Monthly Archives:

17 March 2023

feature tile photo of front of Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health & Community Services; text '$10m infrastructure funding will support critical role ACCHOs play in improving health outcomes'

The image in the feature tile of the new Winnunga Nimmityjhah Aboriginal Health and Community Services’ purpose-built facility opened in mid-2022. Image source: article Winnunga health service comes a long way from the Tent Embassy published in CBR City News on 10 July 2022.

The NACCHO Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health News is a 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.

$10m to improve health infrastructure

The Australian Government is enhancing First Nations health infrastructure, making available $10 million for repairs, maintenance and upgrades to health clinics and infrastructure across Australia. The latest round of grants to eligible Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS), through the Service Maintenance Program (SMP), will enhance the safety of, and access to primary health care—particularly in remote and very remote communities.

It means Indigenous Australians will have better access to high quality, fit for purpose, culturally appropriate health care. Improvements to accommodation will also help to attract and retain clinical staff in communities across Australia. The SMP is a partnership through the Australian Government’s Indigenous Australians’ Health Programme, co-designed with NACCHO working with the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service (ACCHS) sector. More information about the SMP grant opportunity can be found on GrantConnect.

Applications opened this week on 16 March 2023 and close on Thursday 27 April 2023.

NACCHO CEO Pat Turner said “This funding supports the critical role that ACCHOs play and the contribution they make every day in improving health outcomes for our people. I am pleased to see that this funding is being delivered in line with the Priority Reforms in the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, where programs and services are developed in genuine partnerships with our people and funding is invested to build the Aboriginal community-controlled sector. The infrastructure funding need in our sector remains a critical pressure-point and NACCHO will continue to advocate for increased funding for our sector.”

To view the joint media release $10 million to improve health infrastructure in Indigenous communities by Senator the Hon Malarndirri McCarthy, Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australian and Assistant Minister for Indigenous Health and Pat Turner AM, NACCHO CEO click here.

Albury Wodonga Aboriginal Health Service (AWAHS). Image source: AWAHS website.

ACCHO partners with MooGoo to fight RHD

The Yarrabah Aboriginal community has been working with Australian skin care brand MooGoo to try and stamp out Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) with the MooGoo Prevent RHD Project. RHD is a devastating but preventable condition that often starts with skin sores that get infected. Of the 4,000 people living in the Aboriginal community of Yarrabah, at least 129 people have RHD. The community’s residents live in just over 400 homes in difficult living conditions which can be cramped, with limited access to safe water and sanitary conditions. RHD is a disease of poverty and disadvantage, caused primarily by overcrowding and unhealthy housing.

The partnership with MooGoo is assisting the Yarrabah community battle skin sores that can lead to RHD. MooGoo donated a year’s worth of its body wash for every household in Yarrabah. Initially the partnership with MooGoo was for 12 months and allowed access for all community members to MooGoo Body Milk Wash. Recently this offer was extended under the MooGoo customer donation/support campaign.

In collaboration with Gurriny Yealamucka Health Services Aboriginal Corporation, refill stations of the Milk Wash are now easily accessible in community hubs, schools and sports clubs in the area. Maddy Dodd, child health team leader Gurriny Yealamucka Health Services Aboriginal Corporation, said: “We know that skin sores are common in Yarrabah. If we can prevent the infection from occurring at the beginning, and prevent the skin sores, we can help reduce the devastating effects of rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease in our communities.”

To view the National Indigenous Times article Aboriginal health service’s partnership with MooGoo making strides in fight against Rheumatic Heart Disease in full click here.

3 ATSI men on horses accessing MooGoo refill station in street, Yarrabah

A refill station in Yarrabah. Image source: National Indigenous Times.

PSA backs embedding pharmacists in ACCHOs

Yesterday on National Close the Gap Day, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) issued a media release saying all pharmacists have a responsibility to provide health care that is culturally responsive and safe for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. The their media release the PSA specifically refers to a key recommendation arising from PSA’s Medicine Safety: Rural and Remote Care report: that pharmacists should be embedded within ACCHOs to deliver targeted and culturally safe care, improve medicine adherence and to address polypharmacy and other quality use of medicine issues. The recommendation aligns with the National Agreement on Closing the Gap Priority Reform Two, which focuses on building the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled sector.

The PSA said while ad-hoc funding provides some support for pharmacists to provide services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, there is a lack of discrete funding to support the integration of pharmacists within the primary care team of ACCHOs. Despite this, and in co-design with the NACCHO, PSA has released the Deadly Pharmacists Foundation Training Course. designed to equip all pharmacists with the skills to deliver culturally sensitive care to First Nations people. So far more than 770 pharmacists have enrolled to undertake the course, indicating a strong desire across the profession to better meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

To view the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia’s media release Statement on National Close the Gap Day click here.

Pene Wood, Pharmacist, Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative Health Servicesand Alice Nugent, Pharmacist Advisor, NACCHO

Pene Wood, Pharmacist, Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative Health Services
and Alice Nugent, Pharmacist Advisor, NACCHO. Image source: NACCHO ACCHO Medicines Management Guidelines V1.0 2022.

RACGP says participatory decision making is critical

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) is backing calls for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led decision-making and self-determination to boost health outcomes across the nation. The RACGP said the Close the Gap Campaign Report 2023: Strong Culture Strong Youth: Our Legacy, Our Future, launched yesterday on National Close the Gap Day, raises awareness of Australia’s ongoing need for healthcare equity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and the importance of participatory decision making and culture in developing effective approaches to health.

Dr Karen Nicholls, Chair of the RACGP Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health faculty, said GPs and practice teams have a key role to play in improving health equity in Australia. “There is real benefit to approaching health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from a strengths-based approach,” she said. “Communities identifying what their health priorities are and how to address and manage these priorities can only improve health outcomes. That can be achieved through programs that support young people’s emotional wellbeing and mental health and reinforce the value of culture.”

Dr Nicholls said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people need to be involved in the design of any approaches to their health to create effective programs and avoid replicating issues that have acted as barriers to health equity. “Key actions for closing the gap include collaborative, co-designed programs and understanding the importance and value of self-determination,” she said. “Healthcare that is both clinically and culturally safe should be seen as a human rights approach. Achieving equitable health outcomes cannot be accomplished without addressing the impact of racism both for our patients and our clinicians.”

To view the RACGP media release RACGP: Closing the Gap requires collaboration with and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people media release in full click here.

RACGP logo & text 'RACGP' on awning of office building

Image source: RACGP newsGP.

Calls for increased stroke awareness initiatives

Stroke Foundation is calling for increased stroke awareness initiatives to prevent unnecessary death and disability in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Stroke Foundation Interim Executive Officer, Dr Lisa Murphy said it’s time to bridge the divide in health outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. “The statistics are shocking. We know Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are 1.5 times more likely to die from stroke than non-Indigenous Australians, and stroke is the sixth leading cause of death in Indigenous Australia,” Dr Murphy said.

Dr Murphy said “Communities need to be empowered to protect themselves. Stroke is a serious medical emergency which requires urgent medical attention, and we need to work so that more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are able to recognise the signs of stroke and know what to do when stroke strikes. We believe everyone has the chance to lead a healthy life. More must be done to educate people about stroke prevention and awareness in the community.” Dr Murphy said more than 80% of strokes are preventable by managing health conditions like high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and high cholesterol.

To view The National Tribune article Time to Close Gap on Indigenous health in full click here. You can also access the Stroke Foundation’s Our Stroke Journey booklet, a dedicated national resource for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples here.

cover of the Stroke Foundation Our Stroke Journey Helping our mob after stroke booklet, drawing of blood blockage in brain; Justin, survivor of stroke & proud Noongar man

Clockwise: Our Stroke Journey – Helping our mob after stroke booklet, image of a stroke from the booklet; Justin, survivor of stroke and proud Noongar man. Image source: Stroke Foundation.

Landmark summit of First Nations women

Registrations for the most significant national gathering of First Nations women from Countries across Australia have opened. This historic vent is set to inform a range of new approaches for advancing the rights, health, safety, wellbeing and economic opportunities of First Nations women and girls. Delivered by the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), the Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices) National Summit will be held at the National Convention Centre in Canberra on Ngunnawal and Ngambri country from 9 – 11 May 2023, with a Youth Forum preceding the Summit on 8 May 2023.

Wiyi Yani U Thangani, means ‘women’s voices’ in the Bunuba language from Western Australia’s Kimberley region. The national summit is designed for First Nations women to speak on their own terms to government, policymakers and service providers about addressing issues affecting First Nations women and children. With over 650 delegates expected to attend from across the continent, the Summit will showcase innovative approaches and initiatives led by First Nations women, and will feature three days of engaging discussion, workshops and presentations across a variety of topics. Key thematic areas include self-determination, societal healing, intergenerational wellbeing, economic justice and empowerment. There will also be a range of networking events and activities.

