for the 9 th edition of Australia’s first national health Aboriginal newspaper, the NACCHO Health News .

Publish date 6 April 2017

Working with Aboriginal community controlled and award-winning national newspaper the Koori Mail, NACCHO aims to bring relevant advertising and information on health services, policy and programs to key industry staff, decision makers and stakeholders at the grassroots level.

And who writes for and reads the NACCHO Newspaper ?

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While NACCHO’s websites ,social media and annual report have been valued sources of information for national and local Aboriginal health care issues for many years, the launch of NACCHO Health News creates a fresh, vitalised platform that will inevitably reach your targeted audiences beyond the boardrooms.

NACCHO will leverage the brand, coverage and award-winning production skills of the Koori Mail to produce a 24 page three times a year, to be distributed as a ‘lift-out’ in the 14,000 Koori Mail circulation, as well as an extra 1,500 copies to be sent directly to NACCHO member organisations across Australia.

Our audited readership (Audit Bureau of Circulations) is 100,000 readers

For more details rate card

Contact : Colin Cowell Editor

Mobile : 0401 331 251

Email  : nacchonews@naccho.org.au

 

 

NACCHO Aboriginal Health @TheMJA : The burden of invasive infections in critically ill #Indigenous children

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Children of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background were three times more likely to be admitted to an ICU for severe infections than non-Indigenous children during 2002–2013, and the population-based mortality attributable to infections in Indigenous children was more than twice that for non-Indigenous children.

Our study highlights an important area of inequality in health care for Indigenous children that requires urgent attention

Remoteness and difficulties in access to health care may also significantly increase the incidence of invasive infections in indigenous children that require treatment in ICUs, as delays in initiating appropriate treatment allow disease progression

 Further research is needed to define risk factors and to develop and assess appropriately targeted interventions.

As published MJA Journal

Image above Box 2 – Age-standardised admission rate of Indigenous children to intensive care units for all invasive infections

This is the largest study to have examined life-threatening infections in Indigenous Australian children, exploring an important area of health inequity in a high income country.

Our population-based study of more than 3000 Indigenous children admitted to ICUs found a disproportionately high burden of disease associated with invasive infections in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, causing significant excess childhood mortality.

In contrast to previous studies that focused on mild to moderate infections, our study examined severe, life-threatening infections.

During 2002–2013, the ICU admission rate for invasive infections was three times as high for Indigenous as for non-Indigenous children (47.6 v 15.9 per 100 000 children per year); the estimated population-based ICU mortality attributable to invasive infections was more than double that for non-Indigenous children.

Our findings parallel reports of disproportionate infectious disease burdens in other indigenous populations.6,8,18–20 High rates of infectious diseases, including ear and respiratory tract infections, have consistently been reported for Canadian First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, Native Americans, Alaskan and Hawaiian Natives, and New Zealand Pacific and Māori peoples. Children in these populations experience poorer overall health outcomes than non-indigenous children, including higher infant and childhood mortality.6 Risk factors that contribute to the high incidence of infectious diseases among indigenous children include lower socio-economic status, overcrowding, poor access to sanitation, clean water and health facilities, and differences in hygiene and health-seeking behaviour.21 These key social and economic factors, recognised as major causes of poor health in low income countries, must also receive attention in high income countries if we are to improve national and global health outcomes for disadvantaged groups.22

Remoteness and difficulties in access to health care may also significantly increase the incidence of invasive infections in indigenous children that require treatment in ICUs, as delays in initiating appropriate treatment allow disease progression.23

This is consistent with our finding that Indigenous Australian children admitted to ICUs with invasive infections had higher median illness severity scores (PIM2) than non-Indigenous children during 2008–2013. This finding also suggests that a lower admission threshold for Indigenous children is unlikely to have contributed to their higher admission rate in our study. Further investigations in which outcomes are stratified according to the length of time to medical care may clarify the impact of remoteness on outcomes for children with infectious diseases.

The incidence of pneumococcal, group A streptococcal, and meningococcal disease in Indigenous Australian children has been reported to be 2–10 times that for non-Indigenous children residing in the same geographical area, despite 7-valent pneumococcal and meningococcal C vaccinations.20,24,25 We measured a significant decrease in meningococcal sepsis among Indigenous children that coincided with the introduction of the conjugate meningococcal vaccine. While expanding targeted vaccination may lead to further reductions in bacterial sepsis rates, vaccine-based interventions are unlikely to be available soon for S. aureus, identified in 40% of Indigenous patients from whom bacteria were isolated in our study. In the overall Australian and New Zealand paediatric sepsis ICU study,4 only 10% of sepsis cases were attributable to S. aureus, comparable with other cohorts.26 Prospective studies that assess the continuing impact of vaccinations on severe infection rates among Indigenous children in Australia are needed to further define this important area of public health.

Very high rates of invasive staphylococcal infection have been reported in adult and paediatric Indigenous populations in Australia.11 Excess rates of S. aureus infection have also been documented among Māori, Pacific Islanders and Samoans in New Zealand, Canadian Aboriginals, Alaskan Natives, Pacific Islanders in Hawaii, and Native Americans. Miles and colleagues27 found that 81% of patients admitted to paediatric ICUs in New Zealand for invasive S. aureus infections were Pacific Island and Māori children, although these ethnic groups comprise only 22% of the population. It is possible that genetic susceptibility may contribute to differences in biological susceptibility to sepsis,21 but further research is needed to clarify this question.

A number of limitations of our study need to be considered. It was based on a prospective paediatric ICU registry that does not capture infectious disease outcomes for newborns in neonatal nurseries or for children who die before they can be admitted to an ICU. The ANZPIC Registry captures 92–94% of paediatric patients admitted to ICUs in Australia, and the number of general ICUs contributing data to the registry increased during the study period. Admissions to general ICUs represented 17.1% of non-elective admissions recorded by this registry during 2008–2013, and 9.4% of admissions during 2002–2007. We therefore cannot exclude the possibility that we underestimated the true population-based incidence of severe infections.

