Picture above staff Santa Xmas Party at Wuchopperen ACCHO Cairns
1.1 National : 1.1 National : Our CEO Pat Turner launches AIHW 4th Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) and is interviewed by Speaking Out
1.2 National : Pat Turner Scholarship winners announced
1.3 National : NACCHO launches all AGM speaker and sponsor interview on NACCHO TV
2.1 NSW : Redfern AMS wins Dreamtime Community Organisation of the Year 2018
2.2 Awabakal ACCHO Newcastle spreads the Christmas cheer with hamper deliveries
3.1 VIC : Deadly news! VAHS ACCHO very own Deadly Dan just won the 2018 Victorian Health award in Tobacco Prevention.
4.2 QLD : Wuchopperen ACCHO Expands Exercise Program Into Local Schools
5. SA: The South Australian Government is committed to improving the opportunities and services available to Aboriginal South Australians.
6. WA : The WA Aboriginal Tobacco Control Strategic Leadership Team received the Bob Elphick Medal from the Australian Council on Smoking and Health (ACOSH
7. NT Danila Dilba Health Service Darwin wins Stan Grant Indigenous Employment Award recognises excellence in Indigenous employment initiatives and programs in the workplace.
8. ACT : Winnunga ACCHO Newsletter launched
9. TAS : Tasmania Aboriginal Centre Training For Success end of program celebrations. Congratulations to all involved
How to submit a NACCHO Affiliate or Members Good News Story ?
Email to Colin Cowell NACCHO Media
Mobile 0401 331 251
Closing date for next edition 23 January
Wednesday by 4.30 pm for publication 24 January Thursday /Friday
1.1 National : Our CEO Pat Turner launches AIHW 4th Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) and is interviewed by Speaking Out
Last week, the AIHW celebrated the launch of our 4th Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). This important occasion began with a Welcome to Country from Ngunnawal Elder Ms Violet Sheridan, followed by CEO Patricia Turner’s story and thoughts on reconciliation.
Listen to 18 minute interview with ABC Speaking Out
Ten years on from the introduction of the Close The Gap strategy, the push for a community-led partnership in policy development is as strong as ever.
But what are the prospects of gaining a seat at the government’s table?
Aunty Pat Turner has had a long and distinguished career in Indigenous Affairs, and in 1990, was awarded the Order of Australia for her service to the sector.
She is currently the CEO of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO), and shares her thoughts on the highs and lows of 2018.
1.2 National : Pat Turner Scholarship winners announced
The Pat Turner Scholarship Program provides full pay scholarships for Australian Public Service employees to complete full time post-graduate study at the Australian National University or Charles Darwin University.
The scholarship program contributes to the improvement of Australian public policy by scholars researching complex topics of national significance and by building the leadership capabilities of Indigenous APS employees through targeted leadership training and networking opportunities.
The scholarship program is only available to Indigenous staff employed in participating APS agencies.
NACCHO CEO Patricia Turner, AM is the daughter of an Arrente man and a Gurdanji woman and was raised in Alice Springs.
Pat’s career as a public servant included many great achievements. She was the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and the Deputy CEO of ATSIC at its inception. She was also responsible for setting up the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation when working in the Dept of Prime Minister & Cabinet.
After winning the Monash Chair of Australian Studies, Georgetown University she moved to Washington DC as Professor of Australian Studies. She was the inaugural CEO of NITV, and was appointed NACCHO Chief Executive Officer in April 2016.
Pat has actively promoted self-determination and social justice for Aboriginal people throughout her career.
1.3 National : NACCHO launches all AGM speaker and sponsor interview on NACCHO TV
2.1 NSW : Redfern AMS wins Dreamtime Community Organisation of the Year 2018
Awarded to a community not-for-profit organisation in recognition of their contribution to their local community or region in one or more of the following: leadership, advocacy, capacity building, partnerships, and wellbeing.
The Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer and staff, would like to take this opportunity to thank the wider community for their continuous support over our 46 years of service delivery.
We endeavour to continue to reduce the health inequalities faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by empowering our community to make more informed decisions that will result in better health outcomes.