Both supported and paid registrations are available. A number of sponsored delegates will be supported with registration and travel to attend the event. The purpose of sponsoring delegates is to ensure a broad range of First Nations women from across regional, rural, remote and urban Australia can participate in the Summit and have their voices heard.

Applications for delegate sponsorship, which can be made on the event site here, must be received by 5:00 PM AEDT on Wednesday 29 March 2023. Program information is available here.

To view the Australian Human Rights Commission article Commission opens registrations for landmark summit of First Nations women in full click here.

tile text: Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women's Voices) National Summit We Are The Change. Tue3s 9 - Thurs 11 May 2023 National Convention Centre - Canberra

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.

16 March 2023

feature tile, image of Australian and Aboriginal flags flying; text '2023 Close the Gap Campaign Report highlights essential role of ATSI-led decision-making and self-determination

The image in the feature tile is a photo taken by Lukas Coch/AAP published in The Guardian on 8 October 2020.

The NACCHO Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health News is a 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.

2023 CTG report calls for greater and faster change

This years 2023 Close the Gap (CTG) Campaign Report was launched earlier today at the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council (AH&MRC) in Little Bay Sydney. The theme this year is, ‘Strong Culture, Strong Youth: Our Legacy Our Future’ which highlights the essential role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led decision-making and self-determination in shaping a vision of health and wellbeing built upon a strong cultural foundation.

You can download the report here and watch a video of the launch using this link. You can also watch a short ABC News video Close the Gap report calls for greater and faster change here.

A bit of history. . .

The CTG Campaign is an independent, Indigenous-led campaign that calls on political leaders from all levels of government to take action on health and life expectancy equity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. It is separate to Closing the Gap, which is an Australian Government strategy.

The CTG Campaign, launched in 2006 to address the unacceptable gap in life expectancy and other health indicators between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians, helped influence the establishment of the Joint Council on Closing the Gap, and the formation of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap in July 2020.

The Campaign is made up of 52 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous health, NGO and human rights organisations. More than 200,000 Australians have signed a pledge supporting the Campaign.

cover of the Close the Gap Campaign Report 2023; 9 photos of ATSI people/children; text 'Strong Culture, Strong Youth: Our Legacy, Our Future

Early Years Strategy must focus on equity and justice

Experts in child and family health are developing submissions for the Federal Government’s new Early Years Strategy, which it says will “shape its vision for the future of Australia’s children and their families”. Among a number of groups who have shared their concerns and priorities the Australian College of Nursing (ACN) is concerned the early focus of the strategy “does not demonstrate a health equity lens”. We note the verdict on that is mixed. The ACN points to the Discussion Paper’s aim that a national Strategy “will seek to ensure that all children, wherever they live, enjoy the same opportunities to learn, develop and thrive.”

The ACN says “this is not a health equity lens. Instead, it assumes all children, irrespective of class, culture and context, require the same opportunities. This ignores some of the children who need this most, like those children that have different abilities or grow up in specific cultural contexts like First Nations children.”

Maybe the Federal Government should also be turning a sharp eye on all the policies, programs and, of course, politics that are currently causing major harm to young people in Australia, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, and/or threaten to further entrench inequity.

To view the Croakey Health Media article As governments entrench disadvantage, will Australia’s Early Years Strategy focus on equity and justice? in full click here.tile purple, lime green, pink, orange; text Australian Government The Early Years Strategy in white font & Australian Coat of Arms

First podcast for mob with disabilities

Having to learn how to walk and talk again after an incident left him in an induced coma, Bernard Namok, a proud St Paul, Badu, and Erub Torres Strait Islander man, is now advocating for Indigenous people living with disabilities in the Far North. Mr Namok is teaming up with the First Peoples Disability Network (FPDN) to help empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders with a focus on giving a voice to the voiceless. Today, on National Closing the Gap Day, Mr Namok and the FPDN launched a first-ever podcast dedicated to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living with disabilities.

Mr Namok said one of the barriers facing people with disabilities from Indigenous communities is simply knowing what help is out there and how to access it. “Creating the podcast was about finding a way to get information to people who may be living in remote areas in places like Thursday Island where I grew up, as well as telling their stories,” he said

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has found that almost a quarter (24%) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia living in households lived with a disability with 8.8% living with a profound or severe limitation.

The above story featured in the Herald Sun article First podcast for First Nations people with disabilities launches published earlier today.

Bernard Namok, TSI disability advocate

Bernard has been working in disability advocacy in Cairns after previously working in radio broadcasting in the NT.

Culture + Kinship program has positive outcomes

Yesterday the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) launched the groundbreaking Culture + Kinship program evaluation report in the lead up to today’s National Close the Gap Day. VACCHO noted that last year’s Closing The Gap report data and the Coroners Court of Victoria suicide Report in February this year provided “unmistakable evidence” that the devastating gaps in health and wellbeing outcomes between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous Victorians continue to blight health equality in Victoria.

VACCHO said its Culture + Kinship Report demonstrates that by focusing on the cultural determinants of health, “there are constructive approaches that can be taken to close the gaps in health and wellbeing disadvantage”. The report notes that through the Culture + Kinship program, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have been able to re-connect with Community, Culture and Country.

VACCHO said “The Culture + Kinship program was uniquely Community driven with a flexible funding model that empowered Communities to lead the way with their own solutions in the form of self-determined, locally led programs.” VACCHO also said a social return on investment analysis showed the program “produced significant value for its stakeholders, with Community Members benefiting especially through reconnecting with Community, Culture and Country, and in doing so, experiencing a range of positive health and wellbeing outcomes”.

To view the National Indigenous Times article Aboriginal-led Culture + Kinship program makes breakthroughs in health and wellbeing in full click here.

Budja Budja Yarning Circle

Budja Budja Yarning Circle

Scholarship helps Palm Is AHW realise dream

A young Indigenous woman awarded a scholarship to study nursing at Mater Private Hospital Townsville is realising a dream to follow in her family’s footsteps. “My grandma is a twin and she and her sister worked at Mater for many years as registered nurses,” said Tehanna Tanerau-Love, who works part-time as a health worker on Palm Island.

Ms Tanerau-Love, 20, a Yorta Yorta woman with Māori ties, said she had a number of great role models. “My other grandma is a CEO of an Aboriginal community-controlled health organisation and my sister is a social worker,” she said.

Ms Tanerau-Love said the Indigenous scholarship to study a Diploma of Nursing at Mater would help her connect with her community and provide the opportunity to give back to her mob. “My ultimate goal is to work in remote and rural Aboriginal communities to have a meaningful impact on people’s lives,” she said.

The above story featured yesterday in the Cairns Post article Palm Island health-worker Tehanna Tanerau-Love to become nurse at Mater Townsville.

Tehanna Tanerau-Love in hospital room

Young North Queensland woman Tehanna Tanerau-Love has been awarded an Indigenous scholarship to study a Diploma of Nursing at Mater Private Hospital Townsville. Image source: Cairns Post.

Pioneering Cape ear health program gaining traction

The Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service Integrated Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) program, launched as a pilot in 2021 to target hearing problems in Cape York and the Torres Strait, is seeing exponential growth, with the number of patients seen almost doubling within 12 months.

The team includes a GP with specialist ENT training, a senior ENT nurse, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Worker, an audiologist and a speech pathologist who travel to 13 remote communities across the region. They treat both children and adults, predominantly for hearing issues, but also with other ear, nose and throat conditions. The team saw more than 1,300 patients during 2022, well up from the 861 seen in 2021.

A further $1.6m of state government funding has been committed to the program over 18 months which will allow for additional staff to support the huge growth. Senior audiologist Kristen Tregenza said she believed the project’s success was due to the culturally-appropriate service they were providing, with patients now seeking them out instead of learning about them via referral. She said most of the hearing conditions being seen and treated were caused by treatable ear infections. “It is well documented that remoteness, lower socio-economic living and all the things that come with that – access to nutritious foods, housing conditions, exposure to passive cigarette smoke – significantly increase the number of ear infections, severity and recovery time,” she said. “It is all preventable.”

To view the Cape York Weekly article Pioneering program launched in Cape gaining traction in full click here.

Kowanyama’s Naveen Accoom getting his ears tested by Dr Stephen Johnston

Kowanyama’s Naveen Accoom getting his ears tested by Dr Stephen Johnston as part of the successful ENT program. Image source: Cape York Weekly.

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.

15 March 2023

feature tile text 'NACCHO Chairperson tells conference that Governments need to recognise they do not have the answers; image of Donnella Mills

The image in the feature tile has been extracted from a YouTube video of NACCHO Chair Donnella Mills sharing her message on COIVD-19 and the vaccines in early 2021.

The NACCHO Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health News is a 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.

