• International Day of World’s Indigenous Peoples
• ACCHO connects Yarrabah for better healthcare
• Joint Council locks in Implementation Plans
• New CTG social services and justice funding
• Aboriginal health workers recognised
• Telehealth and drones can’t fix regional health
• Perth homelessness service opens
• New end-of-life care legal training
• Yarning about HPV vaccination
• New process for job advertising
• Save the Date

International Day of World’s Indigenous Peoples

As the national leadership body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health in Australia and a member of the Coalition of Peaks, NACCHO advocates for community-developed solutions that contribute to the quality of life and improved health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

We wish to share our appreciation of our health professionals working across all the 143 Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs). Your dedication, resilience and hard work is what has kept our communities safe during the COVID-19 pandemic with 25% of our mob now fully vaccinated.

For more information on International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples visit the relevant page of the United Nations website here.

Gidgee Healing staff wearing NACCHO’s COVID-19 vaccine polo shirts.

ACCHO connects Yarrabah for better healthcare

In the 1980s, when community members at Yarrabah in far north Queensland were fighting for self-determination, they saw the need for Aboriginal health to be in the hands of their own people and the concept of a community-controlled health organisation was born. Today, Gurriny Yealamucka Health Service delivers primary healthcare across the Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire and has been doing so for decades.

To mark the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) has used a series of videos to recognise Gurriny Yealamucka and the Yarrabah community for embracing innovation and the use of technology to deliver better healthcare. Gurriny Yealamucka means ‘good healing water’ in the language of the Gunggandji Peoples of Yarrabah. The Gunggandji peoples are the traditional owners of Yarrabah and they and the historical peoples of Yarrabah, who were brought there as part of the Stolen Generations and have built Yarrabah into what it is today.

This includes the development of a remarkable and resilient healthcare service that moved to digital healthcare in 2014. Director of Clinical Services at Gurriny Yealamucka, a Yued Noongar man from Dandaragan WA, Dr Jason King said one of the fascinating things about Aboriginal culture is that information about the world around them has always been evolving and so communities, almost by second nature, understand the importance of transmitting information from one generation to the next.

To view the Australian Government ADHA media release click here. and watch one of the videos below.

Joint Council locks in Implementation Plans

The Coalition of Peaks (CoP) representatives attended the sixth meeting of the Joint Council on Closing the Gap on Friday 6 August 2021. The meeting focused on the parties Implementation Plans. These plans outline the tangible actions that are to be taken to advance the four Priority Reforms and achieve the socio-economic outcomes committed to under the National Agreement.

“It is pleasing to see the first Implementation Plans under the Agreement. The CoP will be analysing them closely over the coming weeks to understand how governments propose to meet their commitments, timelines, to identify leading examples of good practice and areas where improvements are warranted. The Plans are also an important accountability tool, and the onus is now on every party to turn their commitments into practice, so we meet the objectives of the National Agreement” said Ms Pat Turner, Lead Convenor of the CoP.

“Being only the first round, we all know there will be room for improvement in various areas, and we will continue to work with all jurisdictions to improve and deepen our partnership arrangements as we monitor, measure and expand our efforts to close the gap. All Parties are on a learning curve about how our new partnership can fully transform the way governments work to close the gaps that exist for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Opportunities must be taken to learn from those jurisdictions that are taking the most innovative steps in implementing the National Agreement. All parties have committed to regularly update and renew our Implementation Plans, and to strengthen them over time.”

To view the CoP’s media release click here and to access the CoP website click here.

New CTG social services and justice funding

The Morrison Government is investing $98 million in a series of innovative new programs to prevent vulnerable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families falling through the cracks as part of the first Closing the Gap Implementation Plan. Minister for Families and Social Services Anne Ruston said the new Social Services programs would help address disproportionately high rates or family and domestic violence, and the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out of home care. Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt said the programs would embed cultural competency and trauma responsiveness by ensuring Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations play a central role in service provision.

To view the media release click here.

Image source: Wandiyali Children’s Services website.

The Australian Government has released the Commonwealth’s first Implementation Plan under the new National Agreement on Closing the Gap. It includes a commitment of more than $1 billion to support Australian Government actions towards achieving the Priority Reforms and the 17 socio-economic outcomes. Over $25 million in targeted investments will be directed towards reducing the overrepresentation of adult and youth Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the criminal justice system (Targets 10 and 11). The Minister for Indigenous Australians, the Hon Ken Wyatt, and I are committed to working in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, communities and Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations to achieve long term, meaningful change, said the Attorney-General, Michaelia Cash.