2.2 Awabakal ACCHO Newcastle spreads the Christmas cheer with hamper deliveries
The Christmas spirit is in the air at Awabakal Ltd as the organisation gets ready to surprise the Newcastle community with a surprise Christmas hamper delivery run this week.
Awabakal’s Board of Directors are excited to be partnering with Newcastle’s Telstra Business team, the Newcastle Knights and the Australian Defence Force to deliver 360 Christmas hampers to Awabakal’s community groups and individuals in need of support, including women, men and members of Mums and Bubs groups, Awabakal Preschool parents, and their aged care group and Elders.
Acting Chief Executive Officer of Awabakal, Toni Johnston has praised the community spirit of Telstra, Newcastle Knights and Australian Defence Force, saying the hamper run wouldn’t have been possible without their support.
“Our partners Telstra, Newcastle Knights and Australian Defence Force see the benefits of contributing to such a wonderful community initiative,” said Toni. “Telstra has been on board for three years and their staff volunteer their time to assist in the delivery of hampers. The Newcastle Knights and Australian Defence Force have kindly joined us for the first time and it’s great to see such great role models lend a helping hand during the festive season.”
“It takes a lot of different resources to pull together such a wonderful community initiative. We would like to thank our Board of Directors, corporate partners, volunteers and staff, Toll Group for couriering the hampers, Foodbank for supplying the hampers and of course our valued community members who access our services,” said Toni.
The hamper delivery will run throughout this week from Awabakal’s Head Office in Wickham, with Telstra, several Newcastle Knights players, and indigenous members of the Australian Defence Force assisting in delivering the hampers to the community.
3.1 VIC : Deadly news! VAHS ACCHO very own Deadly Dan just won the 2018 Victorian Health award in Tobacco Prevention.
Deadly Dan is a smoke free superhero. His motto is “You smoke you choke!” and he flies around country teaching the mob about the importance of making healthy choices and staying smoke free.
Deadly Dan includes a suite of expanding, culturally relevant, age-appropriate, teaching and learning resources including two editions of a beautiful illustrated children’s book (Deadly Dan at the League), a film and a growing base of lesson plans for schools. The latter two are readily accessible on the VAHS website.
Deadly Dan also has a costume and possum skin cloak which are equally important artefacts of this project, allowing for accessibility and interaction between children, families and community with this culturally respected and respectful superhero.
Deadly Dan at the League reflects on four important practices of effective health promotion education:
• excellent quality, culturally appropriate, evidence-based, ‘entertainment-education’ as the pivotal methodology relevant to young children and their families
• interrogates and affirms the power of both positive education and peer relationships as a critical influence in children and young people’s behaviour ( the Deadly Dan at the League film is especially strong on highlighting both aspects) https://www.vahs.org.au/deadly-dan/
• affirming self-determination including the active participation of community members as experts in the development of all resources (e.g. Aunty Diane Kerr and Jacqueline Morris in the design and creation of Deadly Dan’s Possum Skin Cloak 2017 ; and children of Bubub Wilam for Early Learning and Yappera Children’s Services and families for critical input into the development of the Deadly Dan at the League story book; and local Aboriginal children, young people and community members as actors and co-collaborators in the Deadly Dan film)
• collaborating with a diverse range of organisational partners, for broader communication and promotion of all Deadly Dan resources ( e.g.Darebin Schools’ and Early Years Services Professional Development of Deadly Dan at the League, held at the Aborigines Advancement League, 2018 in collaboration with Darebin City Council)
Developed as an early childhood Aboriginal health promotion tool, Deadly Dan at the League also allows teaching and learning of non-Aboriginal children about place-based Aboriginal history and culture.
Deadly Dan at the League strongly mirrors the principles and strategies of both Korin Korin Balit-Djak Aboriginal health, wellbeing and safety plan 2017–2027 and Marrung – The Aboriginal Education Plan 2016-2026.