Genuine engagement needed over consultation

The Australia and NZ School of Government’s (ANZSOG’s) 2023 First Nations Public Administration Conference, held earlier this month, focused on the importance of genuine engagement rather than consultation. Delegates supported a strengths-based approach to policy and programs which recognised First Nations knowledge and culture. The conference was divided into four sessions based around the priority reforms of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. These were: formal partnerships and shared decision-making; building the First Nations community-controlled sector; transforming Government organisations, and shared data and access to information.

Chair of the NACCHO, Donnella Mills told the conference that Governments needed to recognise they did not have the answers, and that Indigenous people would “work harder than anyone else to take care of our people”. She said structural reform was needed to change the way power was distributed. “If the National Agreement on Closing the Gap isn’t on your desk; if you can’t rattle off the priority reforms, if your Agency hasn’t resourced it — you need to lean in, and quickly. We are now in a new way of operating,” Ms Mills said.

The conference featured more than 20 First Nations speakers who discussed the transformation that was happening in First Nations policy. They outlined how approaches that included First Nations knowledge, perspectives and values could serve the wider public and First Nations interests — and how Governments needed to change to better serve First Nations communities.

To view the PS News article ANZSOC conference backs PS Indigenous in full click here.

portrait shots of John Paterson, AMSANT CEO & Robert Skeen, AH&MRC CEO

AMSANT CEO John Paterson and AH&MRC CEO Robert Skeen, were both speakers on Day Two of the conference. Image sources: ANZSOG website and AH&MRC website.

$32m+ for First Nations health research projects

Through the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), nearly 200 ground-breaking medical research projects will share in more than $382m in grants, including more than $32m to improve First Nations health. The projects will help Australia’s outstanding medical researchers, including clinician researchers, discover new ways to diagnose, treat and care for people with a variety of health conditions. They will also support early and mid-career researchers and give more Australians access to clinical trials.

Research projects on cardiovascular disease, primary and preventive health care, respiratory diseases, maternal health, mental health and First Nations health, will receive funding to progress important work.

Two innovative First Nations-led projects to receive funding are:

University of Newcastle – $2m – Gulibaa (Coolamon) Project
This will be a co-designed model of care supporting Aboriginal mothers across NSW to be smoke-free in pregnancy and beyond. The project will co-design, embed in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services, and evaluate a group-based smoking cessation program.

The Sax Institute – $1.5m – Healthy Ageing for Aboriginal people
This project will evaluate the implementation and uptake of prevention programs to support healthy ageing amongst Aboriginal people. The Institute will collaborate with Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services which run holistic and culturally safe preventive healthy ageing programs for their communities.

Of the 193 projects funded, 19 grants worth more than $32.3m are related to First Nations health and a further 13 grants worth more than $16.9m are related to mental health.

To view the Hon Mark Butler MP, Minister for Health and Aged Care’s media release Nearly $400 million for exceptional medical research projects including projects to improve First Nations health in full click here.

Aboriginal woman's hands on pregnant belly; male & 2 female ATSAI Elders, MRFF logo

Image sources: SBS; Aged Care Online website; Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.

Program to help teens get a good night’s sleep

Karen Chong is the world’s first Indigenous sleep coach. “We are the people of the Dreamtime with the oldest continuing culture shaped by dreams, which is why I became a sleep coach and I want to train others,” she said. Mother of seven and grandmother of 10 Ms Chong, a Waanyi Garawa Gangalida woman, knows all too well how much harder parenting can be if your kids aren’t sleeping properly. “If they weren’t having a proper night’s sleep, they were waking up cranky and moody and it affects their eating too,” she said. “The biggest issue I’ve had with my two girls is that they want to stay up all night on their phones – if you’re a parent you’ll know what kids are like.”

The University of Queensland and Beyond Blue have partnered to deliver culturally responsive sleep health services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adolescents in Queensland. Project lead Associate Professor Yaqoot Fatima from UQ’s Poche Centre for Indigenous Health said Indigenous teens experience up to twice the rates of poor sleep as other adolescents. “Poor sleep can be caused by medical conditions like sleep apnoea and restless leg syndrome, or behavioural issues such as an irregular bedtime, late nights, and not getting enough sleep,” she said.

“Indigenous adolescents sleep better when they feel connected to their culture, which is why this program is important.” The 10-week Sleep for Strong Souls program is holding workshops with more than a hundred 12-18-year-olds in north and western Queensland communities.

To view the Kyabram Free Press article Indigenous sleep coach wants a score of 40 winks all in full click here.

ATSI teenage school kids looking at table of Sleep for Strong Souls program resources with coach

The Sleep for Strong Souls program is aiming to help Indigenous teenagers get a good night’s sleep. Image source: Kyabram Free Press.

Conference to examine rural health challenges

The challenges facing the rural health system are well-documented and well-known: difficulty attracting and retaining staff, fewer resources, lack of access to services, and building capacity and resilience in times of disaster and emergency. The 2023 Shoalhaven Rural Health Research Conference aims to unpack many of these issues, and more, while focusing on how to improve rural health services through collaboration, research and innovation.

The inaugural, nation-wide conference will be held at the University of Wollongong’s (UOW) Shoalhaven Campus on Saturday 18 March 2023 with a theme of Connection and Capacity Building. Associate Professor Marlene Longbottom ,a proud Yuin woman from Roseby Park (Jerrinja) Mission in the Shoalhaven, will deliver the keynote address, titled ‘Connection and Country’.

As Principal Research Fellow at the Ngarruwan Ngadju First Peoples Health and Wellbeing Research Centre at UOW, Associate Professor Longbottom has worked extensively in the health and human services sector with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities from urban, regional and remote areas of New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory. The keynote address will be followed by a series of workshops on the rural health and research landscape, hosted by UOW academics and primary healthcare professional across the fields of dietetics and nutrition, nursing, medicine and Indigenous health.

To view the University of Wollongong Australia article Inaugural conference to examine acute challenges facing rural health system in full click here.

portrait of Associate Professor Marlene Longbottom, University of Wollongong

Associate Professor Marlene Longbottom. Image source: LinkedIn.

Scholarship opportunities for First Nations nurses

As part of the Australian College of Nursing’s (ACN) commitment to advancing the nursing profession, the ACN Foundation has just released scholarships, grants and awards exclusively available to First Nations nurses to advance their nursing careers. Applications for the below scholarships are now open:

Graduate Certificate Nursing Scholarship, Sponsored by Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies – 20 scholarships are available for registered nurses to undertake selected ACN Graduate Certificate courses including Cancer Nursing, Community and Primary Health Care Nursing, Critical Care Nursing, Digital Health, Leadership and Management, Orthopaedic Nursing or Perioperative Nursing. Of the twenty available, five scholarships will be allocated to First Nations nurses and five will be allocated to nurses working in rural and remote areas of Australia.

Graduate Certificate Scholarships for First Nations nurses, Sponsored by HESTA – two scholarships are available for First Nations registered nurses to complete an ACN Graduate Certificate course of their choice out of ACN’s Graduate Certificate in Leadership and Management, Aged Care Nursing, Perioperative Nursing, Critical Care Nursing or Community and Primary Health Care Nursing, commencing in July 2023.

If you are not at a career stage to apply for a postgraduate nursing scholarship, discover ACN’s scholarships for undergraduates, nursing leadership courses, research and more on their website here.

Applications close 11:59 PM AEDT – Monday 3 April 2023. To apply click here.

Australian College of Nursing Foundation Grants and Awards, HESTA tile; text 'Graduate Certificate Scholarships for First Nations Nurses; photo of ATSI female student

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.

National Close the Gap Day

National Close the Gap Day is being held tomorrow, Thursday 16 March 2023, to raise community awareness about health inequalities facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. In the SBS News – News in Depth broadcast Health differences for First Nations people targets on Close the Gap Day,available here, Karl Briscoe, CEO of the National Association of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioners (NAATSIHWP) said “we believe the Close the Gap campaign priority reform areas are the biggest areas that will get the better gains that are required to close the gap”. Mr Briscoe said First Nations people must have access to appropriate housing, he said that with “Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) a fix that can be done straight away is adequate housing, we know that overcrowding is a huge component of RHD being prevalent within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and it is really quite solvable by having adequate housing.”

In this broadcast, Dr Thalia Anthony, University of Sydney Law Professor commented on the National Agreement on Closing the Gap target of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults and young people not being overrepresented in the criminal justice system.

banner SBS News, News in Depth, text: Health differences for First Nations people targeted on Close the Gap Day; image of Uni of Sydney Law Professor Thalia Anthony

University of Sydney Law Professor Thalia Anthony. Image source: SBS News.

14 March 2023

feature tile ATSI mum looking down on premature twin babies on her chest; text: preterm birth prevention program hopes to provide a roadmap for improved outcomes

The image in the feature tile is from an article GLU test expands to benefit Aboriginal mothers published on the Women & Infants Research Foundation website.

The NACCHO Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health News is a 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.

