1.1 National : NACCHO attends National END RHD Advisory Committee meeting in Perth
1.2 : National : Have your say about what is needed to make real change in the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people #HaveYourSay about #closingthegap
2.1 NSW : Wellington Health Service hosts celebrations
2.2 NSW : NSW Health is not forming effective partnerships with Aboriginal communities to plan, design and deliver appropriate mental health services
3. VIC : VAHS was excited to host several graduations this week to our students for completing the 8 week Deadly Choices Leadership program.
4.1 QLD : MAMU ACCHO : The Students from Innisfail State College finally got their Deadly Choices Education shirts today after completing the Healthy Lifestyle Program in Term 2
4.2 QLD : The terrific work being done by Gidgee Healing Normanton Clinic as presented at the CheckUP Australia Outreach Forum
5.1 SA : Nganampa Health at APY school Sports day and tobacco display by Tackling Indigenous smoking team
5.2 SA : Nunkuwarrin Yunti ACCHO co-hosts Prof Kerry Arabena and Pat Dudgeon for the South Australian Gayaa Dhuwi/Indigenous Governance workshops.
6.WA : New students are into their first block of AHCWA’s Family & Wellbeing training.
7. NT Central Australian Aboriginal Congress , Central Land Council and Tangentyere Council join the #climatestrike along with more than 50 business owners and their staff and students and supporters
How to submit in 2019 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 Thursday /Friday
1.1 National : NACCHO attends National END RHD Advisory Committee meeting in Perth
Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is an avoidable inequality. Around 5,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia are living with RHD and 400,000 young Indigenous people are at risk.
This represents one of the highest rates of RHD in the world and it is also the leading cause of cardiovascular inequality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Australia. QAIHC is working with its Members, Queensland Health and national counterparts to address RHD in Queensland.
Pictured here Co-Chairs of the National END RHD Advisory Committee – Pat Turner (CEO, NACCHO) and Professor Jonathan Carapetis AM (Institute Director, Telethon Kids Institute) with QAIHC CEO Neil Willmett
Thanks QAIHC CEO for sharing your report
1.2 : National : Have your say about what is needed to make real change in the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people #HaveYourSay about #closingthegap
There is a discussion booklet that has background information on Closing the Gap and sets out what will be talked about in the survey.
The survey will take a little bit of time to complete. It would be great if you can answer all the questions, but you can also just focus on the issues that you care about most.
To help you prepare your answers, you can look at a full copy here
The survey is open to everyone and can be accessed here:
https://www.naccho.org.au/programmes/coalition-of-peaks/have-your-say/
2.1 NSW : Wellington Health Service hosts celebrations
There was dancing, music and culture shared during NAIDOC Day celebrations on Friday, which was hosted by the Wellington Health Service.
Wiradjuri man Herb Smith was the emcee, with music provided by Isaac Compton. Various local community services also attended.
In his address to the community, Mr Smith said what makes NAIDOC so special is that it provides an opportunity for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people to join together.
“To recognise the valuable contribution Aboriginal people have made to this country and to their community,” he said.
The creator of ‘Dreamtime Tuka’ said it was great to see the Wellington Health Service embrace NAIDOC celebrations.
Aboriginal Health Worker and NAIDOC Day organiser Gillian Keed said it was a beautiful day for the community to come together to celebrate history, strong culture and the achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Guests were treated to a traditional smoking ceremony and dances.
2.2 NSW : NSW Health is not forming effective partnerships with Aboriginal communities to plan, design and deliver appropriate mental health services
A report released by the Auditor-General for New South Wales, Margaret Crawford, has found that NSW Health is not forming effective partnerships with Aboriginal communities to plan, design and deliver appropriate mental health services. There is limited evidence that NSW Health is using the knowledge and expertise of Aboriginal communities to guide how mental health care is structured and delivered.
Executive summary
Mental illness (including substance use disorders) is the main contributor to lower life expectancy and increased mortality in the Aboriginal population of New South Wales. It contributes to a higher burden of disease and premature death at rates that are 40 per cent higher than the next highest chronic disease group, cardiovascular disease.1
Aboriginal people have significantly higher rates of mental illness than non Aboriginal people in New South Wales. They are more likely to present at emergency departments in crisis or acute phases of mental illness than the rest of the population and are more likely to be admitted to hospital for mental health treatments.2
In acknowledgement of the significant health disparities between Aboriginal and non Aboriginal people, NSW Health implemented the NSW Aboriginal Health Plan 2013 2023 (the Aboriginal Health Plan). The overarching message of the Aboriginal Health Plan is ‘to build respectful, trusting and effective partnerships with Aboriginal communities’ and to implement ‘integrated planning and service delivery’ with sector partners. Through the Plan, NSW Health commits to providing culturally appropriate and ‘holistic approaches to the health of Aboriginal people’.
The mental health sector is complex, involving Commonwealth, state and non government service providers. In broad terms, NSW Health has responsibility to support patients requiring higher levels of clinical support for mental illnesses, while the Commonwealth and non government organisations offer non acute care such as assessments, referrals and early intervention treatments.
