NACCHO Aboriginal Health : Our ACCHO Members #Deadly good news stories #QLD #VIC #WA #NT #SA

1.National : Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations pharmacist Special Interest Group ( SIG )  launched

2.NT : Wurli-Wurlinjang Aboriginal Health Service $2.4 million for culturally safe and trauma-informed intensive family-focused case management services

3. WA : AHCWA chairperson Michelle Nelson-Cox speaks about cashless welfare cards

 4. WA  : Wrongful conviction shines light on lack of translators

 
 5. QLD Deadly Choices calls  for volunteers for the 2017 Murri Rugby League Carnival

6. SA :  Nunkuwarrin Yunti ACCHO promotes World Hepatitis Day.

7.VIC :  VAHS mob promotes Healthy Lifestyle message  at World Indigenous Basketball Challenge!

8. QLD : Apunipima Cape York Health Council  Growing Deadly Families

9. NSW Redfern National Children’s Day Celebration

How to submit a NACCHO Affiliate  or Members Good News Story ? 

 Email to Colin Cowell NACCHO Media    

Mobile 0401 331 251

Wednesday by 4.30 pm for publication each Thursday

National : Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations pharmacist Special Interest Group ( SIG )  launched

“For too long Aboriginal people have suffered shorter lifespans, been sicker and poorer than the average non-Indigenous Australian, however, highly trained pharmacists have a proven track record in delivering improved health outcomes when integrated into multidisciplinary practices,

“Strong international evidence supports pharmacists’ ability to improve a number of critical health outcomes, including significant reductions in blood pressure and cholesterol and improved diabetes control. A number of studies have also supported pharmacists’ cost-effectiveness.

Some ACCHOs have already shown leadership in the early adoption of pharmacists outside of any national programs or support structures. NACCHO and PSA are committed to supporting ACCHOs across Australia to meet the medicines needs in their communities by enhancing support for those wishing to embed a pharmacist into their service.”

NACCHO CEO Pat Turner said disparities in the health between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians are confronting SEE Previous NACCHO post

Pictured above Mike Stephens Director of Medicines Programs and Policy in Cover Photo

See previous NACCHO Pharmacy posts

See previous NACCHO QUMAX posts

In recognition of the growing number of pharmacists working in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs), the peak national body for pharmacists, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) has launched the ACCHO Special Interest Group (SIG).

The ACCHO SIG was launched on 30 July at PSA17 in Sydney during theAboriginal Health Service Pharmacist forum.

PSA National President Dr Shane Jackson said pharmacists working in ACCHOs have specific needs and skills and having a Special Interest Group with the primary role of supporting them will assist PSA to drive the growth of this career path.

“In many cases pharmacists working in these positions are providing innovative and diverse services that have the potential to be informative and relevant to the evolution of pharmacy services and inter-professional care.

“Consultation with these pharmacists and services about their needs is vital to ensure PSA and the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) deliver relevant and meaningful benefits to PSA members and the wider pharmacy and health sectors,” Dr Jackson said.

A key role of the National ACCHO SIG Committee will be to provide up-to-date information to NACCHO and PSA on relevant issues that relate to both organisations.

This will include input on improvements to PSA’s professional development and practice support programs that benefit ACCHO pharmacists. The SIG will also provide NACCHO with input on pharmacy-related trends and practices that affect ACCHOs.

It is a joint committee to be run by PSA and NACCHO to foster collaboration, inform relevant policy and strengthen the relationships between these organisations with a shared commitment to embedding pharmacists in ACCHOs nationally.

PSA also welcomed the announcement of a trial to support Aboriginal health organisations to integrate pharmacists into their services.

The ACCHO SIG will support pharmacists participating in this trial.

Dr Jackson said having a culturally responsive pharmacist integrated within anAboriginal health service builds better relationships between patients and staff, leading to improved results in chronic disease management and Quality Use of Medicines.

 NT : Wurli-Wurlinjang Aboriginal Health Service $2.4 million for culturally safe and trauma-informed intensive family-focused case management services.

The Federal Government will provide up to $2.4 million for a tailored project to address family violence experienced by Indigenous women and children in Katherine.

Minister for Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion said the funding formed part of the $25 million Indigenous-focused package under the Third Action Plan of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022.

“I am pleased to announce this support for Wurli-Wurlinjang Aboriginal Health Service, a local community service with specialist experience in supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families,” Minister Scullion said.

“The funding will deliver culturally safe and trauma-informed intensive family-focused case management services.”

Wurli-Wurlinjang Aboriginal Health Service CEO, Suzi Berto, said the project would provide intensive family-focused case management delivered within a trauma-informed framework to address behaviour often associated with domestic violence. It would also aim to break the cycle of domestic and family violence and child removals from families.

“Wurli welcomes this new program and would like to thank the Federal Government for selecting Wurli to take on this particular project,” Ms Berto said.

Minister Scullion said community-based, culturally-appropriate solutions were required to reduce the rate of family violence experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children.

