- ‘We need to incorporate justice into health care’
- Vaccines a massive challenge for remote areas
- GP-led COVID-19 vaccine rollout
- Peak bodies support COVID-19 vaccine strategy
- Supermarket profits before Aboriginal health
- Back on Track diabetes campaign
- New diabetes research centres
- NACCHO housing for health position paper
- Job Alerts
‘We need to incorporate justice into health care’
According to Donnella Mills, who is the managing lawyer at LawRight Community Legal Centre, Chair of NACCHO, sits on James Cook University Council and is the project lawyer for the Wuchopperen Health Justice Partnership, “we need to incorporate justice into health care.”
Mills was central to the establishment of the Wuchopperen Health Justice Partnership, a partnership between Wuchopperen Health Service (Cairns) and LawRight that sees lawyers provide free legal advice, referral and casework to clients of the health service. “I kept seeing this missing link, we were talking about family wellbeing, child protection, youth detention, we were talking about issues around chronic disease and I just kept thinking how can we be delivering services when we are not connecting people to legal representation?” said Mills. “Our people will go to their ACCHO and tell their doctor about all of their concerns because the trust is there. The trust is not in the legal institution. We need to start talking about incorporating justice in the way we deliver primary health care.”
To view the National Indigenous Times article in full click here.
Aboriginal Health Worker trainee Darren Braun, Danila Dilba, Palmerston, Darwin NT. Image source: ABC News.
Vaccines a massive challenge for remote areas
Government health authorities are fine-tuning plans to distribute COVID-19 vaccines to remote and vulnerable Indigenous populations across Australia — a task an Aboriginal health organisation says is an unprecedented challenge.
Indigenous health groups have repeatedly warned of the devastating consequences COVID-19 could have if it reached remote communities. For any vaccine to prevent that from happening, according to Dr Andrew Webster from the Darwin-based Danila Dilba Health Service, vaccination rates in remote populations will need to be higher than that of a typical flu vaccine. “To get really good protection across the community, you need 60–70 per cent of the entire population to be vaccinated before you have enough herd immunity to protect the very vulnerable people in the community from getting it,” he said. “The reason for that is that some people won’t be able to get the vaccine for a variety of reasons — they may have medical issues that result in them not being eligible or able to safely have the vaccines. “Therefore they’re very reliant on other people in the community having been vaccinated, and therefore not carrying the virus and not spreading it to them.”
To view the full ABC News article click here.
There are an estimated 500 homelands and 70 remote communities in the NT alone — including Mutitjulu, at the base of Uluru. Image source: ABC News.
GP-led COVID-19 vaccine rollout
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has welcomed government confirmation that GPs will be at the forefront of Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout. RACGP President Dr Karen Price said GPs will play an important role in the vaccine rollout. “This is a massive undertaking for our country and GPs will be essential. The majority of Australians go to their GP for their vaccinations and for many Australians they will do the same for their COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccinations are one of the greatest success stories of modern medicine and GP-led vaccination programs have been at the forefront all along.”
To view the RACGP’s media release in full click here.
Image source: ABC News.
Peak bodies support COVID-19 vaccine strategy
The Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases (ASID), the Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control (ACIPC), and the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) have come out in support of the Commonwealth Government’s COVID-19 vaccine strategy, stressing that concerns about the ability of any vaccines to create herd immunity were not justified at this stage of the process. Immediate Past President of ASID Professor Josh Davis, ACIPC President Associate Professor Philip Russo, and PHAA President, Professor Tarun Weeramanthri said we need to wait until the Therapeutic Goods Administration has completed its review process of the available vaccines.
To view the media release in full click here.
Image source: Science News.
Supermarket profits before Aboriginal health
The NT government has caved in to liquor lobby pressure and imperilled the health of First Nations People by approving a Dan Murphy’s Darwin mega-store for Woolworths and lifting the licence cap for Coles. According to Professor Lesley Russell and Dr Jeff McMullen the Aboriginal communities will pay the price with their health.
To view the full article published by Michael West Media Independent Journalists click here.
Image source: BlackBusiness.
Back on Track diabetes campaign
Diabetes Australia and the National Diabetes Services Scheme will launch a new health campaign called Back on Track. The campaign has been developed on the back of research which shows that in the last year many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people disengaged from their routine diabetes and health care management plans due to social distancing, fear of exposure to COVID-19, and a focus on other priorities.
The Back on Track campaign is specifically targeted to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to encourage them to get ‘back on track’ with their diabetes self-care in 2021. It has been designed to provide practical, culturally appropriate and engaging messaging to encourage people to reconnect with their diabetes health. The messaging acknowledges that ‘things have been tough for everyone’ but that it is still important for people to look after themselves and look out for their friends and family too.
The steps to getting back on track (key messages) include:
- Check in with our diabetes health team
- Check our blood sugar and take our medications
- Check that we are eating healthy food and being active every day
- Check that we are looking after each other and taking time to look after ourselves.
New diabetes research centres
The Medical Research Futures Fund will provide $10 million each for two new research centres to address diabetes and cardiovascular disease through the Targeted Translation Research Accelerator. The aim of the centres is to produce rapid improvements in preventing, treating and curing diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and their complications. A further $18 million of funding will go to support translational research projects in these areas.
To view the media release in full click here.
Image source: Australian Government Department of Health.