Our primary outcome measure was ICU mortality. We did not detect major changes over time in mortality for Indigenous children admitted to ICUs with severe infections, but our study was not powered for subgroup mortality analyses. It is noteworthy that using mortality as an endpoint does not capture the impact of ICU admission on quality of life and health after discharge; clinically significant short and long term effects in former paediatric ICU patients have been documented.27,28 Finally, Indigenous children in Australia live in diverse environments, ranging from cities to remote Indigenous communities. Our study did not stratify outcomes according to these potentially important differences, nor did we have access to data on socio-economic status.

Conclusion

Children of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background were three times more likely to be admitted to an ICU for severe infections than non-Indigenous children during 2002–2013, and the population-based mortality attributable to infections in Indigenous children was more than twice that for non-Indigenous children. Our study highlights an important area of inequality in health care for Indigenous children that requires urgent attention. Further research is needed to define risk factors and to develop and assess appropriately targeted interventions.

Box 1 – Baseline characteristics and severity of disease at admission for Indigenous children admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) with an invasive infection

Invasive infection without sepsis/septic shock

Invasive infection with sepsis/septic shock

Number of children

423

303

Age of child

Median (IQR), years

1.6 (0.4–5.5)

1.9 (0.4–8.5)

Neonates (< 28 days old)

8 (1.9%)

19 (6.3%)

Infants (28–364 days old)

162 (38.3%)

95 (31.4%)

1–4 years old

138 (32.6%)

88 (29.0%)

5–9 years old

59 (14.0%)

43 (14.2%)

10–15 years old

56 (13.2%)

58 (19.1%)

Sex

Boys

235 (55.6%)

170 (56.1%)

Admission category

Direct paediatric ICU admission*

284 (67.1%)

219 (72.3%)

Inter-hospital transport

180 (42.6%)

140 (46.2%)

Risk category

Any comorbidity

148 (35.0%)

140 (46.2%)

Immunodeficiency or immunosuppression†

Oncology‡

6 (1.4%)

19 (6.3%)

Bone marrow transplantation

4 (0.9%)

2 (0.6%)

Transplantation‡

0

1 (0.3%)

Chronic neurological disease

42 (9.9%)

18 (5.9%)

Chronic respiratory disease

38 (9.0%)

14 (4.6%)

Congenital heart disease

13 (3.1%)

17 (5.6%)

Premature birth

27 (6.4%)

30 (9.9%)

Burns

6 (1.4%)

10 (3.3%)

Chronic renal failure

4 (0.9%)

1 (0.3%)

Severity

Mean ICU length of stay (SD), days

5.2 (9.6)

6.8 (8.3)

Mechanical ventilation in the first hour

222 (52.5%)

161 (53.1%)

Intubation and ventilation

256 (60.5%)

215 (71.0%)

Mean PIM2 score (range)

5.0% (0.2–95.6%)

8.4% (0.2–99.5%)

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

1 (0.2%)

7 (2.3%)

Acute respiratory distress syndrome

7 (1.7%)

14 (4.6%)

Renal replacement therapy

4 (0.9%)

11 (3.6%)

PIM2 = Paediatric Index of Mortality 2 (mean probability of death). * Other admissions were to mixed ICUs. † Including primary immunodeficiency and secondary immunodeficiency (oncology, bone marrow transplantation, other transplantation, other immunosuppression). ‡ Excluding bone marrow transplantation.

Box 3 – Identified pathogens in Indigenous children admitted to an intensive care unit with sepsis or septic shock

Year of admission

2002–2007

2008–2013

P*

2002–2013

Number of patients

108

195

303

Bacterial

Staphylococcus aureus (methicillin-sensitive or -resistant)

21 (19%)

46 (24%)

0.40

67 (22%)

Neisseria meningitidis

17 (16%)

16 (8%)

0.044

33 (11%)

Streptococcus pneumoniae

2 (2%)

9 (5%)

0.22

11 (4%)

Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus

0

2 (1%)

0.29

2 (1%)

Group A Streptococcus, Streptococcus viridans

6 (6%)

11 (6%)

0.98

17 (6%)

Group B Streptococcus

0

1 (1%)

0.46

1 (< 1%)

Escherichia coli

4 (4%)

4 (2%)

0.39

8 (3%)

Pseudomonas aeruginosa

4 (4%)

4 (2%)

0.39

8 (3%)

Klebsiella spp.

1 (1%)

6 (3%)

0.23

7 (2%)

Haemophilus influenzae type B

2 (2%)

0

0.057

2 (1%)

Other bacteria

8 (7%)

25 (13%)

0.15

33 (11%)

Any bacteria

56 (52%)

108 (55%)

0.55

164 (54%)

Fungal

Candida, Aspergillus spp., other fungus

5 (5%)

13 (7%)

0.47

18 (6%)

Viral co-infection

Influenza

2 (2%)

2 (1%)

0.55

4 (1%)

Parainfluenza

0

2 (1%)

0.29

2 (1%)

Respiratory syncytial virus

2 (2%)

7 (4%)

0.39

9 (3%)

Adenovirus

1 (1%)

7 (4%)

0.17

8 (3%)

Cytomegalovirus, Epstein–Barr, herpes simplex, varicella zoster viruses

1 (1%)

5 (3%)

0.33

6 (2%)

Enterovirus

0

2 (1%)

0.29

2 (1%)

Other viruses

1 (1%)

3 (2%)

0.66

4 (1%)

Any viral co-infection

7 (6%)

26 (13%)

0.067

33 (11%)

No bacterial, fungal or viral organism identified

47 (44%)

67 (34%)

0.12

114 (38%)

* 2002–2007 v 2008–2013.

NACCHO Aboriginal Health and Human Rights : Nomination open 2017 National Indigenous #HumanRights Awards

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 ” The National Indigenous Human Rights Awards recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons who have made significant contribution to the advancement of human rights and social justice for their people.”

The awards were established in 2014, and will held annually. The inaugural awards were held at NSW Parliament House, and were welcomed by the Hon Linda Burney, MP and included key note speakers Dr Yalmay Yunupingu, Ms Gail Mabo, and Mr Anthony Mundine. A number of other distinguished guests such as political representatives, indigenous leaders and others in the fields of human rights and social justice also attended.

The Awards were presented by leading Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elders, and leading Indigenous figures in Indigenous Social Justice and Human Rights. All recipients of the National Human Rights Award will be persons of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage.