“In total, $18.9 million will be invested in eight Indigenous community organisations across Australia to deliver a range of services, including trauma-informed therapeutic services for children, services for perpetrators to prevent future offending and intensive family-focused cased management.

“We have actively sought the views of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on how best to address family violence.

“Wurli-Wurlinjang Aboriginal Health Service has been identified based on its expertise, as well as local needs in the community.

3. WA : AHCWA chairperson Michelle Nelson-Cox speaks about cashless welfare cards

” Targeting welfare is not, by itself, a panacea but it just might give Roebourne the circuit-breaker it needs to allow the state government to build a safe and resilient community.

There has been no conclusive evidence to date that cashless welfare cards play any role in reducing the impact of issues such as illicit drug use or child sexual abuse.

Ultimately, we need to see an increase in community programs and comprehensive support services to help address these complex social issues in Aboriginal communities.”

AHCWA chairperson Michelle Nelson-Cox said the group did not support the “ill-conceived idea” that cashless welfare cards could turn the tide on child abuse.

FROM NEWS LTD

Paedophiles in Western Australia’s Pilbara region are allegedly using welfare payments to bribe children for sex, prompting the police commissioner to call for an expansion of the cashless welfare program.

But the Aboriginal Health Council of WA says the commissioner should be more concerned about policing in remote communities rather than advocating further disempowerment of indigenous people.

Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan said in an opinion piece in The West Australian newspaper on Tuesday that welfare cash was also being used for drugs, alcohol and gambling at Roebourne and surrounding Aboriginal communities.

He said in an area of about 1500 people, there were 184 known child sex abuse victims, with police charging 36 people with more than 300 offences since the operation began late last year, plus another 124 suspects.

Mr O’Callaghan, who will retire this month after 13 years as police commissioner, said that in 2014 the previous government noted 63 government and non-government providers delivering more than 200 services to Roebourne.

“Despite all of this effort, we have failed to protect the most vulnerable members of that community and have witnessed sufferers of abuse grow up and become offenders, and so the cycle continues,” he said.

“We often find children sexually abusing children.”

The commissioner said the problem was so widespread that some families had normalised it and he described the hopelessness as a “cancer quickly spreading throughout the community”.

“Given the longstanding issues in Roebourne, we ought now to be looking at more fundamental structural reform around welfare and income to reduce the opportunity for offending,” he said.

AHCWA chairperson Michelle Nelson-Cox said the group did not support the “ill-conceived idea” that cashless welfare cards could turn the tide on child abuse.

“There has been no conclusive evidence to date that cashless welfare cards play any role in reducing the impact of issues such as illicit drug use or child sexual abuse,” she said.

“Ultimately, we need to see an increase in community programs and comprehensive support services to help address these complex social issues in Aboriginal communities.”

Ms Nelson-Cox also said the commissioner’s admission that officers could not protect children in remote communities was gravely concerning.

Imagine if you were taken into custody to be questioned over a crime you did not commit in a language you could not even read and write in — and were then charged with murder.

4. WA  : Wrongful conviction shines light on lack of translators

It sounds like a third world travel nightmare.

But this actually happened in Australia to Gene Gibson, a shy young man from the tiny Gibson Desert community of Kiwirrkurra.

As reported ABC

While there were many complex factors which led Mr Gibson to being jailed for the manslaughter of Josh Warneke in 2014, after a conviction which was quashed earlier this year, it might never have ended up that way if he had a skilled interpreter to steer him through crucial meetings with police.

Mr Gibson’s first language is Pintupi, with Kukutja his second.

He has a limited understanding of English and his cognitive impairment makes it difficult for him to comprehend complex information.

Today the Court of Appeal outlined its reasons for quashing his conviction, explaining that Mr Gibson’s problems with language were one reason why “the plea was not attributable to a genuine consciousness of guilt”.

It gives many examples of how Mr Gibson often did not understand his own lawyer, who in turn could not understand what the interpreter was telling Mr Gibson about important matters like how to plead.

He was originally charged with murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter after police interviews were deemed inadmissible for several reasons, including the lack of a qualified interpreter.

Stranger in your own land

Mr Gibson, like many Indigenous Australians who do not speak English as a first language, is somewhat like a foreigner in his own justice system.

It is something which concerns WA’s chief justice Wayne Martin.

Earlier this month, he told a conference of criminal lawyers in Bali that language was causing “significant disadvantage” for Indigenous people in the justice system, with WA’s translation services not reaching everyone who needed them.

“If we do not have properly resourced and effective interpreter services for Aboriginal people, then they will continue to fare badly in the criminal justice system,” he wrote in a submission to a Senate committee inquiry last year.

The interpretation and translation of Indigenous languages for the WA justice system is undoubtedly a niche industry.

There are about 45 Indigenous languages in the Kimberley, many of them considered highly endangered. Fewer than 600 people speak Pintupi, according to the Australian Indigenous Languages Database.