3.2 VIC : VACCHO Ditching the sugary drinks! A Victorian Aboriginal sugary drinks ad is kicking goals.
First evaluation results from the Aboriginal Rethink Sugary Drink campaign show that these important health messages are resonating with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
The evaluation published in the Health Promotion Journal of Australia highlights that the over half of people who saw the Aboriginal Rethink Sugary Drink ad cut down on their sugary drink intake and also agreed it had an important message for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population.
The Aboriginal campaign, developed by the Rethink Sugary Drink alliance, stresses how much sugar is loaded into sugary drinks and the health risks associated with regular consumption. The ad was seen to be more believable, to be more relevant and to have an important message for the Aboriginal community compared to the LiveLighter advertisement.
Louise Lyons, Director of the Public Health and Research Unit, Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO), said the evaluation results demonstrate the cut through and value of having ads directed primarily at an Aboriginal audience. “Because this ad was developed in consultation with local Aboriginal people, it delivers a relevant and culturally appropriate message to our communities – sugary drinks are not good for our health and to go for water instead”.
Launched online in 2015 and broadcast on NITV in the same year, the Victorian-made ad is hitting the mark with Victorian Aboriginal communities and other Aboriginal communities around Australia.
Online surveys completed by 150 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander adults from around Australia showed that 60% of participants who had seen the ad reported that they drank less sugary drinks.
A key message of the ad is that there are 16 teaspoons of sugar in a regular 600mL bottle of soft drink. Almost two-thirds (64%) of survey respondents who had seen the ad previously were able to correctly identify the sugar content of regular soft drink, compared with less than half (49%) those who had not seen it previously.
Check out the latest campaign from Rethink Sugary Drink featuring Victorian Aboriginal community members sharing how cutting back on sugary drinks helped their health and wellbeing here!
4. 1 QLD : Institute for Urban Indigenous Health named joint winner in Indigenous Governance Awards
The quality of Indigenous governance was on show at a gala event in Melbourne last month
The Indigenous Governance Awards ‘identify, celebrate and promote effective Indigenous governance, which is about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people making and implementing decisions about their communities, lives and futures.’
After a rigorous judging process the winners of the 2 awards were selected from amongst 9 finalists.
In Category A, for incorporated organisations, the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (Windsor, QLD) and Nyamba Buru Yawuru (Broome, WA) were named joint winners.
The Warlpiri Education and Training Trust (Alice Springs, NT) won the Category B award for non-incorporated organisations. The Alekarenge Community Development Working Group (Ali Curung, NT) was highly commended in this category.
Professor Mick Dodson, the Indigenous Governance Awards Chair, commented on the calibre of finalists.
‘In the 14 years I’ve been involved with the Awards, I’ve seen the quality of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander governance practiced by the applicants rise and rise,’ Professor Dodson said.
‘This year, again, I can say that the finalists are the best we’ve ever had.’
The awards highlight success in leadership, good management, partnerships and brave, creative thinking.
South East Queensland is home to 38 per cent of Queensland’s and 11 per cent of Australia’s Indigenous people. The region has the largest and fastest growing Indigenous population in the nation and the biggest health gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
In 2009, only a fraction of this population were accessing community controlled comprehensive primary health care.
The imperative to address these challenges shaped the blueprint for a ground-breaking new regional community governance architecture and the formation of a regional backbone organisation – the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH).
Critically, this contemporary regional model was underpinned by strong cultural foundations and goes back to traditional ways of being, doing and belonging, when for thousands of years, Aboriginal tribes and nations across South East Queensland came together to achieve shared and cross-territorial goals.
Through strengthened community self-determination, an entrepreneurial business model, and pioneering a brand new regional health ‘ecosystem’, IUIH has now been able to make the biggest single health impact of any Indigenous organisation in Australia, in the shortest time period, and with a national best practice standard of care.
In just nine years, the numbers of Indigenous clients accessing comprehensive and culturally safe care in South East Queensland has increased by 340 per cent (from 8000 to 35,000); annual health checks have increased by 4100 per cent (from 500 to 21,000); and, progress against Closing the Gap targets is being made faster than predicted trajectories.
Further challenges lie ahead. In response to even more rapid Indigenous population growth – expected to reach 130,000 in South East Queensland by 2031
IUIH is now exploring further transformative models which, if realised, have the potential to double its existing client population.
