1.National : Free Otitis Media Resource Kits for ACCHO’s
2.1 Qld : Goolburri ACCHO launches new Mums and Bubs service for mums, future mums and their bubs
2.2 Qld : Cynthia Lui from trainee health worker to the first Torres Strait Islander person elected to any Australian parliament, has vowed to give a voice to the voiceless
3.1 NSW Yerin ACCHO Gosford has 40 kids in 12 week learn to swim program
3.2 A NEW anti-smoking program aimed at Indigenous citizens is about to be rolled out across the region
4.SA Pika Wiya ACCHO : Tribute to the lasting legacy of first chairperson Clara Brady Coulthard Johnson
5.NT : AMSANT : Senator Malarndirri McCarthy focus is to bring communities together and ensure remote communities are engaged with and listened to on a national level
6.VIC : VAHS and Deadly Choices in Aboriginal Health check partnership and workshops
7. WA : Australians like Winston an Aboriginal Health Worker don’t need to be blind : Video from #Ngaanyatjarra region of WA
8.ACT Winnunga Nimmityjah ACCHO CEO Julie Tongs says there has been progress on improving the ACT prison and its services
9. TAS: Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre how to deliver Cultural Awareness Training (CAT)
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1.National : Free Otitis Media Resource Kits for ACCHO’s
NACCHO has 46 Otitis Media Resource Kits to assist Health Professionals conveying important ear health message kits, in stock ,here in Canberra.
We will post them at no cost to our NACCHO member services
Send your request to the NACCHO Comms Team
More Info here about resources HERE
2.1 Qld : Goolburri ACCHO launches new Mums and Bubs service for mums, future mums and their bubs
The Goolburri Health and Advancement Company received $75,000 in funding from the Darling Downs and West Moreton Primary Health Network to help address health needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families through a six-month pilot program.
Picture : Happy with their partnership are (from left) Carbal Medical Services CEO Brian Hewitt, Darling Downs and West Moreton PHN CEO Merrilyn Strohfeldt and Goolburri CEO Lizzie Adams.
Goolburri CEO Lizze Adams said it would employ a community coordinator to help build healthy relationships with young mums and their families to ensure their babies got the best start in life.
“That they are attending their pre- and post-natal appointment and that they are able to get out and about with them and make sure they are enjoying being a mum or mum-to-be and our kids are thriving,” Ms Adams said.
Goolburri is working alongside Toowoomba’s Carbal Medical Services and the Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service’s Boomagam program.
“(It’s about) making sure milestones are being met, immunisations are being done,” Ms Adams said.
“How many we see, time will tell. That’s a good thing about being a pilot project I guess.
“At the end of the day it’s just about ensuring our people get the services they deserve and aren’t falling through the gap.”
Ms Adams added it was great for the Aboriginal services to come together, collaborate and meet the needs of the people in Toowoomba.
“The outcome is making sure that the young mums and their families are strong, our kids are getting off to the best start in life as they can,” she said.
“Because at the end of the day this is the next generation we are talking about.
“We need to get it right now so that they can see having an integrated and coordinated approach – they are not going to fall through the gaps.”
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mums are encouraged to get in contact with Goolburri on 07 4638 8607.
2.2 Qld : Cynthia Lui from trainee health worker to the first Torres Strait Islander person elected to any Australian parliament, has vowed to give a voice to the voiceless
” After leaving her home and family at age 11, Ms Lui began her first job as a trainee health worker – a position that she says started her journey into politics, after seeing both her grandparents die, her grandmother at only 65.
“Unfortunately, I experienced the passing of many loved ones in my community and each time it felt like I failed,”
“I choose to tell my story today because I want you to understand that people in regional and remote communities do not often get a choice and they accept what they are given and do not question why things happen the way they do. However, we, as members of this Legislative Assembly, do in the decisions we make.”
By Ella Archibald-Binge SBS NITV
As the Labor member for Cook stood to deliver her heartfelt speech, she had a traditional island mat tucked under one arm.
“For Torres Strait Islanders this mat signifies life’s journey from womb to tomb,” Ms Lui told the chamber.
“It is used for housing material, sleeping, conceiving, birthing, initiation, education, marriage, welcoming, meetings, transport, hunting, ceremonies, shelter and to our final journey. As I begin this new journey I will embrace the significance of what this mat represents as a place to sit down and create an open dialogue around various issues.”