Closing the gap in preterm birth rates

Rates of early birth continue to disproportionately impact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island women and their newborns. Recent Closing the Gap data showed that the official target for healthy birthweights for babies has gone from being “on track” to “not on track”. Now, an innovative preterm birth prevention program led out of the NT is taking aim at this unacceptable disparity and the hope is that it will provide “a roadmap for improved outcomes” for all First Nations women and their children. Dr Kiarna Brown, Jess Murray and Marisa Smiler-Cairns are a team based in Garramilla (Darwin), on Larrakia Country, that make up the Top End chapter of the Australian Preterm Birth Prevention Alliance.

They note that preterm birth remains the leading cause of death in children up to five years of age. “The national average rate of preterm birth in Australia has remained relatively constant over the last 10 years (between 8.1 and 8.7%). Many of these babies lose their fight for life,” the Australian Preterm Birth Prevention Alliance noted in a statement. “In 2018, there were twice as many preterm live born babies born to First Nations mothers (17%) than to non-Aboriginal mothers (8%).” The biggest discrepancy is in the extremely preterm gestational age. First Nations women in the NT are four times more likely to lose a baby between 20 and 23 weeks gestational age: before the baby even gets a chance to survive.

Pregnancy can be a particularly vulnerable time for First Nations women, especially for those with pre-existing medical conditions such as diabetes and cardiac conditions like Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD). Dr Kiarna Brown said there have been some key improvements in outcomes for First Nations women over the past decade. There has been a notable increase in the proportion of First Nations mothers attending an antenatal visit in the first trimester (from 49% in 2012 to 70% in 2020).”

To view the National Indigenous News article The First Nations health experts working to give Indigenous babies the best possible start in life in full click here.

Top End Alliance: Jessica Murray, Marisa Smiler-Cairns, and Dr Kiarna Brown

Top End Alliance: Jessica Murray, Marisa Smiler-Cairns, and Dr Kiarna Brown. Image source: National Indigenous Times.

Karlie one of growing number of Aboriginal doctors

For most of Karlie James’s life, studying medicine was a “pipedream”. Then she grew up, started working full time and had kids of her own, and she felt that dream slipping away. “Part of the reason why I wanted to become a doctor when I was little was that my passion was science and learning and wanting to help people,” she said. Then, around the time the Gunaikurnai, Yorta Yorta and Kuku Djungan woman turned 30 and had her third son, she reached a turning point. Growing up between Darwin and Katherine in the NT, she realised becoming a doctor was something she had to do.

“It became more apparent as I got older in the workforce, how much of an impact it would [have] to create more Indigenous doctors, especially in the community,” she said. “And that was one of my driving motivators to pursue medicine.” Having graduated from the Flinders University NT medicine program late last year, Dr James is now among the 0.5% of doctors in Australia who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. But that figure, which is recorded each year by the Australian Health Practitioners Agency (AHPRA), is slowly shifting and is up from 0.3% in 2016.

Also shifting is the understanding that in order to close the gap in health outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, Australia needs more First Nations doctors.

To view the ABC News article Karlie James is among the growing number of First Nations doctors working to tackle the health care gap in full click here.

Dr Karlie James walking with her 4 sons

Dr James completed her degree while caring for her four sons, as well as her nephews and nieces. Photo: Dane Hirst, ABC News.

Healing walk to honour those lost to suicide

This week, for the very first time, a group of First Nations and non-Indigenous people will take a walk along the Murrumbidgee River in memory of loved ones they have lost to suicide. The walk has been called Murra Yarra, which means ‘Speak Out, Speak Loud’ in Wiradjuri language. Organiser Jasmine Williams hopes it gives families with the chance to think of the good memories with those who have passed away.

“It’s the first time anything like this has ever been done in this community,” the Wiradjuri and Wolgalu woman said. “It’s an opportunity to have a positive spin on our grief and be able to really focus on the goodness, and the good memories of their lives instead of focusing on the way they passed.” Ms Williams is hosting Murra Yarra through the youth suicide prevention community action group Yamandhu Marang (‘Are You Well’), after Wiradjuri Elder Uncle Hewitt Whyman came to her with the idea. He said he had a vision of people coming together in their grief, and encouraged everyone experiencing similar losses to share with others in their sorrow.

When they heard about the walk Riverina Medical and Dental Aboriginal Corporation got involved and decided to sponsor the event. Practice manage Jane Kearnes said they’ve helped organise a barbecue at the end of the walk at the Wiradjuri Reserve, as well as bucket hats and water stations along the track. “I applaud Jasmine and the other committees for getting this up and running,” she said. “Something like this might encourage others to speak out more and not be silent.” According to data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Indigenous suicide were more than double that of non-Indigenous suicides in 2021.

For more information on the walk you can access the Yamandhu Marang Facebook page here.

Jasmine Williams, sitting on rock under tree on bank of river

Murra Yarra organiser Jasmine Williams says the healing walk is a chance for those grieving to remember their loved ones. Photo: Madeline Begley. Image source: The Daily Advertiser.

Healthy food in remote NT a priority

The NT government has a long way to go in their efforts to address obesity and create healthier food environments, according to the latest scorecard of government performance on food policy. The Food Policy Index, first developed and implemented in 2017, benchmarks Australian governments on their implementation of globally recommended policies to improve population diets. Professor Gary Sacks from Deakin University’s Institute for Health Transformation who compiled the most recent report said greater policy action was required by the NT government.

“Supporting efforts to establish a licensing and accreditation scheme for healthy food retail in remote Indigenous communities needs to be one of the top priorities for the NT government.” Professor Sacks said a key recommendation from the 2020 Parliamentary Inquiry into Food Pricing and Food Security in Remote Indigenous Communities was the need for a licensing and inspection scheme for all remote stores. “The Healthy Stores 2020 study showed that restrictions on price promotion and product placement of unhealthy foods and drinks resulted in 1.8 tonnes less sugar being sold from 10 stores over 12 weeks while not impacting store profits,” Professor Sacks said.

“If this was extrapolated out across all remote stores over a year, the reduction could be as much as 90 tonnes a year, which equates to the weight of 60 medium sized family cars. Modelling suggests that this reduction in sugar could result in a 10% risk reduction in mortality from cardiovascular disease.”

To view the Deakin University media release Healthy food retail in remote NT communities identified as top priority click here and the Joint Policy Statement of The Coalition for Healthy Remote Stores on the Northern Territory Remote Stores Program here.

inside Peppimenarti grocery store, NT

Peppimenarti store, NT. Image source: C&I Media.

AMA urges action to save patients on PBS medicines

The AMA has urged all members of the Federal Parliament to support the AMA’s campaign to bring down out-of-pocket costs of medicines for patients and relieve cost of living pressures. It says implementation of a five-year-old recommendation of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) would save patients up to $180 a year on selected PBS medicines.

AMA President Professor Steve Robson has written to all MPs and Senators, calling on their support for the Federal Government to immediately implement a recommendation from the independent PBAC to increase the maximum dispensed quantities of selected PBS items from one month’s supply to two months’ supply per dispensing. This would also allow up to 12 months’ supply in total from a single script, saving patients an extra trip to their doctor.

Professor Robson said increasing out-of-pocket costs of medicines was a key reason many Australians delayed or failed to fill prescriptions. He said although the Government’s recent policy to lower co-payments for patients to $30 was a good move, many patients still faced significant costs and more needed to be done to lower PBS medicine costs for patients. “Pensioners and concession card holders would be among those to benefit, recognising the recent reduction in the PBS co-payment to $30 did not apply to them. It would free-up GP consultations with the possibility for GPs to write what is effectively a 12-month prescription for these particular medications. This is time GPs could spend with other patients who, we know, can benefit from the preventative health care GPs provide.”

To view the AMA’s media release AMA urges immediate action to save patients on PBS medicines in full click here.

AMA President Professor Steve Robson

AMA President Professor Steve Robson. Image source: The Age.

Breakthrough partnership to benefit remote communities

A breakthrough partnership between Hoops 4 Health and the Center for Healing and Justice through Sport will see some of the NT’s most remote communities benefit from access to trauma-informed and culturally-informed and healing-centred training. Founder of Hoops4Health, Timmy Duggan OAM, is the man behind the vision to re-empower young people and communities to improved their quality of life.

Mr Duggan has maternal ties with Tennant Creek mob from Warramungu and paternal ties to the Nykinya people of the Kimberley, and has been working with communities across the NT for two decades. He said the move to combine First Nations-led healing with trauma-informed care emerged through Hoops 4 Health staff receiving training under Dr Bruce Perry’s Neurosequential Network model.

“We have partnered with The Center for Healing and Justice Through Sport (CHJS) who offers training to help folks understand the impact of overwhelming stress, or trauma, on young people and equips them with skills to take action to support these young people,” Mr Duggan said. “This partnership just really solidifies that sometimes you’ve got to bring in an expert you know, we’ve got the First Nations knowledge. Blend that with the science around the neuroscience to address trauma in our communities and the places we work and we think we’ve got something pretty unique.”