4.2 QLD : Wuchopperen ACCHO Expands Exercise Program Into Local Schools
Wuchopperen Health Service Limited’s successful exercise program has expanded with a new partnership engaging two Cairns primary schools to tackle unhealthy lifestyles and obesity rates in children.
The Wuchopperen team will visit Cairns West and Balaclava Primary Schools every week to work with over 60 children in year five on exercise sessions and making healthy life choices.
Exercise Physiologist at Wuchopperen, Myles Hardy says the program is tackling unhealthy lifestyle factors and making long term change for children in our community.
“There is so much research out there which shows obesity and unhealthy lifestyles in childhood carry over into adulthood, resulting in an increase in the risk of developing chronic disease, and reducing overall life expectancy,” says Myles.
In Queensland alone, 27 per cent of children are overweight or obese and according to research from 2013, around 30 per cent of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children were overweight or obese.
“We want to work with young people to establish healthy habits in the younger years. Our program will focus on exercise, but will also have other members of the Wuchopperen team working with the kids in the program on mental health, nutrition and overall healthy lifestyle factors,” says Myles.
The program is now in its second week and will run until the end of the school term.
Wuchopperen also works with our Elders in the community to increase exercise and improve social and physical health outcomes, with a total of 976 sessions provided to both men’s and women’s groups in the last financial year.
“You’re never too young or too old to make change and start living a healthier life. We see people come through Wuchopperen who have never exercised before and start training in their 60s. It is really inspiring see people take their health in their own hands at any age, but the sooner we can get people focused on living a healthy life, the easier it is to implement life-long health habits,” says Myles.
Before starting any new exercise regime, Wuchopperen recommends consulting with a healthcare professional.
5. SA: The South Australian Government is committed to improving the opportunities and services available to Aboriginal South Australians.
To achieve this ambition, the government has developed the Aboriginal Affairs Action Plan that outlines a series of initiatives and actions for completion by agencies during 2019-20.
These actions fall within three objectives:
Creating opportunities for Aboriginal jobs and businesses
Improving the quality and the delivery of services to Aboriginal South Australians
Building strong and capable Aboriginal communities
To learn more about each objective and the actions within it, download the South Australian Government Aboriginal Affairs Action Plan 2019-2020 (PDF, 12434.23 KB).
Once available, progress updates will be published on this page
6. WA : The WA Aboriginal Tobacco Control Strategic Leadership Team received the Bob Elphick Medal from the Australian Council on Smoking and Health (ACOSH)
Members of the WA Aboriginal Tobacco Control Strategic Leadership Team from BRAMS, AHCWA, Wirraka Maya, GRAMS and QALT with staff members from ACOSH and the Hon. Roger Cook MLA
The WA Aboriginal Tobacco Control Strategic Leadership Team received the Bob Elphick Medal from the Australian Council on Smoking and Health (ACOSH), in recognition of a distinguished contribution to tobacco control in Western Australia.
Here are a few photos from the award ceremony.
Staff members from Wirraka Maya with their Bob Elphick medal
Acceptance speech from Tricia Pearce , Tackling Indigenous Smoking Coordinator from AHCWA.
7. NT Danila Dilba Health Service Darwin wins Stan Grant Indigenous Employment Award recognises excellence in Indigenous employment initiatives and programs in the workplace.
The Stan Grant Indigenous Employment Award recognises excellence in Indigenous employment initiatives and programs in the workplace. This year’s award was won by Danila Dilba Health Service! In a Recruitment Marketing Magazine exclusive, we interviewed their CEO Olga Havnen and HR Manager Sulal Mathai who shared how their employer branding efforts have made an impact.
Danila Dilba Health Service is an Aboriginal community-controlled organisation providing culturally-appropriate, comprehensive primary health care and community services to Biluru (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) people in the Yilli Rreung (greater Darwin) region of the Northern Territory.