To view the media release in full click here.

Image source: The Sydney Morning Herald.

Aboriginal health workers recognised

The Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT), in collaboration with the National Association of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Workers and Practitioners (NAATSIHWP), said it was important to acknowledge and celebrate the National Day of Recognition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioners on the Saturday 7 August 2021 as the unique workforce of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Worker and Practitioner is the important link between the community and the health provider.

The dedication and success of the Aboriginal Health Worker and Practitioner workforce has underpinned their recognition as world leaders in innovative, culturally-safe health care practice. “AMSANT acknowledges and applauds the commitment and unstinting work of our Aboriginal Health Workers and Practitioners in continuing to provide essential primary health care and trusted support to their communities”, AMSANT CEO, John Paterson said. “I encourage young people to consider the Aboriginal Health Worker and Practitioner profession as a career that is both rewarding and greatly valued by the community”, Mr Paterson concluded.

To view AMSANT media release in full click here.

Image source: Danila Dilba Health Service, NT.

Perth homelessness service opens 

Community Services Minister Simone McGurk has officially launched the new Boorloo Bidee Mia homelessness service for people sleeping rough in the Perth metropolitan area. The transitional accommodation facility at 300 Wellington Street, secured by the Department of Communities with a three-year lease, will provide support for up to 100 adult rough sleepers, including tailored care plans for each resident aimed at addressing their specific needs. The service will operate under the name Boorloo Bidee Mia, which represents ‘Perth pathway to housing’ in the Whadjuk dialect of the Noongar language. It was developed in consultation with Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) Wungening Aboriginal Corporation and Noongar Mia Mia.

To view the media release in full click here.

Image source: The Property Tribune, WA.

Telehealth and drones can’t fix rural health

It’s probably one of the few positives of the COVID-19 pandemic that has seen a quiet change in healthcare. The telehealth appointment. Until March 2020 telehealth appointments received no Medicare rebate and therefore couldn’t be bulk billed. The temporary measure has been extended to the end of 2021 and there are hopes amongst the medical profession that it becomes permanent.

To view the full article in the Central Western Daily click here.

Image source: Drones in Healthcare website.

New end-of-life care legal training 

A survey of health professionals, as well as previous research undertaken by QUT, has found significant end of life legal knowledge gaps in these groups. The course is the result of years of research by QUT Australian Centre for Health Law Researchers Professor Ben White and Professor Lindy Willmott on health professionals’ knowledge of end-of-life law. It has been developed with QUT palliative care expert Distinguished Professor Patsy Yates and health law researcher Associate Professor Shih-Ning Then.

For further information about the training click here.

Image source: Australian Ageing Agenda website.

Yarning about HPV Vaccination

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women experience a higher burden of cervical cancer than non-Indigenous women in Australia. Cervical cancer is preventable partly through human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination; in Australia, this is delivered through the national school-based immunisation programme. While HPV vaccination uptake is high among Australian adolescents, there remain gaps in uptake and completion among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adolescents.

A new study is being undertaken that aims to gain a comprehensive understanding of the barriers and facilitators to HPV vaccination uptake and completion among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adolescents in Queensland, Australia is being undertaken The study will be guided by an Indigenist research approach and an ecological model for health promotion. Yarning, a qualitative Indigenous research method, will be conducted in up to 10 schools.

For more information about the study click here and to watch a video about HPV vaccine for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander audiences click below.

New process for job advertising

NACCHO have introduced a new system for the advertising of job adverts via the NACCHO website and you can find the sector job listings here. Click here to go to the NACCHO website where you can complete a form with job vacancy details – it will then be approved for posting and go live on the NACCHO website.

International Youth Day

International Youth Day (IYD) is to raise awareness designated by the United Nations. The purpose of the day is to draw attention to the problems young people face today and to unite and celebrate youth worldwide. The first IYD was observed on 12 August 2000.

The theme of International Youth Day 2021, “Transforming Food Systems: Youth Innovation for Human and Planetary Health” has the aim of highlighting that the success of such a global effort will not be achieved without the meaningful participation of young people.

IYD this year is on Thursday, 12 August 2021. For more information about IYD you can access the relevant section of the UN website here.