• ACCHOs exemplars of comprehensive primary healthcare
• Australia’s oldest AMS celebrates 50 years
• Thrive by Five welcomes $334m investment
• WA Cultural Treasures Award recipients
• 55 days left for wellbeing budget consultation
• Amazing Race to walk away from smoking
• Sector Jobs

The image in the feature tile is of Uncle Patrick Dodson receiving a COVID-19 vaccination at the Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services (WNAH&CS) Canberra, ACT. Image source: WNAH&CS Facebook page, 6 August 2021.

ACCHOs exemplars of comprehensive primary healthcare

System-wide and comprehensive primary healthcare reform is “needed to bring together an increasingly fragmented system, where the most disadvantaged struggle to get the care they need, when they need it”, according to public health practitioner and Masters of Global Health student Lauren Richardson. In a submission to the Public Health Association of Australia’s Student Think Tank competition, Richardson calls on governments to show strong political commitment and leadership to reduce inequalities in accessing healthcare.

Richardson said Health Ministers face many demands from many competing interests, and this has led to health policy being driven in ways that often are not in the best interests of the community, patients’ and taxpayers. The election of a new Federal Government with a commitment to policy development and implementation brings an opportunity to rewrite the history of health reform and prioritise efforts to increase Australians’ access to comprehensive Primary Health Care (PHC).

So often, Richardson said, reform and public debate is focused on general practice rather than the multi-disciplinary PHC model required to deliver good health care. Whilst GPs deliver the majority of PHC in Australia, comprehensive PHC involves much more than this. According to Richardson the ACCHO sector provides exemplars of good, comprehensive PHC, with Aboriginal communities  successfully initiating and  leading the delivery of holistic, and culturally appropriate PHC through a team-based workforce model. Richardson argues we must focus our attention to good PHC models of care like this and scale up what works.

To view the Croakey Health Media article Seize the opportunity: prioritise comprehensive primary healthcare reform in full click here.

Australia’s oldest AMS celebrates 50 years

800 guests joined the Aboriginal Medical Service Co-operative (AMS Redfern) to celebrate 50 years (+1 for Covid) of outstanding achievements at a gala dinner at the International Convention & Exhibition Centre (ICC) Darling Harbour on 26 November 2022. The night of celebration was emceed by Walkley Award winning journalist Karla Grant and featured several live acts including, The Donovan Band, Jarrod Hicling, Kebi Kub Dancers ad The Brolga Dance Academy.

Welcome to Country by Gadigal Elder Allen Madden, speeches by the Honourable Linda Burney MP, Aunty Gracelyn Smallwood, Professor Kelvin Kong (Worimi man and the first Aboriginal surgeon in Australia), Aunty Dulcie Flower and also from AMS Redfern Chair Edie Coe, CEO LaVerne Bellear and Director Ricky Lyons traced the organisation’s history and impact.

AMS Redfern pioneered the concept of Aboriginal Community Controlled Healthcare and was founded to provide healthcare services to the local Aboriginal community. AMS Redfern is underpinned by the principles of self-determination and worked hard to overcome the neglect and racism Aboriginal people were experiencing in mainstream health services.

To view The South Sydney Herald article Australia’s oldest Aboriginal medical service celebrates 50th anniversary in full click here.

Thrive by Five welcomes $335m investment

Minderoo Foundation’s Thrive by Five initiative has welcomed the Federal Government’s $334 million investment into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders early childhood education and care (ECEC). The Federal Government says the new programs and extension of existing funding will help 100,000 children across the country.

The investment, which will supplement current Commonwealth and State and Territory funding, will include a range of activities including facilitated playgroups in Alice Springs and SA’s Far West Coast and early childhood education programs in WA’s East Kimberley region. The Federal Government’s $334 million investment will continue until 2025 and is part of a broader commitment to the National Agreement for Closing the Gap.

To view the Minderoo Foundation’s media release Thrive by Five welcomes Federal Government’s $334 million investment in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Early Education click here.

WA Cultural Treasures Award recipients

The WA Clutural Treasures Awards (previously known as the State Living Treasures Awards) were inaugurated in 1998 to honour senior WA artists who have made a lifelong contribution to their art form and their community. The awards acknowledge the ability of recipients to engage, move, involve and entertain audiences and honour the skill, imagination and originality of the artist.

The WA awards were again presented in 2004 and 2015 to honour and celebrate the diversity, talent and richness of a new group of individual artists. A distinguished panel selected recipients based on their exceptional level of artistic skill and dedication to developing their particular art form, their contribution in teaching and collaborating with other artists, as well as a demonstrated long- term involvement in the arts in WA.

The 2022 State Cultural Treasures Awards have seen a new category of community impact being introduced, acknowledging the impact community arts organisations have within their communities and on WA as a whole. Below is a video of one of the eight State Cultural Treasures 2022 award recipients, Jabbir Jabirr and Djugan Kimberley Lawman, Wayne Jowandi Barker, in the Community Impact – Individual category.

To view the Government of WA Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries article State Cultural Treasures 2022 in full click here.

55 days left for wellbeing budget consultation

The health sector, and particularly the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health sector with its holistic approach to addressing the cultural and social determinants of health and wellbeing, has much to contribute to Treasury’s consultation on developing Wellbeing Budgets. As of 7 December 2022 Treasury’s website says there are only “56 days left to have your say” on the “Measuring what Matters” framework, outlined in the recent Federal Budget.

The framework is an opportunity to address climate concerns and the social determinants of health, a Consumers Health Forum (CHF) of Australia event was told recently. Melissa Le Mesurier, who MC-d the event, reports below. More than 30 members of CHF recently examined the opportunities and risks posed by the Australian Government’s proposed Wellbeing Budget.

“The forum was designed to help organisations, particularly in the health and social service sectors, shape their submissions to Treasury on how Australia might better measure what matters,” CHF CEO Dr Elizabeth Deveny said.“For those countries that already have wellbeing frameworks, the policy areas covered include income, employment, education, environment, personal safety and health. These are all social determinants of health and CHF has been actively involved in policy discussions around each of these issues. Submissions to Treasury close on Thursday 31 January 2023 so there is limited time to consider this important and broad-reaching topic,” Deveny said.

To read the Croakey Health Media article With just 56 days left on wellbeing budget consultation, putting some issues and questions on the radar in full click here.

Amazing race to walk away from smoking

A swarm of people in white shirts could be seen running around Coonamble last Wednesday 30 November 2022, twelve teams took on the Amazing Race challenge as a part of Quit B Fit’s ‘Walking away from Smoking and Vaping’ day. Quit B Fit works in partnership with the Wellington Aboriginal Corporation Health Service (WACHS) to reach Close the Gap targets.

More specifically, Quit B Fit focuses on ‘Tackling Indigenous Smoking’, through a series of community health promotion days like the Amazing Race challenge. Australia has been fighting the smoking habit for decades now, and while there is still progress to be made, it’s a battle we’re slowly winning.

In 2021, the Cancer Council found that 38% of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population are daily smokers, compared to the national average of 11.6%. As concerning as this statistic may seem, it is still a far cry from the 53.1% of Indigenous Australians that smoked in 2002 – that’s a 15% reduction over twenty years! Smoking in Coonamble is also significantly higher than the national average; a study from the University of NSW in 2015 found that 24.5% of Coonamble smoked daily – compared to a national average of 15%.

To view the Western Plains App article Amazing Race to walk away from smoking in full click 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.