To nominate someone for one of the three awards, please go to https://shaoquett.wufoo.com/forms/z4qw7zc1i3yvw6/
 
For further information, please also check out the Awards Guide at https://www.scribd.com/document/336434563/2017-National-Indigenous-Human-Rights-Awards-Guide

AWARD CATEGORIES:

 

DR YUNUPINGU AWARD – FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
 
To an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person who has made a significant contribution to the advancement of Human Rights for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples. Dr Yunupingu is the first Aboriginal from Arnhem Land to achieve a university degree. In 1986 Dr Yunupingu formed Yothu Yindi in 1986, combining Aboriginal (Yolngu) and non-Aboriginal (balanda) musicians and instrumentation.

In 1990 was appointed as Principal of Yirrkala Community School, Australia’s first Aboriginal Principal. Also in that year he established the Yothu Yindi Foundation to promote Yolngu cultural development, including Garma Festival of Traditional Cultures Dr Yumupingu was named 1992 Australian of the Year for his work in building bridges between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities across Australia.

THE EDDIE MABO AWARD FOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN SOCIAL JUSTICE

In memory of Eddie Koiki Mabo (1936-1992), this award recognises an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person who has made a significant contribution to the advancement of Social Justice for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Eddie Koiki Mabo was a Torres Straits Islander, most notable in Australian history for his role in campaigning for indigenous land rights.

From 1982 to 1991 Eddie campaigned for the rights of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to have their land rights recognised. Sadly, he died of cancer at the age of 56, five months before the High Court handed down its landmark land rights decision overturning Terra Nullius. He was 56 when he passed away.

THE ANTHONY MUNDINE AWARD FOR COURAGE

 

To an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person who has made a significant contribution to the advancement of sports among Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Anthony Mundine is an Australian professional boxer and former rugby league player. He is a former, two-time WBA Super Middleweight Champion, a IBO Middleweight Champion, and an interim WBA Light Middleweight Champion boxer and a New South Wales State of Origin representative footballer. Before his move to boxing he was the highest paid player in the NRL.

In 2000 Anthony was named the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Person of the Year in 2000. He has also won the Deadly Award as Male Sportsperson of the Year in 2003, 2006 and 2007 amongst others.

He has a proud history of standing up for Indigenous peoples, telling a journalist from the Canberra Times: “I’m an Aboriginal man that speaks out and if I see something, I speak the truth.”

NACCHO Aboriginal Health debate #changethedate #australiaday : #InvasionDay, #SurvivalDay, or Day of Mourning?

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“Many of our people call it Invasion Day … to many Indigenous Australians, in fact, most Indigenous Australians, it really reflects the day in which our world came crashing down,” the prominent Indigenous leader and academic said.

The idea that it’s not appropriate to hold a national celebration on the date the first fleet arrived in Sydney cove in 1788 to begin the process of Indigenous dispossession wasn’t new. It wasn’t even the first time an Australian of the Year had said so. Lowitja O’Donoghue pleaded for a date change after she was honoured in 1984. It’s even more widespread now.

Mick Dodson explained succinctly why he thought Australia’s national day is celebrated on the wrong date after accepting his Australian of the Year award in 2009. See article 3 below from the Guardian

“It is critical that more Australians understand why Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples often feel that 26 January is an inappropriate day for celebration.

Australia Day has diverse meaning to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians; some see it as a day of invasion, a day of mourning and of assertion of sovereignty; some see it as a day of survival.

Considering these meanings, it must be recognised that holding Australia Day on 26 January does not make for inclusion and celebration of our nation and all its peoples possible.”

Reconciliation Australia believes Australia Day must be inclusive, unifying, and be supported by all Australians. It should be a day when we come together as a unified people – a day when all Australian’s rights, histories and cultures are valued as part of a shared national identity

Justin Mohamed, CEO of Reconciliation Australia (former Chair of NACCHO ) Article 2 below

 ” Every year on the 26th of January I wonder a bit about how I am going to refer to the day, Invasion Day, Survival Day or Day of Mourning? Over the years I have referred to it as all of these, and I think the choice I make reflects a bit about the mood I am in at that time, where I am at in life, and where Australia is in general.

By Luke Pearson NITV and founder of @IndigenousX

Photo above NITV : Each of the names captures an important part of what this date represents.

Invasion Day, for me, reflects an honest truth that needs to be expressed. It speaks of the power of protest. It speaks of a history that has never been reconciled, of justice denied. It reminds how one simple word, ‘invasion’, seems to bewilderingly upset those connected to the invaders more than those who descend from the invaded. It comes largely from the 1988 protests which also brought the slogan “White Australia Has A Black History” to our national consciousness. At the same time, there is a part of me that felt it gives too much energy away and not enough to ourselves. I often think about whether or not we spend too much responding to the moves of others rather than making our own, but at the same time the power of the above slogan always resonates with me and speaks to a battle that is still underway about how we relate to Australian history. I believe we still need to speak these words, and we still need people to attend these events.

 White Australia Has A Black History

Survival.

It speaks to me of celebration and commemoration. It speaks of amazing resilience and resistance of cultures, communities, families and individuals. At the same time, it feels too comforting for white Australia. It does not feel ‘in their face’ enough. Perhaps this is more to do with how the name has been coopted than what it was originally intended for, I don’t know, but it has never quite sat right with me. So many lives have been needlessly lost in our history, and every day; those who didn’t survive. I am not comfortable about a day that can so easily be misrepresented to gloss over this tragic reality. Still, I believe we still need to speak these words, and we still need people to attend these events.

Mourning.

It speaks to commemorating and acknowledging all we have to mourn since invasion took place. Not just the loss of life, but for all of the loss of culture, loss of land, loss of language. It is one of the oldest names we have for this day, and the significance of the 1938 protests should always be remembered and commemorated. Like the other two days though I have at times felt this lacked the fire of Invasion Day, and the positive outlook of Survival Day. But I know the power and the importance of grieving for people and things lost, and I believe we still need to speak these words, and we still need people to attend these events.