To view the National Indigenous Times article Hoops 4 Health and The Center for Healing and Justice through Sport form partnership in full click here.

basketball star Nate Jawai with a young rising star shooting for goal

Basketball star Nate Jawai with a young rising star. Image source: National Indigenous Times.

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.

10 March 2023

feature tile text 'concrete action is needed to address health disparities in systemic, rigorous way

The image in the feature tile is of Francine Eades, Area Director of Aboriginal Health at WA’s East Metropolitan Health Service. Image source: article Minang Noongar health expert leads major health service’s mission to close the gap published in the National Indigenous Times on 9 March 2023.

The NACCHO Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health News is a 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.

Concrete action needed to address disparities

Health services need to take “rigorous action” to Close the Gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australia, the new Area Director of Aboriginal Health at WA’s key East Metropolitan Health Service said yesterday. Minang Noongar woman Francine Eades, who took on the role after leading WA’s COVID-19 vaccine roll out in Aboriginal communities, said it was time for “uncomfortable discussions” about racism and other issues affecting Aboriginal Australia.

“We know what the epidemiology of Aboriginal health tells us – we know about those disparities that have existed for quite some time,” Ms Eades said. “We have to acknowledge it and take concrete action to address those disparities in a systemic and rigorous way. It’s time to have some of those uncomfortable conversations about racism and how we are going to address it.” Ms Eades was speaking at a ceremony in Perth to mark her appointment.

Ms Eades has more than 30 years’ experience in the health sector, including 20 years as a registered nurse, and has a Master of Public Health in Applied Epidemiology obtained under the supervision of now Australian Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly. Ms Eades is also a past chairperson of the Derbarl Yerrigan Health Service and worked as an academic at the Curtin University Centre for Aboriginal Studies and the Curtin Medical School.

To view the National Indigenous Times article Minang Noongar health expert leads major health service’s mission to close the gap in full click here. You can also view the video featuring Francine Eades in one of the videos developed by WA Health to assist WA Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healthcare Workers in their roles.

FASD Communications and Engagement Grant

NACCHO is excited to announce the FASD Communications and Engagement Grant to support NACCHO members to develop and deliver highly-localised, place-based communications materials and engagement activities to enhance and extend the Strong Born communications campaign. Strong Born has been designed to raise awareness of FASD and the harms of drinking alcohol while pregnant and breastfeeding, among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in rural and remote communities.

NACCHO members located in MM4–MM7 are eligible to apply for Round 1 of the grant funding. NACCHO members located in MM1–MM3 will be eligible to apply for Round 2.

Eligible ACCHOs can apply for between $5,000–$60,000 (GST exclusive) of FASD Grant funding which can be used for activities such as:

  1. Creation of locally relevant communications materials and resources raising awareness of FASD and the harms of drinking alcohol while pregnant and breastfeeding
  2. Hosting community events and yarning circles
  3. Running information sessions for staff members
  4. Production of additional copies of the ‘Strong Born’ campaign materials
  5. Translation or adaptation of the ‘Strong Born’ campaign materials and/or key messages into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages

You can register for the grant information session being held at 1:30 PM AEDT, Wednesday 15 March 2023 here.

For more information about the FASD Grant and how to apply, visit NACCHO’s FASD Communications and Engagement Grant webpage here.

Applications for Round 1 will close 11:00 PM AEDT Wednesday 22 March 2023. Applications for Round 2 will open in May.

You can also contact the NACCHO FASD Grants team at using this email link.

tile text: FASD communications & engagement grant - open to all NACCHO members info session wed 15 Mar 1:30pm - 2pm AEDT register naccho.org.au/fasd.grant

How to improve health equity for young men

Risky behaviour, particularly among younger men, sees shorter life expectancies and higher rates of premature mortality than in women. Flinders University Professor (Health and Social Equity) James Smith has partnered with colleagues at the University of Michigan and Georgetown University in the US, to co-edit a new book about innovative health promotion programs which tackle the complex social and structural barriers facing adolescent boys and young men of colour (BYMOC) in Australia, NZ, the US and Canada.

From alcohol and drug misuse, smoking, unsafe sex, reckless driving, violent confrontations, poor dietary habits and a tendency to avoid seeking help and using health services, their new book discusses positive steps which have helped address the problems compounded by social, economic, demographic and geographic disadvantage.

The book chapters describe how to reduce incarceration, improve educational and health outcomes, offer strategies to address mental health challenges, and ways to promote access and optimal usage of health and social services.

To view the Retail Pharmacy article Strategies for improving Health Equity Among Young Men of Colour in full click here.

vector image overlapping transparent male heads different colours

Image source: Retail Pharmacy.

Why members joined the Coalition of Peaks

In 2020 the Coalition of Peaks (CoP), all Australian governments, and the Australian Local Government Association signed the National Agreement on Closing the Gap (National Agreement), to change the way governments work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The National Agreement has been built around what Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people said is important to improve their lives. The CoP is made up of 80 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled peak and member organisations across Australia.

The video below Why members joined the CoP features:

  • Donna Murray, CEO Indigenous Allied Health Australia (IAHA)
  • Robert Skeen, CEO Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council NSW (AH&MRC)
  • Fiona Cornforth, CEO The Healing Foundation
  • Scott Wilson, CEO Aboriginal Drug and Alcohol Council SA

VtP is a beginning, not an end

Yorta Yorta woman Dr Summer May Finlay who is a Senior Lecturer (Indigenous Health) at the University of Wollongong has written an opinion piece about the forthcoming referendum on a constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament (VtP). Dr Finlay says that “with so much media attention and conversation on social media about the Uluru Statement and the VtP, many people are seeking to understand what it means now and in the future.” According to Dr Finlay “To understand the Uluru Statement, including the Voice, you need to be clear on what the Statement says and be aware of the history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representation in this Country.”  

“There are many decisions, including legislation and policy, made by parliament. Currently, there is no systematic way Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can provide their views on decisions impacting us. The Voice will be one way of ensuring our voices are heard. Consider how the 2007 NT National Emergency Response, otherwise known as the NT Intervention, would have looked if we had been able to provide advice on its development and implementation. Or would this damaging legislation never have gone ahead? The 2008 Closing the Gap targets, first developed in 2008 without the input of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, wouldn’t have needed to be revised 12 Years later in 2020 through a co-design process with the Coalition of Peaks (CoP).”

The Voice should, however, never undermine the capacity for each Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nation and community to have a say in what happens in their region. Local input is just as crucial as a coordinated national approach.  Ultimately, there is much to consider when considering how you will vote in the Referendum.  And for me, the most critical consideration is whether it will benefit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. I believe it will. It’s the first of many steps required. It’s a beginning.”  

To read Dr Summer May Finlay’s article The Voice to Parliament is a beginning, not an end on the University of Wollongong Australia’s The Stand webpage click here.

Dr Summer May Finlay

Dr Summer May Finlay. Image source: Public Health Association Australia’s Intouch Public Health webpage.

Unlocking hope for people with kidney disease

For the first time in 20 years, two new classes of drugs have become available in Australia for the treatment of diabetic kidney disease, the most common cause of kidney failure. Both are extremely effective, safe, and relatively affordable. However, too few people with kidney disease are using these breakthrough drugs. We can only unlock these benefits if doctors, patients and the broader community have greater awareness of kidney disease, and the tools we have to fight it.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a gradual loss of the kidneys’ ability to filter waste and excess fluid from the blood. It’s quite insidious. In Australia, kidney disease affects an estimated one in 10 people, but most won’t be aware they have it until it is quite advanced. At the point of diagnosis, many people are at risk of progressing to kidney failure.

For someone with kidney failure, their life expectancy is reduced by three quarters – equivalent to many cancers. Patients with CKD experience a dramatically reduced quality of life – they feel weak and tired, and they can’t think clearly. Not to mention they’re at greater risk of a whole range of other conditions including heart disease, heart failure and stroke.

To view Professor Vlado Perkovic’s article Unlocking hope for people with kidney disease published on the University of NSW’s Newsroom webpage in full click here.

tablets being poured from a bottle into the palm of a hand

Photo: iStock. Image source: UNSW Sydney Newsroom webpage.

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.

9 March 2023

feature tile - Pat Turner AM, Lead Convenor of CoPs; text: CoPs urges further reforms to CtG

The image in the feature tile is of Pat Turner AM, Lead Convenor of the Coalition of Peaks. Image source: National Indigenous Times article National peak body for Aboriginal-controlled community organisations urges further reforms to close the gap published on 8 March 2023.

The NACCHO Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health News is a 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.

CoP urges further reforms in response to CTG data

The Coalition of Peaks, the national representative body of more than 80 Aboriginal community-controlled peak organisations, has urged further reforms in response to the latest Closing the Gap data from the Productivity Commission revealing a lack of progress on the objectives of the Agreement, showing there are now four targets “on track” compared to the 11 which are “not on track”.