Ms Lui became the first Torres Strait Islander elected to an Australian parliament when she won the north Queensland electorate of Cook at the state election in November. She now sits alongside Leeanne Enoch, the first Aboriginal woman elected to Queensland parliament, and Stephen Andrew, the first South Sea Islander elected to state parliament.
Speaking in front of Cape York Traditional Owners who sat in the gallery, the proud Iamalaig (Yam Islander) woman of the Kulkalgal nation began by acknowledging the achievements of her ancestors.
Watch Cynthia Lui’s maiden speech in full here.
“Today I stand on the shoulders of giants,” she said, her voice shaking with emotion.
“I remember the 1936 maritime strike, the 23 August 1937 meeting of the Torres Strait Islander council, World War II, the 1967 referendum, 1970s ‘Border not change’ and the Mabo High Court decision. I honour nguzu muruygul, my ancestors, and nguzu buway, my Torres Strait heritage, as I accept this significant role in history to become the first Torres Strait Islander to enter any parliament in Australia.”
Ms Lui went on to thank her parents, who continue to be her “biggest role models”.
“Having a teacher for a mother and a politician for a father shaped my values from a very young age to stand up and to fight for people, to give voice to those who do not have a voice and to be a passionate advocate for regional and remote communities,” she said.
‘I was the child of my community… Now I consider myself the woman of Cook’
Born and raised on Yam Island, a remote community in the Torres Strait, Ms Lui told the parliament she came from “humble beginnings”.
She spoke of her early schooling with “fibro walls set on bare concrete floors”, and her childhood spent without electricity or running water in community housing that had “holes in the floor and leaks in the ceiling”.
“I was not raised to see what I did not have nor question why I did not have certain things. My parents worked hard to make sure we had food on the table, shelter over our head and a bed to sleep in,” she said.
“My strong cultural practice and traditions allowed me to grow into a person who stood firmly in her own identity… I was not raised to see the challenges my parents faced living in a remote community but, rather, I saw two people who worked hard to achieve a brighter future for their community.
“I was not just the child of my parents; I was the child of my community and Torres Strait. Now I consider myself the woman of Cook.”
‘I experienced the passing of many loved ones in my community… it felt like I failed’
After leaving her home and family at age 11, Ms Lui began her first job as a trainee health worker – a position that she says started her journey into politics, after seeing both her grandparents die, her grandmother at only 65.
“Unfortunately, I experienced the passing of many loved ones in my community and each time it felt like I failed,” she said.
“I choose to tell my story today because I want you to understand that people in regional and remote communities do not often get a choice and they accept what they are given and do not question why things happen the way they do. However, we, as members of this Legislative Assembly, do in the decisions we make.”
Ms Lui worked to achieve better health outcomes for her community, but felt powerless to solve the larger issues of employment, housing, education and high cost of living. “Frustrated and tired”, she left Yam Island to work in the areas of child protection, family violence and homelessness, before moving into a political role, where she could “do so much more in my capacity to make a difference in people’s lives”.
Ms Lui vowed to work with local governments to achieve positive change in employment, economic opportunities and climate change in her electorate of Cook, the state’s fourth-largest electorate encompassing Cape York and the Torres Strait.
In closing, she pledged to honour the words of her grandfather: ‘Do your best. Never give up.’
3.NSW Yerin ACCHO Gosford has 40 kids in 12 week learn to swim program.
Yerin received funding from Swim Australia last year for 40 children to participate in a 12 week learn to swim program.
Starting in October 2017, the lessons were held at the YMCA Swim School Tuggerah and ended in January of this year.
We would like to send a big thank you to the YMCA Swim School team leader Natalee, swim instructors Mel, Jodie and Beck, all the Yerin workers and volunteers and all the parents that were committed to the program.
3.2 A NEW anti-smoking program aimed at Indigenous citizens is about to be rolled out across the region.
Member for Cowper, Luke Hartsuyker, said the campaign is the advance guard of Australia’s first four-year Tackling Indigenous Smoking (TIS) program.
“Together we are making progress in reducing smoking rates but tobacco is still claiming the lives of far too many local Indigenous people,” he said.
“Smoking is responsible for 20 per cent of preventable deaths and more than ten per cent of the health problems encountered by our Indigenous communities.”
Part of the commitment to Closing The Gap in health inequality, Mr Hartsuyker said the program provides certainty and continuity for proven local campaigns to reduce the devastating impacts of tobacco-related disease.
“Galambila Aboriginal Health Service currently runs TIS projects right across the Mid North Coast, covering the local government areas of Coffs Harbour, Bellingen, Nambucca, Macleay and Port Macquarie-Hastings.