 Aborigines day of mourning, Sydney, 26 January 1938

Aborigines day of mourning, Sydney, 26 January 1938 (State Library of NSW)

It is only in recent years that I have stopped the internal debate each year about which camp I should sit in and come to realise that all three days are important, all three are still needed for different people at different times in their life. All three come are essential pieces of the whole that are needed to fully recognise the significance of this date.

There are times we need to protest. Other times we need to breathe, and to celebrate that we are still here despite the obstacles we have overcome and those we still face. And at other times we just need to mourn, and to heal.

Like many debates in our communities this is one where I believe we do not need to debate but instead we need to support each other regardless of the camp we need to sit in, and respect the reasons why we need to be there. We should be able to freely move between each and let others do the same.

There are times we need to protest. Other times we need to breathe, and to celebrate that we are still here despite the obstacles we have overcome and those we still face. And at other times we just need to mourn, and to heal. I know many people who plan to attend an Invasion Day march in the morning, attend a Survival Day concert in the morning, and then spend a reflective evening commemorating the Day of Mourning.

I have at times heard people opposed to changing the date of Australia Day argue that doing so would be to ignore or try to erase the history of this date. I disagree. January the 26th will always be an important date in our national calendar. It will always be Invasion Day. It will always be Survival Day. It will always be a Day of Mourning. We will never forget what this day represents. The only name I think the 26th of January should not have is ‘Australia Day’. It is not a day that was ever intended for Aboriginal people to celebrate. Even as far back as 1888, when Henry Parkes was the Premier of NSW and was preparing to celebrate the 100 year anniversary, he was asked if he was planning anything for Aboriginal people on this day, to which he replied, “And remind them that we have robbed them?”.

Australia Day, for me, is a day that was only ever intended to be a day for white Australians to come together to celebrate white Australia, and the recent attempts to make it a more inclusive day just feel like an effort to make it a day where all Australians regardless of their race, colour, or religion can come together to celebrate white Australia.

I am not necessarily opposed to the idea of an Australia Day that would allow us all to celebrate together, on the condition that we eventually learn to see the difference between inclusion and assimilation, but I am not entirely sure if there is a date in Australian history that could adequately encapsulate that ideal. That, to me, is the most interesting element about the whole ‘change the date’ conversation. Not the push to see that date changed, but the conversation about what day, if any, best encapsulates the Australia the Australia that we would like to imagine ourselves as.

Is our national identity best commemorated on the day that NSW became a British colony, or the date that Australians stopped being British subjects? Is it the day that the White Australia Policy was enacted, or is it the day it was repealed? Is it perhaps the day, if it ever comes, that we become a republic? Or is it some future day that we can’t even imagine at the moment, some future event that could serve to help ‘bring us together to celebrate all that is great about being Australians’?

But whether the date of Australia Day ever changes or not, the 26th of January will always be an important day. It will always be Invasion Day. It will always be Survival Day. It will always be a Day of Mourning.

So whatever you call it, whatever events you choose to go to or whether you just do your own thing, we do not need to debate what we should call this day so long as we can agree on one simple thing – Australia always was, and always will be Aboriginal land.

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Article 2 : Australia Day should be a source of unity, pride and celebration that reflects the identities, histories and cultures of all Australians.

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Justin Mohamed, CEO of Reconciliation Australia said today at a breakfast honouring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia Day finalists,

“We must find a day on which we can all participate equally, and can celebrate with pride our common Australian identity. I believe that it is critical to reconciliation for all Australians to acknowledge and understand different views around the date of Australia Day. And to ask the critical question: can our national day be truly inclusive if it is celebrated on a day that represents the beginning of physical and cultural dispossession for First Australians?”

Reconciliation Australia  hosted a celebratory breakfast for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australian of the Year Awards finalists, and finalists who work with Indigenous communities.
The work of the finalists champions #reconciliation and brings Australia closer to becoming a just, equitable and reconciled nation.

Finalists Andrew Forrest, Arthur Alla, Andrea Mason, Tejinder pal Singh, Sister Anne Gardiner AM and Lois Peeler AM, Reconciliation Australia Co-Chair Professor Tom Calma AO, finalists June Oscar AO and Patricia Buckskin PSM, and Reconciliation Australia CEO Justin Mohamed

Article 3 Editorial the Guardian Australia agrees.

This is not a date that unifies Australians.

In fact it’s hard to think of a worse date for a party that is supposed to include us all.

The National Australia Day Council itself acknowledges the problem.

“We recognise that some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and some non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians may have mixed feelings about celebrating this day. January 26 has multiple meanings: it is Australia Day and it is also, for some, Survival Day or Invasion Day. The NADC acknowledges that the date brings a mixture of celebration and mourning and we believe that the programs presented by the NADC should play a powerful and positive role in advancing reconciliation.”

The national strategy that followed the initial decade-long process to achieve reconciliation recommended the date be changed.

“Governments, organisations and communities negotiate to establish and promote symbols of reconciliation,” it said. “This would include changing the date of Australia Day to a date that includes all Australians.”

But, despite the obvious historical arguments and the growing acknowledgement the date is a problem, there is still deep resistance to the idea that 26 January is inappropriate.

Fremantle council tried to hold this year’s main citizenship ceremony at a more inclusive 28 January event, but eventually bowed to pressure from the federal government. The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, insisted Australia would be “sticking with” 26 January.

Back in 2009 the then prime minister Kevin Rudd’s reply to Mick Dodson’s suggestion was even more brusque. “To our Indigenous leaders, and those who call for a change to our national day, let me say a simple, respectful, but straightforward no,” he said.

Some – like the Indigenous leader Noel Pearson – have suggested changing our understanding of exactly what we are celebrating on 26 January.

He sees three defining moments in Australia’s history: “Firstly, 53,000-plus years ago, when the first Australians crossed the Torres Strait land bridge to this continent; secondly, the landing of the first fleet in 1788; thirdly, the abolition of the White Australia policy between 1973 and 1975.”

“I believe the celebration of Australia Day will always be equivocal as long as it is about only one of these three parts,” he said at the National Press Club last year. “If we brought these three parts of the nation together and the day defining Australia spoke to these three parts then less offence and hurt would attach to 26 January. It can’t just be about what was destroyed. It must also be about what we have built.”