Lead Convenor of the Coalition of Peaks, Patricia Turner AM, called for further change to close the gap, “When structural and systemic change is made, there will naturally be a positive effect on the trajectory of the Closing the Gaps targets. This is what the Priority Reforms are all about in the National Agreement, but we are not seeing them implemented properly by governments,” she said. “The Priority Reforms are about changing the way governments work with our people. It is the comprehensive adoption of them that government parties need to understand and embrace if we are going to be able to work together to finally close the gap.

“More than two years on from the signing of the National Agreement and some governments are still talking about how they might start to tackle and implement the Priority Reforms.” Ms Turner said that “a sense of urgency” should come from this data for “governments to get on with the structural change needed to the way governments work as set out in the Priority Reforms. It is clear that the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people depend on it.”

To view the National Indigenous Times article National peak body for Aboriginal-controlled community organisations urges further reforms to close the gap in full click here. You can also read the Coalition of Peaks media release Urgent need for governments to implement the National Agreement on Closing the Gap in full as new data paints grim picture here and access the Australian Government Productivity Commission’s Closing the Gap Information Repository webpage Supporting reporting on Closing the Gap here.

tile text 'Closing the Gap Information Repository' & Aboriginal art

Image source: Australian Government Productivity Commission website.

Dr Karen Nicholls on the journey towards equality

Yesterday on International Women’s Day, RACGP Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Chair, Dr Karen Nicholls, celebrated women who show leadership in challenging the systems in which they work. For Dr Nicholls, a Torres Strait Islander woman descending from Boigu Island in the Torres Strait, choosing a career in medicine was not always apparent, “I couldn’t see what I could be, because there were no Torres Strait Islander female doctors [at the time]..”

Today, with a growth of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander GPs expected to continue, Dr Nicholls’ vision has shifted. “My hope is that, while we make up a small percentage of the Indigenous population overall, that we would continue to exceed society’s expectations,” she said. “Torres Strait Islander women definitely go on to do some really fantastic stuff in health. And I do want to acknowledge that there are some absolutely brilliant Torres Strait Islander doctors working at the moment, clinically and in research, and also advocating for better health outcomes and educational outcomes for everyone.”

Since receiving her Fellowship with the RACGP in 2010, Dr Nicholls has worked predominantly in the ACCHO sector and academia. Late last year she joined the college’s 65th Board when she was elected Chair of RACGP Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health – a role in which she feels privileged and proud to be a female GP representing this space.

To view the RACGP newsGP article IWD: Dr Karen Nicholls on the journey towards equality in full click here.

Dr Karen Nicholls, Chair of RACGP Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health

Dr Karen Nicholls, Chair of RACGP Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health, endeavours to empower women through equality and allyship. Image source: RACGP newsGP.

Lowitja O’Donoghue Foundation Nursing Scholarships open

Lowitja Institute and the Lowitja O’Donoghue Foundation are proud to announce the inaugural Lowitja O’Donoghue Foundation Nursing Scholarships now open for 2023. Upon its establishment in 2010, the Lowitja Institute was named in honour of its patron, Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue, arguably Australia’s most recognised Aboriginal woman – a powerful and unrelenting advocate for her people and an inspiration to many.

The Lowitja O’Donoghue Foundation was announced on 1 August 2022 to celebrate the 90th birthday of Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue AC CBE DSG. Adjunct Professor Janine Mohamed, CEO of Lowitja Institute, said the opening round of the inaugural scholarships in nursing is a tribute to the dedication and passion Dr O’Donoghue displayed throughout her extensive career in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.

To view the Lowitja Institute media release Inaugural Lowitja O’Donoghue Foundation nursing scholarships now open in full click here.

World-first AI heart tech trial to run from Walgett AMS

A world-first randomised controlled trial using artificial intelligence-guided technology to perform a heart ultrasound has been launched in the Walgett. The trial will be run from the town’s Aboriginal Medical Service and rolled out by the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute.

“We are very excited about this. One of the cornerstones of cardiovascular health is the ability to do an ultrasound test on the heart called an echocardiogram (ECHO) test, it shows us the heart valves and the cardio function,” Cardiologist and chief investigator, Professor Tom Marwick said.

Marwick explained that taking an ECHO test required a highly skilled stenographer who aren’t readily available in regional towns. The artificial intelligence (AI) technology will be able to guide a non-expert in how to take the image which will then be uploaded for Professor Marwick to examine.

To view the Western Plains App article World-first AI heart technology trial comes to Walgett in full click here.

Professor Tom Marwick & vector image of heart

Professor Tom Marwick. Image from: Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute. Image source: Western Plains App.

Program aims to help women regain long-term stability

Today Wayside Chapel has launched a new comprehensive program to help disadvantaged women regain long-term stability. The program offers women a safe space and the opportunity to receive gender-specific support tailored to their individual experiences. There’s a kitchen, laundry facilities, shower and consultation room, co-located with the new Wayside Chapel Healthcare clinic. Specialised female care coordinators will be available to work on complex cases with referrals to other agencies including housing, welfare, addiction and legal support.

Ensuring clients could access culturally safe and trauma-informed care without repeating themselves is a key motivator for Wayside’s GP-led service. Free, equitable and accessible to all genders, it builds on a successful nurse-led pilot in 2021. Medical director Lilon Bandler said the service wouldn’t require a Medicare card and would aim to overcome barriers to healthcare such as trust and finances by bringing it under the Wayside banner.

About 30% of Wayside visitors were Indigenous people and their “consistent experience of health care is very poor”, Dr Bandler said. “There’s still a lot of racism experienced by them in their interactions with the health care providers,” she said. “So they’re quite reluctant to engage again.”

To view the Kyabram Free Press article Wayside brings help for women-in-need under one roof in full click here.

Wayside healthcare director Lilon Bandler

Wayside healthcare director Lilon Bandler says the service aims to overcome barriers to healthcare. Photo: AAP. Image source: Kyabram Free Press.

Wide-ranging inequities affect women’s health

Australia has rising inequity and according to the World Health Organization, wherever there is societal inequity, women are always disproportionately affected. In almost every aspect of their lives, women living with pervasive socio-economic disadvantage are more likely to be vulnerable and face discrimination. This directly affects those seeking healthcare where disadvantaged women face more barriers to quality care, for example, people living in rural and remote areas, women from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, and/or women who have or who continue to experience disadvantage.

The inequities are compounded by multiple stresses and responsibilities including paid and unpaid work. They may be looking after children or other family members, working and pursuing their careers, contributing to their communities, trying to cope with the rapidly rising costs of living, or dealing with the many layers of disadvantage caused by family violence and trauma. There are also gross inequities in terms of access to healthy foods at a cost that people can afford, particularly in rural and regional areas. The options for being physically active or taking other measures to prevent disease are limited for many women of culturally diverse backgrounds and for First Nations women.

These issues affect entire communities, but women often bear the brunt. For example, research has shown that young women in rural and remote areas experience higher rates of unplanned pregnancy. Tesearch has highlighted gaps in service provision including availability of contraception and medical abortion, higher rates of chronic disease, and a much greater burden of mental distress.

To view the Croakey Health Media article Systemic approaches needed to address wide-ranging inequities affecting women’s health in full click here.

Baggarrook Yurrongi program participant - ATSI mum & bub

Image source: The Royal Women’s Hospital Victoria’s webpage Maternity program awarded for improving Aboriginal health.

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.

8 March 2023

feature tile photo of woman with loud speaker, text: Reflections on IWD 2023 & opportunities for ATSI women

The image in the feature tile is from the International Women’s Development Agency website, available here.

The NACCHO Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health News is a 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.

International Women’s Day 2023

International Women’s Day (IWD) is held on 8 March each year, with events and activities taking place across the globe. It celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. IWD is an opportunity to celebrate the contributions women make to our communities and marks a call to action for accelerating gender equality to create a world where women and girls everywhere have equal rights and opportunities.

The IWD 2023 theme is Cracking the Code: Innovation for a gender-equal future. The theme emphasises the importance of bold, transformative ideas, inclusive technologies, and accessible education in combating discrimination and marginalisation of women around the world. The message being that innovation can accelerate our progress towards a gender equal future.

In an interview on NITV Radio earlier today Reconciliation Australia CEO Karen Mundine reflected on IWD 2023 and the opportunities for First Nations women. With more than 20 years’ experience leading community engagement, public advocacy, communications and social marketing campaigns; Karen has shaped the national journey towards a just, equitable and reconciled Australia. You can listen to her interview in full here. You can also find out more about IWD on the International Women’s Development Agency’s website here.

NITV Radio logo, portrait of Karen Mundine, Reconciliation Australia CEO & 08:47 minute icon

Karen Mundine, Reconciliation Australia CEO. Image source: NIT 1 March 2023.