So not only do you have to find an interpreter who speaks Pintupi, but you also need someone who is trained to understand police and court proceedings, and relay them to a defendant.

It is a massive problem, according to Faith Baisden, the coordinator of First Languages, which helps Indigenous communities maintain their languages.

“Particularly in those small community groups we’re talking about, we’re not necessarily going to find someone who’s got the skill and the confidence to be trained. It takes really specialised training,” she said.

Another problem is that WA’s only Indigenous language interpreting service is struggling for funding.

The Kimberley Interpreting Service (KIS) is dependent on federal money after being stripped of funding by the WA Government in recent years.

But its chief executive Dee Lightfoot said she was hopeful of securing money from the new WA Government in September’s budget, with Treasurer Ben Wyatt writing to inform her he was reviewing her request.

She said Mr Gibson needed an interpreter to help him navigate the justice system from the very start

5. QLD Deadly Choices calls  for volunteers for the 2017 Murri Rugby League Carnival

 

Volunteers aged 16+ years are needed for the 2017 Murri Rugby League Carnival! More details are below! To register your interest please email admin@murrirugbyleague.com.au.

6. SA :  Nunkuwarrin Yunti ACCHO promotes World Hepatitis Day. 

World Hepatitis Day. Nunkuwarrin Yunti provides treatment, Specialists, prevention, advocacy and information support for people with Hepatitis. Here is Jorge from our Harm Minimisation Team #showyourface

OR VIEW HERE

7.VIC :  VAHS mob promotes Healthy Lifestyle message  at World Indigenous Basketball Challenge!

Check out our newest healthy lifestyle local sport champions!

These deadly women make up the Maal-Ya Indigenous Basketball team. They are off to Vancouver, Canada on Sunday to play in the World Indigenous Basketball Challenge!

So proud to see these women represent their mobs and proudly display our Healthy Lifestyle Values: staying smoke free, healthy eating, active living, drinking water and being deadly role models!

With Georgia Bamblett, Courtney Alice, Thamar Atkinson, Montanna Hudson, Sophie Atkinson, Klarindah Hudson-Proctor, Edward Bryant, Tyler Atkinson and June Bamblett.

Good luck Maal-Ya! Can’t wait to hear how you go! Stay tuned to this page and Sports Carnival for updates throughout the week!

#StaySmokeFree #Gofor2and5 #DrinkWaterUMob

Sportcarnival VicHealth Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation Inc

8. Apunipima Cape York Health Council  Growing Deadly Families

Apunipima Cape York Health Council Region Two Manager Johanna Neville and Maternal and Child Health Worker Florida Getawan will head to Brisbane today to deliver a presentation on the Baby One Program to the Queensland Clinical Senate’s Growing Deadly Families Forum.

Johanna and Florida will focus on the Baby One Program, an integral part of antenatal care in Cape York

‘Apunipima’s award winning, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander – led home visiting Baby One Program runs from pregnancy until the baby is 1000 days old,’ Florida said.

‘Baby Baskets – an integral feature of the Baby One Program – are provided to Families at key times during pregnancy and the postnatal period. The Baskets act as both an incentive to encourage families to engage with health care providers, as a catalyst for health education and as a means to provide essential items to families in Cape York.’

‘It’s well known that best practice care during pregnancy and baby’s early years has been proven to provide positive health outcomes. There is a still a gap in the maternal and child health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders compared to other Australians. It’s this gap we are trying to bridge with the Baby One Program which sees Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers visit families in their homes to deliver health care and health education.’

Florida Getawan helps deliver the Baby One Program in Cairns and Kowanyama and said home visiting makes the difference when it comes to mums getting care.

‘As a Maternal and Child Health Worker I spend time in Cairns and Kowanyama, educating pregnant women about healthy eating, what’s good and what’s not good for them during pregnancy such as the dangers of smoking, and safe sleeping for bubba,’ she explained. ‘I love doing home visits and yarning with mothers about healthy parenting and being a support person for them in their own space.

I love being there for families who are too shy to come to the clinic so if I can engage with them in their own environment, families feel safe to access health information I love watching mothers grow because I’ve had seven pregnancies myself and can relate to what they are going through and I’m able to develop a healthy relationship with them.’
Johanna and Florida will deliver their presentation at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre 10:50 am on Thursday 3 August 2017.

About the Growing Deadly Families Forum

The Queensland Clinical Senate – which provides clinical leadership by developing strategies to safeguard and promote the delivery of high quality, safe and sustainable patient care – is holding the Growing Deadly Families Forum which will focus on improving the health of Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and families, through a healthier start to life.

The Forum runs from 3 – 4 August.

 

9. NSW Redfern National Children’s Day Celebration

AMS Redfern will be celebrating ‘National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day’ come along and share stories about the importance of staying connected to culture and having strong positive family relationships
Friday 4th August from 2:30 pm-4:30 pm
#BBQ will be provided
#Value our rights, Respect our Culture, Bring us home.
#Limited Giveaways

 

 

 

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