When he became Australian of the Year in 2014, the footballer Adam Goodes also suggested broadening what Australia Day is about. “There was a lot of anger, a lot of sorrow, for this day and very much the feeling of Invasion Day,” he said.

“But in the last five years, I’ve really changed my perception of what is Australia Day, of what it is to be Australian and for me, it’s about celebrating the positives, that we are still here as Indigenous people, our culture is one of the longest surviving cultures in the world, over 40,000 years.

“That is something we need to celebrate and all Australians need to celebrate … It’s a day we celebrate over 225 years of European settlement and right now, that’s who we are as a nation but we also need to acknowledge our fantastic Aboriginal history of over 40,000 years and just know that some Aboriginal people out there today are feeling a little bit angry, a little bit soft in the heart today because of that, and that’s OK as well.”

Even these measured comments prompted wild attacks by conservative commentators and were later cited as one of the reasons fans from opposing teams booed Goodes the following year.

But for many Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, the only viable solution remains to #changethedate and public discussion of a new date is growing. The national youth broadcaster, Triple J, declined to shift its much-loved Hottest 100 this year, but given the public pressure the ABC says the date remains “under review”. Indigenous musicians A.B. Original and Dan Sultan released a track advocating for a date change last year, and this week a collection of hip hop artists released another.

The Saturday Paper has argued that boycotting Australia Day celebrations is the best way to try to force a shift.

Guardian Australia also argues for change but we will be covering 26 January.

We’ll reflect the deep concerns about the date in our live blog – which will cover the Invasion Day marches and Indigenous cultural celebrations such as Sydney’s Yabun festival and also the events on 26 January that reflect the best of us, the wonderful citizenship ceremonies around the country, as well as concerts and the Hottest 100.

There are many reasons for Australians to feel proud. We agree 26 January is the wrong day for national festivities, but we think respectful debate – about changing the date or the meaning of the celebration – is the best way to a solution that will allow all Australians to join the party.

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NACCHO Aboriginal Health : How mentoring helps Aboriginal teens create new healthy futures

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” Jason Anketell remembers his early teen years growing up in Tennant Creek, a remote town of about 3,000 planted in the middle of Australia’s hot, sparsely populated Northern Territory.

Until the middle of 10th grade, says Mr. Anketell, an Aboriginal man from the Warumungu language group, he was at loose ends, getting into fights and “mingling with the wrong people” on streets tinged red by the dust of the rusted landscape.

Somewhere amid the chaos of “alcohol, drugs, and domestic violence,” a well-worn narrative in many rural Aboriginal communities, he began to “think twice – this is not the life I want in the future.”

Photo above : Jason Anketell reads a graduation letter from mentor Amber Camp (right) after the AIME 12th-grade graduation session at Clontarf Aboriginal College in September. AIME is an aboriginal mentoring and education program that has indigenous school kids graduating at a rate above the national non-indigenous average.

Ninety-three percent of AIME’s 12th-grade Aboriginal students graduated from high school, exceeding Australia’s overall graduation rate.

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Around that time, a youth worker pushed Jason to travel more than 2,500 miles to board at the Clontarf Aboriginal College, in Western Australia’s capital, Perth. Soon after he arrived, a school staff member suggested he get involved with the dedicated Aboriginal youth mentoring program AIME (Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience).

“Since then I’ve just been meeting with new people, being proud of who I am,” Anketell says. “AIME is the only one who makes me feel confident enough to feel proud, to feel strong.”

That increased confidence is always the No. 1 thing any young person feels as the result of connecting with a mentor who cares about them, according to Judy MacCallum, an associate professor at Murdoch University’s School of Education.

But, some Aboriginal people say, discovering a sense of self-worth can be a particularly steep climb for indigenous youth whose ancestral past includes mass killings, land dispossession, and denial of basic rights for much of white history.

“We have a saying: No shame at AIME,” says Jason Burton, AIME’s center manager for Curtin and Murdoch Universities in Western Australia, at the Clontarf AIME grade 12 graduation night. ‘“We like to say ‘indigenous equals success’ – we want to say, ‘You guys are already successful, you’re the oldest living culture on earth, you’re resilient.’ It’s almost been beaten into them not to come out of their shells, but we’re saying: Now there’s nothing holding you back.”

Many top-down government programs have fallen short on winding back chronic inequalities such as a shorter life expectancy, disproportionate rates of incarceration, and poverty. Over the past decade, however, a proliferation of dedicated Aboriginal mentoring and scholarship programs like AIME are giving education advocates fresh hope that progress can be made on lifting roughly 160,000 Aboriginal children out of the chronic educational disadvantage that feeds such problems.

Unlike periodic government efforts to “close the gap,” these corporate and privately funded nonprofits are created by, or in close collaboration with, Aboriginal people. And, some Aboriginal experts say, the egalitarian relationship between the youth and their often non-indigenous mentors is helping dissolve racial stereotypes as Australia’s national conversation around race and history evolves.

“Aboriginal people are sick and tired of having programs implemented, only to see them taken away or the funding diminished to a point where they’re no longer able to achieve or go about the objective of those programs,” says Graeme Gower, a descendant of the Yawuru people from Broome and senior lecturer at Kurongkurl Katitjin, Edith Cowan University’s Centre for Indigenous Australian Education and Research. “Projects like AIME that have been sustained and have been supported by other funding means they have impact, because things won’t just happen overnight.”

93 percent graduation rate

AIME is still only reaching a sliver of the kids in need, but it has a model it wants to share, with a view to reaching all 160,000 children by 2025. Earlier this month, it also launched a global campaign in the hope others around the world will take its blueprint to help other indigenous and minority people.

Its CEO, Jack Manning Bancroft, along with a number of close friends, launched the program in the Sydney suburb of Redfern about 12 years ago. Starting with 25 mentors and 25 students, it has grown into a national program that this year is connecting about 6,000 9th- to 12th-grade students with about 1,800 mentors.

In 2015, 93 percent of AIME’s 533 12th-grade mentees graduated from high school, exceeding the national nonindigenous rate of 87 percent and the indigenous rate of 59 percent. Roughly three-quarters of those graduates transitioned to university or a job or training, the same as the national nonindigenous average. AIME follows up with all its students for two years after they leave high school to make sure they’re still on track.

