• $22.5m for Birthing on Country
• We must act NOW to save lives
• Inclusive healthcare design fundamental
• Empowering women to manage PCOS
• Decolonising mental health systems webinar
• Limiting health impacts of climate change
• Sector Jobs
• Key Date: Bandana Day 2022 TOMORROW 

The image in the feature tile is from the Birthing on Yuin Country Model of Care webpage of the Waminda website.

$22.5m for Birthing on Country

The Albanese government has cemented their commitment to supporting First Nations Women and their families with the announcement of $22.5m for the advancement of Waminda’s Birthing on Country Centre of Excellence, in Nowra.

Melanie Briggs, Waminda’s Minga Gudjaga & Birthing on Country Manager, says that this funding is a huge step forward for Aboriginal women on the South Coast and NSW. “…A First Nations led Birthing Centre of Excellence with wrap around supports, is at the forefront of decolonising maternity care systems for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in this country. Aboriginal maternity models of care are the answer to improving the outcomes for First Nations mothers and babies.”

Waminda and the Minga Gudjaga program (Waminda’s Maternity & Childcare program) is already advancing in ready laid plans that will continue in to 2023. “…We are currently securing land, and we will be building a purpose-built facility, so that our mums can birth their babies in this place. We’re designing our birth centre. It’s designed by Waminda’s Cultural Committee and our women in community.”

To read Waminda’s media release $22.5 Million for Birthing on Country! in full click here.

We must act NOW to save lives

Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has revealed 3,144 Australians died by suicide in 2021, compared to 3,139 in 2020. Sadly, eight to nine people die by suicide every day. There were 2,358 male suicides (18.2 deaths per 100,000) and 786 female suicide deaths (6.1 per 100,000). Suicide was the 15th leading cause of death overall in 2021. Suicide was the most common cause of death for young people aged 15–24 years. In 2021, 219 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people died by suicide. The median age of death by suicide of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples was 30.2 years, more than a decade younger than the median age of death by suicide for the general population of 44.8 years. The gap is widening compared to last year (31.3 vs 43.5).

Suicide Prevention Australia CEO Nieves Murray said, “Suicide rates remained stubbornly high in 2021. One death by suicide is one too many and more needs to be done to turn the trend towards zero. “Data is incredibly important in suicide prevention. It helps inform how we approach suicide prevention and influences service and program delivery. Access to causes of death data is part of the picture, but we also need more timely data on suicide attempts to better understand and respond to distress in our communities.

To view the Hospital and Healthcare article We must act now to save lives, ABS data confirms in full click here.

Inclusive healthcare design fundamental

Inclusive design is not aspirational; it is fundamental. The places we create should reflect and include the voices of many different people, and this is particularly true for essential services such as healthcare.

Hassell’s research, ‘Equal access is not an optional extra,’ identifies that to create a truly inclusive environment, designers should go beyond regulatory accessibility compliance requirements and consider a more holistic and humanist approach to the concept of universal design. A wide range of principles addressing the issues of social integration, personalisation, and cultural appropriateness must be considered.

In Australia, the greater burden of disease for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders compared to the non-Indigenous population underscores the need for specific policies that improve the health of First Nations people through increasing cultural safety. If an environment doesn’t feel safe, it’s not.

To read the Architecture and Design article Hassell ramps up its research on healthcare design in full click here.

Empowering women to manage PCOS

New, culturally safe, easy-to-understand and beautifully designed resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have been developed by Jean Hailes for Women’s Health and Central Australian Aboriginal Congress (CAAC).

“This project has been a great opportunity to inform Aboriginal women in our community about PCOS, and importantly help them understand that there are things that they can do to help manage the condition,” says Tahnia Edwards, Manager of CAAC’s Alukura Women’s Health Service.

Ms Edwards is referring to an exciting cooperation between Jean Hailes for Women’s Health and CACC funded by the Australian Government. The result of the cooperation? New, free, much needed and easy to understand health information for First Nations communities in the form of unique, engaging brochures, educational kits and animations to recognise and manage symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

PCOS affecting 1 in 6 women with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background

To read The Pharmacy Guild of Australia article Empowering First Nations women to learn about and manage polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in full click here.

Decolonising mental health systems webinar

Indigenous peoples are custodians of knowledge systems vetted and refined by thousands of centuries of practice-based evidence. Prior to colonisation, these knowledge systems ensured the survival, health, and harmony of Indigenous peoples, communities, and ecosystems. Post-colonisation, the health and mental health gaps between non-Indigenous and Indigenous peoples has widened at alarming rates.

Transforming Indigenous Mental Health and Wellbeing (TIMHWB) is hosting a FREE WEBINAR – Decolonising Mental Health Systems: Global Experiences for Wellbeing from 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM on Friday 11 November 2022.

In this webinar, six Indigenous global leaders in mental health and wellbeing, from four colonised countries (Australian, NZ, Canada and the USA) will share their experiences of walking in two worlds and of navigating mental health systems to ensure the wellbeing, healing, and self-determination of Indigenous peoples. A holistic worldview is offered that moves away from the deficit- and individually- focused narrative of mental illness and considers the social, cultural, political, and historical context of health and the structural drivers of health inequality.

You can view a flyer with further details about the FREE webinar here and register here.

Limiting health impacts of climate change

Healthy Futures, an organisation of healthcare workers and community members working to limit the health impacts of climate change and pollution are currently inviting health organisations to support a letter to the NSW Government and Opposition, seeking a bipartisan commitment to 100% renewable stationary energy prior to the next election to reduce the health impacts of both fossil fuel combustion and climate change.  Pollution and climate change are likely to disproportionately affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Pollution and climate change are likely to disproportionately affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Healthy Futures are inviting as many healthcare workers and organisations as possible to endorse this letter by Wednesday 30 November 2022 to be able to deliver the letter well ahead of the March 2023 election.

You can access the letter to the NSW Government and Opposition here. The below video is part of Royal Society of Medicine’s Health Emergency of Climate Change 10-part series available on the Healthy Futures website here.

Sector Jobs

Sector Jobs – you can see sector job listings on the NACCHO website here.

Advertising Jobs – to advertise a job vacancy click here to go to the NACCHO website Current job listings webpage. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find a Post A Job form. You can complete this form with your job vacancy details – it will then be approved for posting and go live on the NACCHO website.

Bandana Day 2022

Held on the last Friday in October, National Bandanna Day is the flagship fundraising and awareness campaign for Canteen. Since Bandanna Day began it has raised more than $35 million to support young people impacted by cancer.

For more information on Bandana Day tomorrow Friday 28 October 2022 click here.