“While existing and proposed local TIS projects will have to apply for the new funding, we know the new four-year program will build on successes and provide security for people working in the campaigns and for local communities.
“We will also invite new initiatives with more than $6 million in extra funding to tackle smoking among pregnant women and people living in remote areas.
“Rates among these groups remain worryingly high.”
The revamped TIS program will continue the successful local Regional Tobacco Control grants scheme including school and community education, smoke-free homes and workplaces and quit groups.
The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics report on Indigenous smoking shows significant declines in overall rates with an average 2.1 percent annual drop since targeted interventions began in 2008.
“The good news is on average our young Indigenous people are really reducing their smoking with the number high school children trying tobacco down nearly 50 per cent,
“Quit rates are also up and there is evidence the amount of heart problems from smoking among older people is already dropping.
“It’s vital we keep the local momentum going
4.SA Pika Wiya ACCHO : Tribute to the lasting legacy of first chairperson Clara Brady Coulthard Johnson
” In the 1970s, Clara made successful strides for Aboriginal health, establishing the Pika Wiya Health Service to provide a medical service to Aboriginal people in Port Augusta and Davenport.
Clara became the first Chairperson for Pika Wiya, before working to improve health and living conditions in the APY Lands and then becoming an Aboriginal Tenancy Officer with the South Australian Housing Trust. Ralph said his mother had an inspiring passion to help others.”
LASTING LEGACY: Clara passed away on November 23, 2017 at the age of 88, but her legacy as a teacher and an advocate for Aboriginal people will live on. PHOTO: supplied. from HERE
We have been authorised to take Clara and Ronald into the Children’s Home in Oodnadata.”
Clara Brady Coulthard Johnson’s life changed forever when a policeman said those words to her mother, as she reluctantly became a member of the Stolen Generation.
However Clara’s determination and spirit ensured that she would become much, much more – a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, great-great-grandmother, teacher, opal miner and an Aboriginal health and rights advocate.
Born on Lilla Creek Station in the Northern Territory in January, 1929 to an Irish father and Antikirinya-Yankuntjatjara mother, Clara encountered trauma and adversity at a young age.
Her father Tom Brady died when she was six years old, prompting the police to take Clara and her brother Ron away from their mother Mary Tjinguma and move them to the United Aboriginal Mission Children’s Home in Oodnadata in 1934.
In her biography ‘The Spirit Prevails’ written by Gwenneth Leane, Clara said Mary “fought like a lioness” to keep her children, punching and kicking the policemen, but was ultimately unable to prevent the injustice.
Clara was then moved to Colebrook Home, based in Quorn, before being relocated to Eden Hills in Adelaide.
Clara’s ability to speak up for herself and others was first discovered at Colebrook, where she earned the nickname ‘Killa’ for being the only girl to stand up to the boys.
Clara’s second husband Raymond Johnson said that trait remained prominent throughout her life.
“She’d always speak up for her people,” he said. “She’d speak up for anyone no matter who they were. She just wanted to see good things done.”
Using her hardship as motivation, Clara finished her schooling at Eden Hills and spent two years training as a teacher.
“She was sad, but her story is that through it all she had a good life and she has been a loving, caring woman,” Raymond said.
“Clara said, ‘well I’m here now, so I’ll do my best to be what I want to be and I want to be a school teacher’.”
Clara moved to Nepabunna, about 70 kilometres east of Leigh Creek, to tackle her first teaching position in 1947 – which is also where she met her first husband Dan Coulthard.
When Clara returned to Oodnadata in 1948 to reopen the Mission Children’s Home, she reunited with many relatives who informed her about the death of her mother.
A grief-stricken Clara took comfort in the discovery that her mother had climbed up a nearby hill every day, looking out for the truck that would bring her children back to her.
Clara went back to Nepabunna in 1950 to marry Dan, with whom she had five children – Yvonne, Desmond, Janet, Ralph and Eddie.
Ralph described Clara as “strict, but a very good mother”.
“She always ensured we did things the right way and we never stepped out of line because we always knew there would be consequences,” he laughed. “But there was always love there.”
While living in Nepabunna, Clara encountered Elsie Jackson and Eva Wilton, who both mentored her in Adnyamathanha culture and traditions, including rabbit trapping and collecting bush mai.
Clara, Dan and their children departed Nepabunna, moving to Copley, then Port Augusta, before settling in Hawker, where Dan worked for the District Council and the SA Aboriginal Heritage Unit.