NACCHO housing for health position paper
Housing is a key determinant of health, yet Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people face a range of issues that prevent them from accessing housing that is affordable, adequate, safe and sustainable. Overcrowding is increasingly prevalent, making household members further susceptible to the burden of disease, psychological distress and other health and wellbeing issues. The COVID-19 pandemic is a stark reminder of the importance of housing for maintaining health and slowing and stopping the spread of disease. Significant Australian, state and territory government leadership and investment is urgently needed to Improve housing and health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
To view NACCHO’s housing policy position paper in full click here.
Walpiri Transient Camp, Katherine (NT). Image source: The Conversation.
NSW – Wyong – Yerin Aboriginal Health Services Limited
Aboriginal Family Preservation Manager
Yerin Aboriginal Health Services Limited is looking to employ an Aboriginal Family Preservation Manager to provide high-quality management and leadership to the Family Preservation team so they can meet all required legal and practice standards for Family Preservation. This position will provide high quality culturally responsive leadership and management practices that focus on supporting effective, flexible, high quality, child-focused, and family-focused, culturally responsive interventions and supports so that our children and young people can remain safely with their families.
To view the position description and to apply click here. Applications close 9:00 am Wednesday 27 January 2021.
QLD – Toowoomba & Warwick – Carbal Medical Services
Aboriginal Health Worker x 2
Carbal Medical Services (Carbal) is a not-for-profit, charitable organisation that provides health services to members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in and around Toowoomba and Warwick. The core function of Carbal is to provide medical services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through two medical practices and over 17 community programs covering the regions of Darling Downs and Southern Downs.
Carbal is seeking to fill two Aboriginal Health Worker positions based in Warwick and Toowoomba.
To view the position description and to apply click here.
Applications close COB Friday 5 February 2021.
NT – Darwin – Menzies School of Health Research
Champions4Change Project Coordinator – 6 months FT contract, possible extension
RHDAustralia supports the prevention, diagnosis and management of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in Australia. RHDAustralia is based at the Menzies School of Health Research and is funded under the Australian Government’s Rheumatic Fever Strategy. The Champions4Change (C4C) program is a culturally safe support program for people living with ARF and RHD. With support from RHDAustralia, the program is run by people from across Australia with the lived experience of ARF and RHD, designed and led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities. The C4C Project Coordinator will contribute to the conceptual development of the C4C program using experience-based, co-design approaches, and will implement core components of the program.
For more information and the position description click here.
Applications close Friday 22 January 2021.
NSW – Blacktown/Campbelltown – OzChild
Aboriginal Practice Lead – identified position
OzChild in Blacktown/Campbelltown is looking for an Aboriginal Practice Lead to join its team. The position will be a part of the Dhiiyaan Mirri (family of stars), OzChild’s Bridging Cultures Unit (BCU) and will support the Functional Family Therapy Child Welfare (FFT-CW), Multi systemic Therapy for Child Abuse and Neglect (MST-CAN) and Treatment Foster Care Oregon (TFCO) Teams at Blacktown and Campbelltown. The position will be based a minimum of 2 days per week at each location, however this can be flexible based on need.
The Aboriginal Practice Lead Position within OzChild will work to ensure that participating First Nation families can benefit from these Evidence Based Models (EBMs), and from time to time other programs that OzChild may deliver. The Aboriginal Practice Lead will also facilitate access and receive support in a timely and culturally responsive manner.
Working with OzChild’s Teams, for the effective delivery of OzChild Services to First Nations Children, Young People and their Families/Kin/Carers, the Aboriginal Practice Lead will contribute from intake through to completion (when required) to the provision of culturally responsive services and a culturally safe working environment through consultation and engagement with OzChild staff, First Nations Peoples, stakeholders and relevant Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations.
For more information and the position description click here.
Applications close Thursday 28 January 2021.
NSW – Newcastle – University of Newcastle
Senior Lecturer in Nursing – FT x 1
The teaching team within the School of Nursing and Midwifery is led by award winning academics who are all specialists in their fields of practice and committed to teaching and learning strategies which develop and enhance nursing knowledge, and the full range of clinical and interpersonal skills needed by nurses and midwives to function as effective practitioners. The School enjoys a close collaboration with local area health services in providing clinical learning experiences for students, in the provision of graduate programs and in the conduct of clinical research. The aim is to prepare and develop nurses to function in a wide range of clinical settings, health facilities and rehabilitation services.
A vacancy exists for a full-time ongoing position located either at the Callaghan Campus or Central Coast, with an expectation to work across the Callaghan and Ourimbah (transitioning to Central Coast in mid-2021, subject to ANMAC approval) campuses as well as online.
In this role, you will promote and foster a collaborative, dynamic, productive and globally competitive research environment through research collaboration, external grant income, publication outputs, and research higher degree graduates. The promotion of excellence in teaching and learning through appropriate curriculum development and delivery is also a key requirement of this role.
For more information and the position description click here.
Applications close Sunday 14 February 2021.
NSW – southern NSW – Murra Mia Tenant Advocacy Service
Tenant Advocates – FT x 2
Murra Mia Tenant Advocacy Service (Southern NSW Aboriginal TAAS) is seeking two motivated Tenancy Advocates to engage with Aboriginal tenants whose tenancies are identified as at risk and provide a range of interventions.
For more information and the position description click here.
Applications close Wednesday 27 January 2021.