To do this, the program partners with 17 universities, from which it draws its volunteer mentors. These mentors help run sessions with students from surrounding schools. The sessions range from drama, hip-hop, or writing a speech as if they were prime minister, to life skills like résumé-building and goal-setting for their transition after graduation. Additionally, mentors get together with students once a week for “tutor squad,” helping them with homework. They sometimes act as a go-between when the teens aren’t comfortable talking directly with their school teachers.

For Anketell, it’s an approach that, in a few years, has transformed the 18-year-old’s outlook. Three weeks before he becomes the first person in his family to graduate from high school, he says, he just wants to be a “hard-working man.” That could mean staying in Perth and getting work in civic construction or heading back home to work as a mechanic.

Jason Anketell (left) reads a graduation letter from mentor Amber Camp (right) after the AIME 12th-grade graduation session at Clontarf Aboriginal College in September. AIME is an aboriginal mentoring and education program that has indigenous school kids graduating at a rate above the national non-indigenous average.

Still, the program is far from perfect, observers say. For one, its model means it’s still not reaching many kids with the highest needs in remote communities. Also, while AIME’s model of drawing mentors from the university student pool has allowed them to grow quickly, levels of mentor commitment vary.

Even so, the two-way relationships Aboriginal students are building with their diverse, nonindigenous Australian and international student mentors are helping to wear down some ingrained stereotypes and giving Aboriginal people more of a voice, AIME folks and Mr. Gower say.

Mentor training is case in point. For the first hour, a roomful of mentors sit quietly, listening to the stories of four 11th-grade students. They ask them questions about everything from being racially bullied to how they could be better mentors. One mentee, Bailey, reminds them: “Remember, you can learn from us, too.”

Australia takes fresh look at race and history

In many ways, what’s happening at AIME is indicative of a new wave in Australia’s national conversation around race and history. For one, talk of changing the date of Australia Day – the day marking the 1788 landing of the First Fleet of British colonists at Botany Bay near Sydney, which some people refer to as invasion day – has entered the mainstream. Aboriginal people have been breaking down professional barriers and speaking out explicitly against racism, sometimes sparking an angry backlash.

Last year, Linda Burney, who is Wiradjuri, became the first aboriginal woman to be elected to a federal lower house seat from Barton, in New South Wales. Sky News foreign correspondent Stan Grant, also Wiradjuri, gave a speech that went viral in which he declared that the Australian dream is rooted in racism.

Sharna Ninyette, program manager for AIME at the University of Notre Dame’s Fremantle campus in Western Australia, believes that the number of nonindigenous voices willing to speak out in public forums against racism has grown.

“There’s actually a bigger group of non-Aboriginal people that stand up to say, ‘That’s not cool,’ ” she says. “That is something you would not have seen five or 10 years ago, and that for these young fellas is exciting because they’ve got people standing with them. Whereas when I was in school and it happened to me, it was very isolating.”

Indeed, the education picture has brightened considerably. Until the late 1940s, Aboriginal kids weren’t allowed to attend public schools, according to Dr. Gower. Between about 1910 and 1970, the so-called “stolen generations” of children were systematically whisked from their parents and placed far away on religious missions, which attempted to assimilate them.

Today, more Aboriginal youth are eager to go further than their grandparents and parents, many of who remember the time before they were granted the right to vote in 1962 – or when they were counted as actual members of the Australian population for the first time in 1971.

Not going home ’empty handed’

Marlee Hutton, a Bardi Jawi woman in her early 20s who hails from the far north of Western Australia, exemplifies her generation’s stretch. Back in high school, she was granted a scholarship to attend Perth’s Iona Presentation College by Madalah, an organization that offers scholarships to Australia’s best boarding schools for Aboriginal kids from remote communities, and connects them with mentors.

Ms. Hutton, who has worked for AIME since it expanded to Western Australia in 2012, will graduate from university this year with a double major in marine and environmental science. Ultimately, she says, all the years she has spent in the city have not watered down her connection to culture or “country.” She wants to return home, but not until she’s qualified and empowered to work with her community.

Her high school mentor, Naomi, an Aboriginal woman, stopped her going home “empty-handed” a number of times.

“There were times when I really wanted to go home, but Naomi really … pushed the fact that I have the ability to do a lot more than I think I can,” she says, “and it’s important that I do something, and don’t just give up and go back home.”

NACCHO Aboriginal Health and #Budget2017 : @AMAPresident launches Pre-Budget Submission 2017-18

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 ” The gap in health and life expectancy between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians is still considerable, despite the commitment to closing the gap.

The AMA recognises the early progress that is being made, particularly in reducing early childhood mortality rates, and in addressing major risk factors for chronic disease, such as smoking.

To maintain this momentum for the long term, the Government must improve resourcing for culturally appropriate primary health care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and the health workforce.

Despite recent health gains for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, progress is slow and much more needs to be done.”

AMA President, Dr Michael Gannon launching the AMA’s Pre-Budget Submission 2017-18

Download AMA submission here

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AMA President, Dr Michael Gannon, said today that the appointment of Greg Hunt as Health Minister provides the Government with the perfect opportunity to change direction on health policy, and to consign any links to the disastrous 2014-15 Health budget to history.

Launching the AMA’s Pre-Budget Submission 2017-18, Dr Gannon said the key for the Government and the Health Minister is to look at all health policies as investments in a healthier and more productive population.

“Health is the best investment that governments can make,” Dr Gannon said.

AMA POSITION Indigenous Health pages 14/15

The AMA calls on the Government to:

• correct the under-funding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health services;

• establish new or strengthen existing programs to address preventable health conditions that are known to have a significant impact on the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, such as cardiovascular diseases (including rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease), diabetes, kidney disease, and blindness;

• increase investment in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled health organisations. Such investment must support services to build their capacity and be sustainable over the long term;

• develop systemic linkages between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled health organisations and mainstream health services to ensure high quality and culturally safe continuity of care;

• identify areas of poor health and inadequate services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and direct funding according to need;

• institute funded, national training programs to support more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to become health professionals to address the shortfall of Indigenous people in the health workforce;

• implement measures to increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s access to primary health care and medical specialist services;

• adopt a justice reinvestment approach to health by funding services to divert Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from prison, given the strong link between health and incarceration;

• appropriately resource the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan to ensure that actions are met within specified timeframes;

• adopt the recommendations of the AMA’s 2016 Report Card on Indigenous Health and commit to a target to eradicate new cases of Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD); and

• support a National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Hearing Health Taskforce that can provide evidence-based advice to Government, embed hearing health in Closing the Gap targets, and recognise its importance in early childhood development, education, and employment.