In the 1970s, Clara made successful strides for Aboriginal health, establishing the Pika Wiya Health Service to provide a medical service to Aboriginal people in Port Augusta and Davenport.
Clara became the first Chairperson for Pika Wiya, before working to improve health and living conditions in the APY Lands and then becoming an Aboriginal Tenancy Officer with the South Australian Housing Trust. Ralph said his mother had an inspiring passion to help others.
“She wanted to help people, not only just by giving them houses, she wanted to change people’s lifestyles for the better,” he said.
“She helped many young Aboriginal people from the early 50s right through her life.”
The family moved to Quorn when Dan was diagnosed with diabetes and the onset of Motor Neuron Disease, losing his battle in 1982.
Following her husband’s death, Clara was determined to trace her family roots and learn more about the Yankuntjatjara people.
One of Clara’s proudest moments as a Yankuntjatjara woman came in 1985 when she attended the official handover of Uluru back to her people.
Clara continued to fight for her people in her later years, sitting on a number of boards including the Aboriginal Health Council and the Elders Council.
Adding to her many life experiences, she also spent time mining opal at Mintabie in the APY Lands, discovering harlequin opal.
A devoted Christian, Clara met second husband Raymond at a Christian convention, with their friendship leading to marriage in 2004.
Clara’s dedication and passion to her community was acknowledged in 2005 when she received the coveted award for NAIDOC Female Elder of the Year.
After being diagnosed with dementia, Clara’s family admitted her into Nerrilda Nursing Home in 2013, where she spent her remaining years.
Clara gave up her fight peacefully on November 23, 2017 and is survived by Raymond, her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.
Missed dearly by her loved ones, Raymond said he was blessed to marry such a lovely and positive lady.
And it was that positivity, Ralph said, that helped her become the woman she was destined to be.
“She always said that she wasn’t stolen, she was chosen,” Ralph said.
“She believed she was chosen to do what she did, to become a teacher, to help others and to be a person that would advocate for her people.”
5.NT : AMSANT : Senator Malarndirri McCarthy focus is to bring communities together and ensure remote communities are engaged with and listened to on a national level.
Senator Malarndirri McCarthy is a Yanyuwa woman from the Gulf country in the Northern Territory
She first entered the public sphere as a journalist with the ABC and more recently for SBS/NITV.
Senator McCarthy was elected to the Northern Territory Assembly as the Member for Arnhem in 2005. During her seven years in the Assembly, she held the Ministerial Portfolios of Local Government, Regional Development, Indigenous Development, Tourism, Women’s Policy and Statehood.
She was elected as Senator for the Northern Territory (including Christmas and Cocos Keeling Islands) in August 2016. Her experiences bring unique perspectives to the role of Labor Senator for the NT, a familiarity with the challenges and opportunities facing Territorians, and the perseverance and determination to drive change.
Ms McCarthy’s focus is to bring communities together and ensure remote communities are engaged with and listened to on a national level.
Closing the Gap editorial
FOR the past decade, the first couple of weeks of federal Parliament has given focus to Indigenous affairs.
Together, politicians from all sides, examine the Prime Minister’s Closing the Gap report and mark the anniversary of the Apology to the Stolen Generations.
Once a year this Parliament has the responsibility to report to the Australian people on the progress, or otherwise, on the lives of First Nations Australians. And it must do so in a spirit of bipartisanship, which reflects its inception 10 years ago with the Apology.
The Close the Gap coalition recently released a scathing 10year review of the Closing the Gap strategy. The review argues that higher spending shouldn’t come as a surprise to people.
The Close the Gap coalition reports that on a per person basis, the average health expenditure was $1.38 per Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person for every $1.00 spent per non-indigenous person. This is despite the inequity of the disease burden.
First Nations People have, on average, 2.3 times the disease burden of non-indigenous people.
Indigenous organisations at the coalface of closing the gap, have faced continued funding cuts since the 2013/14 Budget.
In the Northern Territory, community legal organisations, women’s safety programs, youth programs and many others have lost so much funding that they face closure.
This year, before and after the tabling of the Closing the Gap report, I read many articles about the lack of progress on the targets. This shouldn’t be a surprise. There is a direct correlation between the $500 million of cuts to funding that the Coalition Government made and the data that has been reported this year.
Some people have asked me if the targets should be scrapped. Never before has our nation just said, “it’s too hard, we might just walk away from that issue”. Giving up is not an option. Usually, on the day the Prime Minister tables the Closing the Gap there is a bipartisan conversation about where we have come from and where we are going.
