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

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!