• How will the Voice help close the gap?
• Anniversary of the Apology to the Stolen Generations
• $242m for second CTG Implementation Plan
• Needs cannot be met without Indigenous Voices
• Sector Jobs

The NACCHO Daily Health News is platform we use to showcase the important work being done in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health focusing on the work of NACCHO, NACCHO members and NACCHO affiliates.

We also share a curated selection of news stories that are of likely interest to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health sector, broadly. The content included in these new stories are not necessarily NACCHO endorsed.

How will the Voice close the gap?

y and Coalition of Peaks Lead Convenor and NACCHO CEO Pat Turner and Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burne spoke on ABC News last night about specific actions required on investments in Closing the Gap in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, and how the Voice to parliament will help close the gap.

Click here to watch the interview on ABC News in full.

Anniversary of the Apology to the Stolen Generations

In a speech yesterday marking the 15th anniversary of The Apology to the Stolen Generations, Minister for Indigenous Australians, The Hon Linder Burney MP read out a verse from the late great Archie Roach’s song “Took the Children Away” which was first performed more than 33 year ago. Minister Burney said “Archie spoke of a truth that for many years was denied. Denied by governments. And denied by parliaments. Children were removed from their families because of the colour of their skin. And it was governments that did it. Most Australians did not know of this reality. For decades there was a stubborn silence. While many of those removed suffered a private pain of unbearable loss. It was and is one the darkest chapters in our history.”

Minister Burney went on to speak about the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Deaths in Custody which found that of the 99 deaths it investigated 43 were of people who were separated from their families and the subsequent 1997 Bringing Them Home report which took evidence from hundreds of people from across the country. A key recommendation of the Bringing Them Home report was for an apology to be given by governments.

Minister Burney then spoke of the Closing The Gap Implementation Plan and the government’s commitment to work in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through the Coalition of Peaks towards achieving the targets and priority reforms of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.

You can access Minister Burney’s speech in full published in The National Tribune here.

Linda Burney made the comments during an event in Canberra marking the anniversary of the apology. Image source: ABC News: Matt Roberts, file.

$242m for second CTG Implementation Plan

The Federal Government will spend over $420 million to provide clean water, food security and housing to Indigenous Australians.

The next step in the government’s Closing the Gap implementation plan accompanies the Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peak Organisations (Coalition of Peaks) annual implementation plan.

Minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, says that “foundational work” has been completed over the past two years, and “now we can really turn our efforts towards real action and real change”.

“We saw the outcomes in the 2022 Closing the Gap Annual Report and know that we need to be doing more as a government,” Ms Burney said.

“Our measures are going to be more specific and more targeted, making real impacts that complement work underway in states and territories, and back-in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations to lead work in their communities.”

The Coalition of Peaks lead convenor and chief executive of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, Pat Turner, says the funding will help accelerate reforms.

“We have decades of underinvestment in our communities and organisations to be addressed and this funding will go some way to overturning that,” she said.

The funding is set to be delivered through formal partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and communities, with support from state, territory and local governments.

The above new story was published yesterday on the Local GovernmentCareer website under the title Gap goals backed further, and is available here.

Image source: Local Government Career website.

Needs cannot be met without Indigenous voices

Opponents of an Indigenous Voice to parliament say the Voice is merely symbolic and another pointless layer of bureaucracy. They say that what is needed are “practical measures”.

However decades of government-led “practical measures” have achieved little measurable progress and in some cases, caused considerable harm to Indigenous communities. So the question is, will the Voice, in delivering Indigenous perspectives direct to parliament, make any practical difference to outcomes for Indigenous peoples?

Indigenous people have long been calling for more Indigenous-informed solutions. The current debate on alcohol bans in the NTis just one recent example.

Our research has found including the perspectives of Indigenous people can disrupt long-held assumptions behind previously accepted policy measures. This indicates mechanisms such as the Voice could help deliver better policy by building better understanding of Indigenous affairs.

The above is an excerpt from the article Our research has shown Indigenous peoples’ needs cannot be understood and met, without Indigenous voices published in The Conversation today. To view the article in full click here. You can also listen to Stolen Generation survivor Judith Kelly here as she reflects on the 15th anniversary of the National Apology.

South West woman and survivor of the stolen generation Judith Kelly reflects on the 15th anniversary of then-prime minister Kevin Rudd’s historic apology. Photo. Zoe Keenan, ABC News.

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.