Up until this year, all sides of politics knew that to close the gap we must work together because of the big systemic issues facing indigenous people across this country in various places – remote, rural, urban.
However, this year was different. All Aboriginal members of Parliament have been excluded from the Government’s conversations about Closing the Gap. This week Opposition Leader Bill Shorten reminded the Turnbull Government that Labor is ready to work with them on the many issues facing First Nations People, but we will not wait. We will not be held in a holding pattern because of the Prime Minister’s inaction, particularly on the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
Each year First Nations People hear the report has been tabled and stop and think, how accurate is that of my community and family. Are our children going to finish high school? It’s so expected that our children are going to go to prison, will that happen?
How many family members will be added to the dialysis waiting list? How many people do I know that will be signed to CDP? How many more people will be crammed into a house?
We know these are complex issues and that we have much unfinished business to work on. That is why Bill Shorten announced a compensation scheme for survivors of the Stolen Generations in Commonwealth jurisdictions.
He also announced the establishment of a $10 million National Healing Fund to support healing for Stolen Generations and their families.
He reinforced Labor’s support for the Uluru statement from the heart and constitutional reform. On February 13, 2008, Australians came together at Parliament House to listen to the Apology.
In the spirit of generosity, the Stolen Generations came into the Parliament to hear then Prime Minister Rudd say, “on behalf of the Parliament of Australia, I am sorry”. It is that generosity that we must hold on to.
When people tell me that closing the gap is hard, I agree with them.
But I look to my electorate, home to the oldest continuing culture in the world, where ancient languages are still spoken, and despite the sometimes harsh reality of where we are at, people still have hope.
Labor understands the need to include First Nations People in policy making on the issues that impact First Nations Peoples.
We recognise that the solutions must be authored, owned and controlled by First Nations People.
We are capable of rising above the complexity that often clouds our ability to see clearly, to erase wilful deafness and inaction. Just because it’s hard, we must never surrender the journey in the fight for equality and justice for First Nations Australians.
Published Sunday Territorian 18 February 2018 page 12
6.VIC : VAHS and Deadly Choices in Aboriginal Health check partnership and workshops
Good to have Uncle Reg Thorpe drop into our training to say, representing the Deadly Kangaroos Jersey he received for completing his 715 health check at VAHS #Melbourne
DC Facilitator training at VAHS Physical activity and harmful substances sessions covered
7. WA : Australians like Winston an Aboriginal Health Worker don’t need to be blind : Video from #Ngaanyatjarra region of WA
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are 3X more likely to go #blind than other Australians.
The team at the Fred Hollows Foundation just finished this video on Winston from the #Ngaanyatjarra region of WA
Winston, a traditional owner, land manager, artist and Aboriginal Health Worker from Blackstone (Papulankutja) community in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands of Western Australia.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are 3 times more likely to go blind than other Australians.
And cataract is 12 times more common among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island adults than other Australians.
An example of these shocking statistics was Winston, a traditional owner, land manager, artist and Aboriginal Health Worker from Blackstone (Papulankutja) community in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands of Western Australia.
It was nearly three years ago that Winston was first diagnosed at Kings Canyon during an outreach screening service for Aboriginal rangers. His dense cataract caused him to go blind in his left eye, which he kept shut to keep out the painful glare.
In a country like Australia, why did Winston have to suffer like this? Winston & Anawari travelled for 12 hours (about 800km) to get to the hospital in Alice Springs. And being so far away from treatment is one of the reasons people like Winston live for years – untreated – with cataract.
The fact is that there just aren’t enough appropriately trained staff to carry out the number of surgeries needed.
In fact, there is only one ophthalmologist in the Central Australia region – Dr Tim Henderson. He services an area larger than Spain – and the nearest ophthalmology services are in either Darwin or Adelaide.
For a variety of reasons, including remoteness, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are four times more likely to wait for more than one year for surgery than other Australians.
Dr Tim Henderson is the only ophthalmologist in the Central Australia and Barkly region and has restored sight to thousands of people.
He services a population of more than 50,000 people who are dispersed over an area larger than Spain.
Dr Tim’s knows exactly how to connect with his patients, using words in their language to connect with them and make them feel comfortable.
I cannot speak their languages fluently, I can speak a few words in some of the appropriate languages but even that helps. It’s about meeting somebody who’s an equal and saying, ‘I’m here because I’ve got the skills to do your operation, but I want you to be happy and comfortable while we’re doing it so you understand what’s happening.