NACCHO delegation to Timor-Leste

A NACCHO delegation, accompanied by a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade representative, are in Timor-Leste this week (Sunday 5  – Friday 10 March 2023) to:

  • gain an understanding of the country, cultural, political and health service delivery context of a potential First Nations partnership
  • gain an understanding of a Timorese perspective of how primary health care is delivered, with a focus on workforce training and community ownership of primary health care programs
  • initiate relationships with key Ministry of Health officials that could form the basis of future potential First Nations partnership work

and along with DFAT:

  • identify key issues which may be addressed in partnership
  • identify issues to inform the further refinement of the concept note and key stages and timeframes for the potential First Nations partnership

The delegation is comprised of:

  • Donnella Mills, NACCHO Chair (Cairns)
  • Pat Turner, NACCHO CEO and Lead Convenor of the Coalition of Peaks (Canberra)
  • Rob McPhee, CEO of the Danila Dilba Health Service (Darwin)
  • Jenny Bedford, Executive Manager, Kimberley Aboriginal Health Services (Broome)
  • Alice Kemble (Dili)
  • Sara Moriarty, First Nations Taskforce (Canberra), Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

During the visit the delegation will meet with:

  • Partnerships for Human Development (overview of the structure of the Timorese health system)
  • East Timor Development Agency (NFP provided training and guidance to strengthen the capacity of Timorese people to plan an integral, role in the development of their Nation)
  • Ministry of Health (introduction to community health services in Timor Leste, including model of care, workforce training and service delivery)
  • National Health Institute (responsible for planning and delivery of health workforce and clinical training)
  • Maluk Timor (an Australian and Timorese NGO seeking to advance primary healthcare in Timor-Leste)
  • Agora Food Studio (a social enterprise mentoring Timorese innovators and storytellers and elevating local food)
  • Comoro Community Health Clinic in Dili (urban health centre)
  • Gleno, Ermera district (remote health post)
  • Nabilan (program to end violence against women and improve wellbeing for women and children affected by violence)
  • ProEma (NFP promoting capacity-building for vulnerable girls and young women living in underdeveloped communities in Timor-Leste)
Left-Right: Rob McPhee, CEO Danila Dilba Health Service, Dr Odete Maria Freitas Belo, Minister for Health, Timor-Leste, Pat Turner, NACCHO CEO and Lead Convenor of the Coalition of Peaks, Jenny Bedford, Executive Manager, Kimberley Aboriginal Health Services and Donnella Mills, NACCHO Chair

Left-Right: Rob McPhee, CEO Danila Dilba Health Service, Dr Odete Maria Freitas Belo, Minister for Health, Timor-Leste, Pat Turner, NACCHO CEO and Lead Convenor of the Coalition of Peaks, Jenny Bedford, Executive Manager, Kimberley Aboriginal Health Services and Donnella Mills, NACCHO Chair.

ACCHO worker makes inspirational women list

Goondir Health Services’ Medicare co-ordinator Ethel Hayden has been named as one of the 50 most inspirational women in the Western Downs region in celebration of International Women’s Day 2023. Ethel Hayden hopes to leave behind a legacy of helping others and having made a difference in her community. The Dalby woman has achieved so much in her life, which included beginning life-changing programs for young people.

Ms Hayden was responsible for rolling out some of the onsite health services for Goondir Health in 2014 when they moved into their Jimbour St location. She also developed a Youth Project with programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the Western Downs region such as the Big Buddy Program, which aimed to empower Indigenous youth to achieve their full potential through mentorship and education.

She said she was most passionate about making a difference, and knows she has the experience to do so. A major achievement under Ms Hayden’s belt was being involved in the ‘Closing the Gap’ event that’s held each year, with the upcoming event being in Dalby next week.

To view The Courier Mail article Celebrating 50 of the most inspirational women in the Western Downs region for International Women’s Day in full click here. You can also access the Goondir Health Services’ website here to learn more about their clinics in Chincilla, Dalby, Oakey and St George, Queensland.

Ethel Hayden, Goondir Health Services, Dalby QLD

Ethel Hayden. Image source: The Courier Mail.

Prison healthcare should match community standards

On this International Women’s Day, let’s not forget women in prison. There are 3,088 women imprisoned in Australia on any given day, representing 7.5% of the prison population. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are over-represented in these numbers.

Annually Australia spends over $4b on prisons. Despite this, reproductive health care equivalent to that in the community is often not available where women are being detained. Reproductive health care must be delivered in appropriate ways to those who require it. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people require culturally safe health care, free from racism. There must also be inclusive care for non-binary and transgender people.

Failing to provide access to sanitary pads and tampons is a form of degrading treatment, according to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. It can leave women and people who menstruate vulnerable to exploitation. For example, limited access to sanitary pads can lead to them being traded for favours.

In Australia, there have been instances of an Aboriginal woman giving birth alone in a locked prison cell while staff observed through the hatch. Another example featured attempts to remove a baby from their Aboriginal mother against medical advice due to insufficient capacity at the prison. And an Aboriginal woman was denied the right to bond with her newborn and breastfeed them.

To view The Conversation article Health care offered to women in prison should match community standards – and their rights in full click here.

torsos of ATSI women in prison, green clothes

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women make up a third of all female prisoners in Australia. Image source: ABC News.

NACCHO provides quality use of medicines program for mob

NACCHO will now provide the NPS MedicineWise online learning modules and resources, which are available on the NACCHO website. Programs include:

  • Good Medicines Better Health – eLearning modules and consumer resources developed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioners and their communities to improve quality use of medicines and medical tests. The online learning modules are available now.
  • Medicines Lists and Templates – Principles for producing best possible medicines lists for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
  • Remote Area Aboriginal Health Services – Tools and resources to support the safe and effective provision of medicines in remote communities.

You can view the eLearning modules and resources here and here.

NACCHO looks forward to being able to provide sustained support in quality use of medicines programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people based on ongoing funding from the Department of Health and Aged Care. We acknowledge some of these programs were developed by NPS MedicineWise prior to their closure and thank NPS staff for their work.

If you have any queries regarding these resources, you can contact the NACCHO Medicines team by email by clicking here.

ATSI woman & young girl & boy smiling; text: NACCHO logo, Good Medicine Better Health; Medicines Lists and Templates; Remote Area Aboriginal Health Services

Data shows gap closing too slowly

The gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians isn’t closing fast enough, Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney admits. Productivity Commission data shows a number of key Closing the Gap targets are not on track and some are going backwards. Closing the Gap is a strategy that aims to achieve equality for Indigenous people by improving health, social, education and economic outcomes. “I know many people are frustrated by the lack of progress,” Ms Burney said.

Last month, in partnership with the Coalition of Peaks – which represents more than 80 Indigenous organisations – the federal government announced its implementation plan for Closing the Gap, which included more than $400m in extra funding. There are 19 socio-economic targets in the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. The Productivity Commission has released data on nine of those targets, which shows two are on track to meet their goals, but seven are not.

Ms Burney said the data showed “encouraging” increases in employment and land rights, but in other areas figures were going backwards. “It is particularly disappointing to see the target for healthy birth weights for babies has gone from being on track to not on track,” she said. “More of the same isn’t good enough. We need to do things differently by working in partnership with communities to get better results.”

To view The Canberra Times article Data shows Indigenous gap closing too slowly: Minister in full click here.

Minister Linda Burney carrying folders in Parliament

Minister Linda Burney says there is a lot of frustration surrounding the lack of progress. Photo: Mick Tsikas/AAP. Image source: The Canberra Times.

Ambassador for First Nations People appointed

The federal government has appointed Mr Justin Mohamed as Australia’s inaugural Ambassador for First Nations People. Mr Mohamed will lead the Office of First Nations Engagement in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Special Envoy Senator Pat Dodson announced the appointment in a joint statement on Tuesday.

The government said the Office of First Nations Engagement and the foreign affairs and trade department will work in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people “to progress Indigenous rights globally, and help grow First Nations trade and investment”. The joint statement said that “elevating the perspectives of First Nations people – this land’s first diplomats – enables deeper engagement with many of our closest partners including the Pacific family”. The new position marks the first time Australia will have dedicated Indigenous representation in international engagement.

Mr Mohamed said he felt honoured to be appointed is” looking forward to sitting down and listening to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across the country, as we develop foreign policies that have First Nations People’s knowledges, voice and connection to country front and centre,” he said.

To view the National Indigenous Times article Australian government appoints the first official Ambassador for First Nations People in full click here.

Incoming Ambassador Justin Mohamed and Minister Linda Burney

Incoming Ambassador Justin Mohamed and Minister Linda Burney. Photo source: National Indigenous Times.

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.

7 March 2023

aerial view of Imanpa Community NT

The image in the feature tile is an aerial view of Imanpa Community. Image source: ResearchGate website.

The NACCHO Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health News is a 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.