Last year, the organisation launched their career pathways project as part of their HR strategy to promote Indigenous staffing across all levels in their organisation, including leadership positions. The project has been a huge success, with Indigenous employees now comprising 50 per cent of their overall workforce and 65 per cent of their executive leadership team
As Danila Dilba’s CEO, Olga Havnen explains, “our aim is to maintain our status as an employer of choice, both to attract talented employees and increase the professionalism and capability of employees at every level of the organisation. Our vision is to ensure continuing leadership by a well-qualified, skilled Indigenous management team.”
Danila Dilba offers traineeships, leadership opportunities, mentoring for emerging leaders, and has introduced new positions for safety and community liaison officers who engage with clients in their clinics. All their new positions are opportunities to bring more Indigenous employees on board.
Danila Dilba’s Indigenous Emerging Leadership program enables their Indigenous employees to put forward expressions of interest to receive formal mentoring opportunities through external pathways. This facilitates leadership pathways for these employees and eases their transition into these positions.
They also have a program called the Australian Nurse Family Partnership Program (ANSPP), a new home visiting social support service for Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander mothers and babies.
“The program is part of eight different Australian organisations, including Danila Dilba,” said Hiring Manager Sulal Mathai. “We are the only location where all our team members are Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander women. This makes a difference because they bring cultural appropriateness and understanding when visiting homes, which is a special outcome for the program.”
To promote all these great initiatives, they conducted an employer branding project with external specialists from Employment Office. Their employer branding project was amplified through digital initiatives, such as restructuring and updating their careers website, and showcasing their employees in various roles through written and video content.
“The project helped Danila Dilba strengthen our employer brand and market our unique employee value proposition across Australia. Along with the branding project we revamped our website and careers pages which helped us attract quality applicants to join Danila Dilba in 2018 across all levels of our organisation.”
Mathai measured their return on investment through analysing key metrics, such as visits to their careers website (which increased by 60%!). They also managed to fill 80% of their advertised opportunities, which was also a significant increase for them.
“Our employer branding initiatives have been very successful in ensuring we receive our fair share of quality talent. It’s helped us in both recruitment and retention. We’ve retained a greater number of employees as we’ve opened more leadership positions.”
Conducting an employer branding through external specialists enabled Danila Dilba to see the bigger picture and connect the dots.
“This made a big difference. We used to do things in a silo, and Employment Office’s Employer Branding specialists provided a unified approach. They were able to produce feature stories of our people and their successful career pathways, and use consistent wording to showcase our organisation, increasing the quality of our recruitment process and content.”
Mathai also implemented social media campaigns to showcase their employee profile story videos.
“Now, when we advertise, we don’t need to rely on recruitment partners. We received a large number of quality responses!”
“Employer Branding Specialists took a comprehensive approach that helped us to understand and amplify our brand, and the also conducted a talent competitor analysis of what similar organisations were doing with their employer brand. This helped us to ensure we are presenting a unique employer offering that was one step ahead of other primary healthcare providers in our state. We knew what our industry was doing and we could take a step forward to brand ourselves with more strength.
Winning the 2018 AHRI Stan Grant Indigenous Employment Award
As a community-focused Indigenous organisation, Danila Dilba’s goal was to promote Indigenous employment and career pathways across their whole organisation at all levels.
“We wanted to demonstrate our high-standard for employment,” said Mathai. “We applied for AHRI’s Stan Grant Indigenous Employment Award, one of Australia’s most prestigious awards for excellence in Indigenous employment initiatives in the workplace, to see how our practices stood in comparison to the rest of Australia. Through winning the award, we’re so pleased to demonstrate how we do well in this sector!”
“In Darwin, we cater to the community. But that doesn’t mean we want to limit our practices. We want to have world-class processes and practices, and continue to enhance the reputation and credibility of our organisation. Winning the award affirmed our knowledge that our HR and business practices should be recognised and celebrated. It’s proven the success of our Indigenous employment and career pathways.”
8. ACT : Winnunga ACCHO Newsletter launched
Download Newsletter Winnunga AHCS Newsletter November 2018
9. TAS : Tasmania Aboriginal Centre Training For Success end of program celebrations. Congratulations to all involved
