• History is Calling Campaign
• ACCHO staff present at Sax Forum workshop
• Mob 2.5 time more likely to visit ED
• How Kids Count birth registration campaign
• Calls to improve lives of First Nations children
• 36,000 NSW mob impacted by floods
• Women the victims of forced evictions
• Ahpra to recruit for permanent identified jobs
• New process for job advertising
• Save the Date – Lung Health Awareness Month

History is Calling Campaign

A new education campaign pushing for a First Nations voice to parliament is being rolled out by the creators of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. The History is Calling campaign will urge Australians to answer the Uluru Dialogue’s 2017 invitation to legally enshrine First Nations people in the constitution via a referendum as an urgent election issue. Uluru Statement leader Roy Ah-See said First Nations people had been “at the whim” of consecutive governments that had failed to protect their rights and it was “long overdue” for their voice to be constitutionally enshrined. “The data’s there, in terms of overrepresentation in the criminal justice system, health statistics, infant mortality rates; it’s appalling, we’ve gone backward,” he said.

“In 1967, I was six months old when … non-Aboriginal citizens of this country gave my mother citizenship. Now it’s time to give my kids a voice in this country and future generations and we can do that through a referendum. “We don’t want a green voice, we don’t want a red voice, we don’t want a blue voice: we want a black voice.” Ah-See said the Uluru Statement was “never for the politicians”, but was a gift to the Australian people, who were best placed to vote on constitutional recognition. “Consecutive governments haven’t had our best interests at heart and legislation isn’t going to cut it,” he said. “The momentum’s there, the mood has shifted. We’ve lost a lot of First Nations people that haven’t seen a voice realised. It’s time.”

To view the article Australians urged to back Indigenous voice to parliament in History is Calling campaign published today in The Guardian click here.

ACCHO staff present at Sax Forum workshop

The Sax Forum is an initiative through which the Sax Institute is helping to share knowledge across its membership and understand what we can do better together. Earlier this month nearly 200 people from the Institute’s member organisations, Aboriginal-controlled health services and NSW Health met online to discuss how best to work collaboratively with Aboriginal communities while conducting important health research.

Attendees heard insightful presentations from speakers who have been intimately involved in working with Aboriginal communities to produce impactful Aboriginal-led research., including Jamie Newman, a Wiradjuri man and CEO of the Orange Aboriginal Medical Service (AMS) who stressed how important research is in his sector. “We are very open to research and we understand why it is so critical for us,” he said. In order to secure funding, “we need to provide evidence that we have researched what we’re doing and properly evaluated what we’re doing. Evidence-based needs are what governments want to fund.” He said researchers should go out and meet people in the AMSs and start building partnerships and relationships, not just contacting them when they want a partner for a grant application. “We are more than happy to talk to universities, individual researchers. We’re open to everyone who can add something to our service, and if you can do that, the door will be open.”

Another speaker, Christine Corby OAM, CEO from Walgett AMS, spoke about the importance of conducting research that is respectful, builds relationships and contributes to local capacity. Any research program must reflect the needs and interests of the community, she said. Sandra Bailey, Senior Adviser in Aboriginal Health at the Sax Institute, joined the panel discussion after the presentations and provided some background to the partnership work that led to the creation of the Coalition for Research to Improve Aboriginal Health.

You can watch a video of the workshop in full below and access the relevant Sax Institute webpage here.

Mob 2.5 times more likely to visit ED

Westmead, Blacktown and Mount Druitt hospitals are the subject of a new $2.8 million research project that aims to improve the safety and quality of care in emergency departments. Macquarie University will lead this project addressing the needs of people with complex health conditions, who often spend longer than average there and have worse outcomes than the general population when they attend an emergency department — including greater likelihood of multiple return visits. This includes people who are older; have a disability; present with a mental health condition; are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander; and/or come from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds

Macquarie University has been awarded $2,836,550 from the Medical Research Future Fund for this 5-year project led by Associate Professor Robyn Clay-Williams at the Australian Institute of Health Innovation. The  project will work to improve people’s experience while they are in the emergency department, reduce their length of stay and improve their care outcomes — including receiving a diagnosis or treatment plan, or being admitted to a hospital ward.

Associate Professor Robyn Clay-Williams, who will lead the project said “These communities have higher rates of presentation to emergency departments than other Australians and improving their care will reduce hospital waiting times for everyone.” Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples visit an emergency department 2.5 times more than other Australians and their rate of metal health presentations is more than four times higher. People with a disability visit emergency departments twice as often as people without disability. People over the age of 85 years have the highest rate of presentation to emergency departments.