“The AMA agrees with and supports Budget responsibility. But we also believe that savings must be made in areas that do not directly negatively affect the health and wellbeing of Australian families.

“Health must be seen as an investment, not a cost or a Budget saving.

“There are greater efficiencies to be made in the health system and in the Health budget, but any changes must be undertaken with close consultation with the medical profession, and with close consideration of any impact on patients, especially the most vulnerable – the poor, the elderly, working families with young children, and the chronically ill.

“But the AMA urges caution – and care. The Government must not make long-term cuts for short-term gain. Patients will lose out.

“In this Pre-Budget Submission, the AMA is urging the Government to invest strategically in key areas of health that will deliver great benefits – in economic terms and with health outcomes – over time.

“The first task of the new Minister must be to lift the freeze on Medicare patient rebates, which is harming patients and doctors.

“Primary care and prevention are areas where the Government can and should make greater investment.

“General practice, in particular, is cost-effective and proven to keep people well and away from more expensive hospital care. It was pleasing to hear Minister Hunt use his first health media conference to declare that he wanted to be the Health Minister for GPs.

“The Government must also fulfil its responsibilities – along with the States and Territories – to properly fund our public hospitals.

“So too, the Government must deliver on its commitments to improve the health of Indigenous Australians.

“In this submission, the AMA provides the Government with affordable, targeted, and proven policies that will contribute to a much better Budget bottom line in coming years.

“More importantly, the AMA’s recommendations will deliver a healthier and more productive population to drive further savings into the future.”

The AMA Pre-Budget Submission 2017-18 covers the following key areas:

  • Medicare Indexation Freeze;
  • Public Hospitals;
  • Health Care Home;
  • Medicare Reviews;
  • Medicare Levy;
  • Pathology;
  • Private Health Insurance;
  • Medical Indemnity – Underpinning Affordable Health Care;
  • Medical Care for Palliative Care and Aged Care Patients;
  • Indigenous Health;
  • Mental Health;
  • Medical Workforce and Training;
  • Obesity;
  • Nutrition;
  • Physical Activity;
  • Alcohol and Drugs; and
  • Climate Change and Health.

The AMA Pre-Budget Submission 2017-18 is at https://ama.com.au/sites/default/files/budget-submission/Budget_Submission_2017_2018.pdf

This Submission was lodged with Treasury ahead of the cob Thursday 19 January 2017 deadline.

NACCHO Aboriginal Health News Alerts : @KenWyattMP humbled by the opportunity to be an Indigenous Health Minister @AIDAAustralia @TheAHCWA

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” The health outcomes of Indigenous Australians are of paramount importance to me. I am humbled by the opportunity to be the first Indigenous person to be appointed to the Commonwealth Ministry and to be the Minister responsible for such an important portfolio,”

Article 1 of 3 Below : Ken Wyatt pictured above with the other 3 Aboriginal politicians (right ) and Billy T Tompkins ( left ) doing the traditional welcome

Minister for Aged Care and Minister for Indigenous Health Ken Wyatt

“We are very confident that Mr Wyatt, as an Aboriginal person with a long history working in health before entering politics, will have a better understanding of the issues affecting Aboriginal people’s health and wellbeing.
  
AHCWA and the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHSs) in WA very much look forward to working with Mr Wyatt to ensure ACCHSs continue to deliver culturally appropriate health services across WA.”

Article 2 below : AHCWA Chairperson Michelle Nelson-Cox

“We are excited to meet with Minister Wyatt to discuss equitable health and life outcomes for Indigenous Australians and the cultural wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

AIDA is passionate about improving the health outcomes for Indigenous Australians and we are confident that our goal of growing the number of Indigenous doctors to reach population parity will significantly assist in closing the health gap for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”

Article 3 Australian Indigenous Doctor’s Association ( AIDA)  CEO Mr Craig Dukes

Article 1 full text Minister for Aged Care and Indigenous Health Appointment

Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, Ken Wyatt AM, MP has welcomed today’s appointment of Greg Hunt as the new Minister for Health and his own appointment as the Minister for Aged Care and Minister for Indigenous Health.

“It is a great honour and privilege to have been asked by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to serve as Minister for Aged Care and Minister for Indigenous Health,” Mr Wyatt said.

“I am thrilled that the importance of Aged Care has been recognised by the Prime Minister having been elevated to its own Ministry and I am honoured to be serving as the Minister responsible for such an important portfolio.

“Aged Care is a partnership between the consumer, their carers, the providers, the policy makers, the government and the wider community and I look forward to be able to take on this new and crucial role in that partnership.

“Consultation with the sector has been a feature of aged care reform up until now and I will ensure consultation with the sector will continue to be a cornerstone for initiatives in this area.”

In addition to being appointed the Minister for Aged Care, Mr Wyatt will also assume the newly created role of Minister for Indigenous Health.

“The health outcomes of Indigenous Australians are of paramount importance to me. I am humbled by the opportunity to be the first Indigenous person to be appointed to the Commonwealth Ministry and to be the Minister responsible for such an important portfolio,” Mr Wyatt said.

Mr Wyatt paid tribute to the people of his electorate for their support.

“I want to sincerely thank the people of Hasluck for giving me this enormous opportunity, not just as their representative, but to also serve the nation in two crucial portfolios. I am incredibly grateful for their support and humbled by their trust in me as their local representative,” Mr Wyatt said.

“I look forward to working with both Minister Hunt and Assistant Minister Dr David Gillespie.”

Article 2 Full Text The Aboriginal Health Council of WA is hopeful the new Minister for Indigenous Health will make closing the gap a priority.

Ken Wyatt was the first Aboriginal Australian elected to the Lower House and has now made history by being the first Aboriginal person appointed to the Commonwealth ministry.