The NSW Health network includes 15 Local Health Districts and the Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network that provide care to patients during acute and severe phases of mental illness in hospitals, prisons and community service environments. This includes care to Aboriginal patients in the community at rates that are more than four times higher than the non Aboriginal population. Community services are usually provided as follow up after acute admissions or interactions with hospital services. The environments where NSW Health delivers mental health care include:
- hospital emergency departments, for short term assessment and referral
- inpatient hospital care for patients in acute and sub acute phases of mental illness
- mental health outpatient services in the community, such as support with medications
- custodial mental health services in adult prisons and juvenile justice centres.
The NSW Government is reforming its mental health funding model to incrementally shift the balance from hospital care to enhanced community care. In 2018–19, the NSW Government committed $400 million over four years into early intervention and specialist community mental health teams.
This audit assessed the effectiveness of NSW Health’s planning and coordination of mental health services and service pathways for Aboriginal people in New South Wales. We addressed the audit objective by answering three questions:
- Is NSW Health using evidence to plan and inform the availability of mental health services for Aboriginal people in New South Wales?
- Is NSW Health collaborating with partners to create accessible mental health service pathways for Aboriginal people?
- Is NSW Health collaborating with partners to ensure the appropriateness and quality of mental health services for Aboriginal people?
Conclusion
NSW Health is not meeting the objectives of the NSW Aboriginal Health Plan, to form effective partnerships with Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services and Aboriginal communities to plan, design and deliver mental health services.
There is limited evidence that existing partnerships between NSW Health and Aboriginal communities meet its own commitment to use the ‘knowledge and expertise of the Aboriginal community (to) guide the health system at every level, including (for) the identification of key issues, the development of policy solutions, the structuring and delivery of services’ 3 and the development of culturally appropriate models of mental health care.
NSW Health is planning and coordinating its resources to support Aboriginal people in acute phases of mental illness in hospital environments. However, it is not effectively planning for the supply and delivery of sufficient mental health services to assist Aboriginal patients to manage mental illness in community environments. Existing planning approaches, data and systems are insufficient to guide the $400 million investment into community mental health services announced in the 2018–19 Budget.
NSW Health is not consistently forming partnerships to ensure coordinated care for patients as they move between mental health services. There is no policy to guide this process and practices are not systematised or widespread.
3. VIC : VAHS was excited to host several graduations this week to our students for completing the 8 week Deadly Choices Leadership program.
It’s the last week of school for term 3 and VAHS was excited to host several graduations this week to our students for completing the 8 week Deadly Choices Leadership program.
Each student who completes the program are rewarded with a special VAHS Deadly Choices school shirt. The program aims to build health literacy and leadership with our young people.
The following schools have completed the 8 week program.
Reservoir High School
Sunbury Secondary College
Parade College
Epping High School
Lalor North High School
Bundoora Secondary College
Mernda P-12
Attached some photos of students from Reservoir HS, Sunbury SC and Epping HS with their new shirts.
4.2 QLD : The terrific work being done by Gidgee Healing Normanton Clinic as presented at the CheckUP Australia Outreach Forum
5. SA : Nganampa Health at APY school Sports day and tobacco display by Tackling Indigenous smoking team
Hot, windy and very dusty but display well received by APY kids and kids from Yalata. Raffle prizes will be drawn at school dance competition tonight.
Well done to all those kids who won medals and to all those kids who participated.
Thanks also to Will power for the work they have done today and this week.
5.2 SA : Nunkuwarrin Yunti ACCHO co-hosts Prof Kerry Arabena and Pat Dudgeon for the South Australian Gayaa Dhuwi/Indigenous Governance workshops.
6.WA : New students are into their first block of AHCWA’s Family & Wellbeing training.
The course runs over the 11th&12th of September and the 25th&26th of September.
On completion of the course, participants receive a Cert II in Family Wellbeing.
For more information on the Family & Wellbeing Training Course, contact Ken Nicholls on (08) 96145 1036 or ken.nicholls@ahcwa.org
7. NT Central Australian Aboriginal Congress , Central Land Council and Tangentyere Council join the #climatestrike along with more than 50 business owners and their staff and students and supporters
The Central Land Council has called climate strikers to think of remote community residents who are most at risk from the climate emergency.
“CLC members and workers will join striking students and their supporters from across the Northern Territory and I support their right to take this action,” CLC chair Sammy Wilson said.
“I call on them to spare a thought for Aboriginal people out bush who may not be able to travel to the strikes but who are already suffering most during our hotter, longer and drier summers,” Mr Wilson said.
“I am dreading another summer like the last one because it is especially tough on our old and sick people who live in overcrowded, poor quality houses.”
With many remote communities under severe water stress, water shortages and quality topped the list of policy priorities endorsed by the CLC’s elected delegates at their most recent council meeting in August.
The delegates want to live sustainably on their country and see water rights and liveable houses as central to their future and are prepared to fight for a safe environment.
“The government gave us the land back but not the water. Water is the new land rights,” Mr Wilson said.
Following the NT’s hottest summer on record, and the driest in almost three decades, the delegates also nominated climate change and water security as high policy priorities.
“Last summer many people were struggling to sleep. We heard about people taking turns in the coolest parts of the house,” Mr Wilson said.
“Most of our people live in concrete boxes and can’t afford to run air conditioners around the clock. Many don’t have working fridges to keep food safe for eating, so they are very likely to get sick.”
Mr Wilson said we must listen to scientists who are predicting that the poorest people in the hottest countries will be hardest hit by climate change.
“Aboriginal people want to be part of the solution. We want to have access to clean technologies such as solar power so that our children have the chance to keep living on our traditional country.”