To view the article $2.8 million to reduce emergency wait times in western Sydney hospitals published in The Pulse click here.

Our Kids Count birth registration campaign

The NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (the Registry) is hitting the road to promote the registration of Indigenous births with the Our Kids Count campaign. NSW Registrar Amit Padhiar said Our Kids Count would visit the Central West and Orana region to provide on the ground support to help Aboriginal parents register their child’s birth. “Birth certificates are an essential pathway to enrol in school, open a bank account, join sporting clubs, enrol to vote and apply for a job, a driver licence or a passport,” Mr Padhiar said. “Ensuring kids have a birth certificate as soon as possible makes it easier for them and their families when growing up and navigating life.”

What you need to know about registering bub

To view the media release in full click here.

Calls to improve lives of First Nations children

The peak national body for Indigenous children, the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC), has called on the major parties contesting the upcoming Federal election to deliver policy to improve the lives of First Nations children. SNAICC – National Voice for our Children wants to see investment into prevention and early support services for families led by Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations, and creation of a National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children.

SNAICC CEO Catherine Liddle said policy change was needed for the Federal Government to start to close the gap. “Under the national partnership all governments have agreed to work with the Coalition of Peaks to reduce over-representation in out of home care by 45% by 2031,” she said. Ms Liddle said by achieving these targets there would be a reduction in child removals from families and pressure on the justice system. “Our children will have a better start in life with access to quality, community-controlled early childhood education and services,” she said.

To view the National Indigenous Times article Peak Indigenous children’s body puts Federal election wish-list on the table in full click here.

36,000 NSW mob impacted by floods

Women the victims of forced evictions

Julie Tongs, CEO Winnunga Nimmityjah (Strong Health) Aboriginal Health and Community Services was one of 14 to sign an open letter – addressed to ACT Housing Minister Yvette Berry and Minister for Homelessness and Housing Services Rebecca Vassarotti and signed by community organisations working with vulnerable Canberrans living in public housing – calling on the ACT government to end all forced relocations under the scheme, and instead revert to a voluntary, opt-in program of relocation.

87% of social housing tenants to be forced from their homes under the ACT’s government’s Growth and Renewal program are women living alone or with children. 61% have disabilities, chronic health conditions or are caring for dependents who do, and 17% of tenants facing evictions are single mums with children. The data – captured through a survey of the affected tenants conducted by Canberra Community Law also shows that 14% of tenants affected by the scheme are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people. “It is this cross section of elderly tenants, women, people with disabilities and people with lived experience of mental illness that makes this group of tenants particularly vulnerable,” the letter reads.

To view the CBR City News article Revealed: Women the victims of Housing’s forced evictions in full click here.

Ahpra to recruit 7 permanent identified jobs

Ahpra is excited to be recruiting seven (7) permanent Identified positions who’ll play an important role in creating a culturally safe healthcare system free of racism for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Strategy Unit Coordinator
• Senior Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Notifications Officer
• Senior Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Officer
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Officer
• Senior Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Engagement Officer
• Senior Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Regulatory Officer (Registrations)
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Regulatory Officer (Registrations)

The positions will be supported by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Strategy Unit and are linked to implementing deliverables in the National Scheme’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Cultural Safety Strategy 2020-2025.

Please apply for these exciting roles here and share with your Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander networks who want to be a part of driving safer healthcare.

If you’d like any further information on the roles, a contact and their details have been provided on the job listing.

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.

Lung Health Awareness Month

Respiratory diseases are conditions that affect the airways, including the lungs and the passages that carry air from the mouth and nose to the lungs. Common conditions include asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and pneumonia. Nearly one-third of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a respiratory condition; with Asthma and COPD contributing to the highest burden of disease.

May is Lung Health Awareness Month and aims to raise awareness about the importance of lung health and the signs and symptoms of lung disease. Anyone, no matter your age or background, can get lung disease – it affects approximately 1 in 4 Australians and is the second leading cause of death in this country, with 45 Australians dying of lung disease and lung cancer every day.

Despite this, many people ignore the signs and symptoms of lung disease for far too long. Breathlessness – A cough lasting more than 3 weeks – Fatigue are just some of the signs many of us ignore or put down to aging and lack of fitness. Don’t miss the signs that something isn’t right. Taking action could save your life.

You can access the Lung Foundation Australia website here which includes:

• a checklist of lung disease signs
• an interactive Lung Health Checklist
• lung health tips: commit to quit smoking; prevention is your best protection; protecting your lungs at work; lifestyle matters

You can access more information about respiratory health in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet website here.