AHCWA Chairperson Michelle Nelson-Cox said the promotion of Mr Wyatt was a good sign that the government was prepared to take Aboriginal health seriously.

“Successive governments have made very slow progress in closing the gap, and the life expectancy for Aboriginal people is still 10 years lower than the general population,” she said.

“We are very confident that Mr Wyatt, as an Aboriginal person with a long history working in health before entering politics, will have a better understanding of the issues affecting Aboriginal people’s health and wellbeing.

“AHCWA and the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHSs) in WA very much look forward to working with Mr Wyatt to ensure ACCHSs continue to deliver culturally appropriate health services across WA.”

Ms Nelson-Cox said AHCWA would seek a meeting with Mr Wyatt to bring him up to date on the health needs of Aboriginal people in WA.

“We really hope that Mr Wyatt can make sure that the health of Aboriginal people is made a priority for the decision-makers in Canberra,” she said.

“We hope that this will be a new era of collaboration in the health sector and will result in better decisions and better outcomes for the health of Aboriginal people.”

Article 3 Australian Indigenous Doctor’s Association welcomes the appointment of the first Indigenous Minister

The Australian Indigenous Doctors Association (AIDA) is pleased to welcome the appointment of the Hon. Ken Wyatt AM, MP as the Minister for Aged Care and Minister for Indigenous Health.

We would like to recognise the significance of Minister Wyatt’s appointment as the first Indigenous person to be promoted to the ministry and the significance that the Parliament has appointed a Minister for Indigenous Health.

Minister Wyatt said “health outcomes of Indigenous Australians are of paramount importance to me. I am humbled by the opportunity to be the first Indigenous person to be appointed to the Commonwealth Ministry and to be the Minister responsible for such an important portfolio.”

We are excited by Minister Wyatt’s appointment because of his extensive experience as a senior public servant in Indigenous health and we are confident that Minister Wyatt will be able to affect real change in such an important area.”

 

NACCHO Aboriginal Health News: @AMSANTaus and Redfern #ACCHO welcomes @KenWyattMP appointment

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“Aboriginal medical services have proved the longevity of Aboriginal people, so we need the bigger spread and more Aboriginal medical services probably in the next 5-10 years.

We probably need another 100 to 150 Aboriginal medical services throughout the whole country, in cities and remote communities as well, so we’ll be pressuring Ken to make available more funds for the establishment of Aboriginal Medical Services.”

Sol Bellear AM, Chair  of the Aboriginal Medical Service in Redfern

“It’s absolutely critical, we need people who understand our health and wellbeing and some of the important illnesses Aboriginal people get that say their non-Aboriginal counterparts don’t,

We have every confidence in Minister Wyatt, he has the experiences, the necessary qualifications, and the contacts and understanding, particularly with his expertise and knowledge having worked in Indigenous health in his past career.

He also knows a lot of leaders around the country and he knows where to get the correct information if he requires it, and we’re certainly willing, ready and able to help him if he requires it and calls upon us.”

AMSANT’S Executive Officer, John Paterson, explained it’s extremely important the minister for Indigenous Health is Indigenous.

The Aboriginal Medical Service in Redfern and the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance of the Northern Territory are pleased to have Ken Wyatt as the new Minister for Aged Care and Indigenous Health, but have called for improvement.

By Ryan Liddle, Elliana Lawford from NITV

Ken Wyatt was appointed yesterday as the Minister for Aged Care and Indigenous Health after a cabinet reshuffle brought about by the resignation of Susan Ley.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says Mr Wyatt’s previous experience as a bureaucrat within the Indigenous Health area makes him an ideal appointment to role.

Sol Bellear AM, Chair  of the Aboriginal Medical Service in Redfern, acknowledged Minister Wyatt’s long commitment to Indigenous health, but also recognised there is always room for improvement.

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VIEW recent NITV NACCHOTV interview with Sol Bellear

These comments from the Indigenous medical community have not been lost on the first ever Indigenous Federal Minister, who has already called for a new approach to addressing the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Mr Wyatt says it will take a whole of government approach to create lasting change.

Mr Wyatt  told the ABC:

“There’s this construct around Aboriginal health that is based on Aboriginal Community-controlled health services and organisations and specific programs that have been funded by the Commonwealth.

But if we’re truly serious, then what we should be doing is saying, ‘alright, how does the health sector, including all the ACCHOs then tackle this issue collectively to make sure that 800 thousand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in this country have their health conditions improved?… the levels of, and prevalence rates of certain illnesses, tackled in a way that sees a reduction?”

AMSANT Lending a helping hand

AMSANT has been working on creating programs that tackle mental health issues, with a particular focus on intergenerational trauma.

Mr Paterson said he wants to meet with the minister as soon as possible, to present AMSANT’s research and get government support to start implementing the programs.

“We’ve done enough research, now it’s about implementation and action and that’s where we want to encourage governments,” he said.

“We have two experienced psychologists, one Indigenous psychologist, that have been working and looking at all different models overseas and internationally and we believe there are a couple of models that could be implemented in our Aboriginal communities here in our nation,” he said.

“There’s plenty of data and plenty of information, all we require is a willingness of governments and ministers to put the appropriate resources in that area.”

He added that tackling intergenerational trauma in communities could start to change the face of First Nations health entirely.

“You’ll see an increase in children’s attendance at school, their confidence, their general health and wellbeing, and you’ll see people having the confidence to approach issues that they may have been reserved or hesitant about in the past,” The Executive Officer said.

“This underlying trauma and stress that families have experienced because of whatever reasons you know – government policy back in the day, the stolen generation, the removal of kids, you know some families have never ever had some of those experiences treated,” he continued.

“And you can see it being played out now so we really need to focus and invest in some wrap around programs and the right counsellors and psychologists for those families and individuals that are experiencing this intergenerational trauma and stress.

“There is a way forward here and there is a process that can help tackle the underlying issues that many of us still face.”

Paterson said he also wants to talk to Minister Wyatt about ensuring specialist services are available in the NT, that Aboriginal Australians stop dying years earlier than their non-Aboriginal counterparts, and that preventative programs are implemented to tackle chronic diseases.