– Dr Tim Henderson
Social and cultural determinants of indigenous eye health
There are other factors that determine Indigenous health outcomes– and many of these reasons are either social or cultural.
The day before his surgery, Winston underwent pre-op tests and met with Dr Tim to be measured for an intraocular lens. Dr Tim’s 17 years of experience was evident as he instantly connected with Winston, gaining his trust and explaining what would happen in surgery the following day by speaking in his language.
I liked the way Dr Tim was talking to me and treating me, saying we’ll get you fixed up. I was happy, quite happy.
– Winston
8.ACT Winnunga Nimmityjah ACCHO CEO Julie Tongs says there has been progress on improving the ACT prison and its services
Steven Freeman’s mother Narelle King with family and Julie Tongs in the 2017 National Sorry Day march, dedicated to Steven Freeman’s memory.
The territory government has officially closed an investigation into the serious assault of an indigenous man in Canberra’s jail about a year before he died.
The man, Steven Freeman, had died in the Alexander Maconochie Centre in May 2016, about a year after he suffered serious injuries during an assault in his cell at the prison in April 2015.
Steven Freeman’s mother Narelle King with family and Julie Tongs in the 2017 National Sorry Day march, dedicated to Steven Freeman’s memory.
Photo: Dion Georgopoulos
The death sparked a coronial inquest which is expected to report back in April this year, as well as an independent inquiry into his treatment inside the prison by former federal integrity commissioner Philip Moss.
It was one of a series of incidents marring the prison’s management and reputation in recent years including escapes, assaults and a prisoner being accidentally released.
Questions remain about the prescribing of methadone to him two days before he died, an issue being investigated by both the inquest and a separate inquiry by the Health Services Commissioner.
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But corrections minister Shane Rattenbury has confirmed an investigation into the assault on Mr Freeman about a year before he died has been closed.
He said there had been “extensive discussions” between the government and Mr Freeman’s family and representatives, but after two attempts by police to investigate the assault, it had been closed.
In his report on the inquiry into Mr Freeman’s treatment, Mr Moss wrote of concerns the original police investigation of the assault was lacking, including in failing to ask for records showing swipe card access to his cell three times in the minutes before he was found seriously injured.
It is understood the assault investigation was also hampered by an apparent lack of CCTV footage, an issue Mr Rattenbury said was being addressed through a wide rollout of new cameras in the prison, footage of which was already helping prosecute assaults inside.
Winnunga Nimmityjah health service executive officer Julie Tongs, who has closely supported Mr Freeman’s mother, Narelle King, and sat on a committee overseeing the Moss review implementation, said progress was being made.
But she said there was “still a way to go yet” before all the recommendations of the Moss inquiry were implemented, but the new cameras, which were not in place when Mr Freeman was assaulted, were a good thing.
Ms Tongs also said she and Ms King had met with ACT Chief Police Officer Justine Saunders about the assault.
“My understanding is that the information was handed to the [Director of Public Prosecutions], not as soon as we would have liked, but it did happen,” she said.
“But they were of the view the information was inconclusive and they’d reached the end of the line as far as the investigation goes.”
But Ms Tongs said she remained “optimistic” that in coming years somebody with more information may come forward to authorities about the assault.
“Even though it’s cold now, if at any time in the future someone with credible information comes out, they can reopen the investigation,” she said.
Ms Tongs also said Mr Rattenbury “should be congratulated” for the progress to date, particularly brining Winnunga’s services into the prison for indigenous inmates to get more appropriate services.
But she said more work was needed on information sharing between Winnunga and justice health services, as the Aboriginal health service maintained electronic records, but justice records were paper-based.
Overall, she said that there had been progress on improving the prison and its services since the Moss review, but there were “still things that need to be addressed along the way”.
9. TAS: Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre how to deliver Cultural Awareness Training (CAT)
We are trying to train up some more Community Members and staff in how to deliver Cultural Awareness Training (CAT). This broadly includes:
• CAT Trainers – running our 1 day course on Tasmanian Aboriginal Culture…
• CAT Trainers – doing Gumnuts to Buttons – in all sorts of places
• CAT Educators – so more working with a class of primary children as an education experience rather than training adults
• Welcome to Country Facilitators
• People to deliver accredited training like Cultural Safety
The attached flyer details the day. We are looking to bring down a Launceston and Burnie group if we can get enough interest