Remote health centres move to ACCHO control

Central Australian Aboriginal Congress (Congress) has this month assumed operations of the primary health care clinics in Imanpa and Yulara. Congress already provides care at nearby Mutitjulu, an Aboriginal community adjacent to Uluru, as well as other communities. One of the most experienced services in the country in Aboriginal health, Congress is the largest Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service (ACCHS) in the NT, a national leader in primary health care, and a strong advocate for the health of Aboriginal people.

Yulara will become a service hub for the region and, in Imanpa, NT Health will continue providing BreastScreen appointments along with other specialist outreach services. The Kaltukatjara (Docker River) Health Centre will also transition to Congress on 1 July, 2023. Evidence shows that increasing community involvement in the planning and delivery of local health services brings additional health benefits to local residents. This supports local communities with greater opportunities to influence the health care services offered, in particular, their cultural responsiveness.

Congress CEO, Donna Ah Chee said “Congress is proud to welcome Imanpa and Yulara communities to the Aboriginal community controlled health service model. ACCHS delivery is recognised as best practice for Aboriginal health, and the further development of the ACCHS sector is a key part of the Closing the Gap commitments that all governments have signed. This is because, for every dollar spent there is a greater return in health improvement for our people with this model of health care.”

To view the Chief Minister of the NT, Natasha Fyles and Chansey Paech, Member for Bwoja’s joint media release More Central Australian remote health centres set to transition to Aboriginal community control in full click here.

external view of Imanpa Health Centre

Imanpa Health Centre. Photo: Nick Hose. Image source: ABC News.

Maningrida PHC graduates make history

Last week the first-ever cohort to obtain formal health qualifications on-country in Maningrida made history, graduating with a Certificate II in Aboriginal Primary Health Care. The ceremony started with a beautiful welcome to Kunibidji Country from Traditional Owner, David Jones, followed by a welcome speech from Mala’la Health Service Aboriginal Corporation chairperson and Senior Aboriginal Health Practitioner, Charlie Gunabarra. David and Charlie are dedicated to bettering community health outcomes and have been proactive in guiding the Aboriginal community-control model of health service delivery.

Guest speaker, NT Chief Aboriginal Health Practitioner, Iris Raye welcomed the new graduates, Eileen Gunabarra, Fabian Smith, Jermaine Namanurki, Kurt Brown, Natasha Bond and Shannon Brown, to the health profession and imparted her passion for Aboriginal health care with the students.  On-country adult learning provided an accessible format that also ensured students could continue their family, cultural, work and community responsibilities whilst undertaking studies.

Support and funding for the place-based model of adult-learning course was received from NT PHN, the NT Department of Employment and Workplace Relations’ Foundation Skills for Your Future program and Industry NT and Ninti Training delivered engaging, fun and relatable learning.

To view the Mala’la Health Service Aboriginal Corporation Facebook post The End of a Journey. The Beginning of a Legacy. click here.
6 Maningrida (NT) graduates of Aboriginal PHC Certificate II

Certificate II in Aboriginal PHC graduates. Image source: Mala’la Health Service Aboriginal Corporation Facebook page.

Medicare changes could reduce deaths in custody

The federal government has been urged to make an immediate improvement to the lives of prisoners by providing Medicare in custodial settings, in a change that coroners have argued could reduce Indigenous deaths in custody. Advocates have argued for decades that Medicare should be available in custody. However, the change has not yet been made. Medicare is not available for prisoners because of a section of the Health Insurance Act that prohibits Medicare benefits from being paid when state funding has been provided.

Nadine Miles, principal legal officer of the NSW and ACT Aboriginal Legal Service, said her organisation had appeared at inquests where Indigenous men in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s died in custody from ailments including an asthma attack, organ failure, an ear infection, a clot in the lung, and coronary artery disease.

“Inadequate healthcare was an issue brought up for each of them,” Miles said. “We have seen far too many preventable deaths and far too many failures to provide a basic standard of healthcare for people behind bars. The result is that lives are lost too soon and whole families and communities are changed forever.”

To view The Sydney Morning Herald article The change to Medicare that could reduce deaths in custody in full click here.

Smoking Ceremony held at the NSW Coroners Court in July 2022 during the inquest for Mootijah Shillingsworth, who died from an ear infection

A smoking ceremonyat the NSW Coroners Court in July 2022 during the inquest for Mootijah Shillingsworth, who died from an ear infection. Photo: Dean Sewell. Image source: SMH.

Resources for health workers supporting mob with cancer

Ngununggula is a new package of resources, including a manual and quality improvement resources developed for ACCHOs in NSW to support best practice cancer care of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The training materials are based on the work of the Illawarra Aboriginal Medical Service Cancer Care Team and feature work of other cancer care workers around the state.

The training resources are a result of a collaboration with the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Centre of NSW (AH&MRC), the University of Sydney, the University of Wollongong, the Menzies School of Health Research and Coordinare and have been funded through Cancer Australia’s Supporting People with Cancer Grant Initiative.

The Ngununggula package of resources includes a series of webinars providing guidance on:

  • cancer prevention
  • investigations and treatment
  • cancer survivorship
  • end of life.
You can access the links to the webinars, including the one below, on the Australian Indigenous HealthBulletin website here.

How to save PHC in remote Australia

What happens when an area loses its GPs? Dr Sam Heard is witnessing the fallout, and has set out a treatment plan to combat the issue before it is too late. Dr Heard says there is a health workforce crisis in Central Australia and much of remote NT. The current social disruption and negative experiences of residents in Alice Springs mirrors the turmoil sometimes faced by remote health staff. But this is our country and remote Australians require healthcare to a level that many in the city do not.

Patients are having dialysis locally, there are emergencies that frequently require patients to be evacuated, along with housing, educational and environmental issues that desperately need advocacy. It was not always like this.

During more than 30 years as a GP and educator in the NT, Dr Heard says he has attempted to strengthen primary care and has been ably supported by motivated colleagues along the way: young doctors, nurses and Aboriginal Health Practitioners in training, and by older doctors who have moved to the area to contribute to the health of remote Australians. Over the past decade, however, Dr Heard says he has witnessed a worrying decline in primary care services and an unwillingness to tackle the issue until it is too late.

To read the RACGP newsGP article How to save primary care in remote Australia: RACGP NT Chair in full click here.

RACGP NT Chair Dr Sam Heard

RACGP NT Chair Dr Sam Heard. Image source: RACGP newsGP.

Language to be no barrier to HIV support

Hundreds of people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities living with HIV will be better able to understand vital education material as part of a national push to improve their quality of life. The non-profit organisation Living Positive Victoria is one of four HIV-focused community organisations nationally to have been awarded $200,000 in grants to help the nearly 30,000 Australians living with the disease access better healthcare.

Living Positive Victoria along with Positive Life NSW, the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation and the National Association of People Living with HIV Australia (NAPWHA) have established five projects that will receive funding. NAPWHA will unite Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living with HIV from across Australia for a three-day residential workshop to promote healing.

To view the PerthNow article Language to be no barrier for accessing HIV support in full click here. Below is a Young Deadly Free animation explaining the basics of HIV.

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.

6 March 2023

feature tile hand holding Aboriginal flag; text 'substantial evidence racism contributes to physical and mental ill health and reduces access to health services

The image in the feature tile is from an NITV article Study finds racism leads to poor health published on 26 June 2021.

The NACCHO Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health News is a 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.

Mitigating the impacts of racism on health

Indigenous people’s health and health rights have been harmed and undermined by racism globally. There is substantial evidence that interpersonal and structural racism contributes to Indigenous people’s physical and mental ill health and reduces access to health services. In Australia, the racist violation of Indigenous human rights since colonisation has a profound impact on the social and emotional wellbeing of individuals, families and communities across generations.

This has resulted in an unacceptable health equity gap, which the 2007 Closing the Gap strategy sought to address. Recognition of the urgent need to address the health and wellbeing impacts of racism guided The Boatshed Racism Roundtable Declaration in 2009, which called on the PM and First Ministers of Australia to initiate constitutional, policy and practice reforms underpinned by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) — particularly Article 3 (the right to self‐determination) and Article 42 (calling on United Nations signatories to implement the Declaration) — to ensure protection against racial discrimination.

Recent work through the Partnership for Justice in Health and the Lowitja Institute has potential to inform the evidence base, health policy, legislation and rights to strengthen Indigenous access to justice and health, particularly through the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services sector under the auspice of the Closing the Gap Partnership and Coalition of Peaks.

To view The Medical Journal of Australia research article Mitigating the impacts of racism on Indigenous wellbeing through human rights, legislative and health policy reform in full click here.

drawing of an ATSI child with 5 white hands pointing at child's face

Image source: ABC Everyday website. Image Credit: Molly Hunt.

Lifetime Achievement Award for Fran Vaughan MPS

The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) SA/NT Branch has announced the winners of its Annual Excellence Awards. The SA/NT Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Fran Vaughan MPS, for her work in improving the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, in particular those living in remote areas.

With a background in hospital and community pharmacy and Home Medicines Reviews, Fran has been able to transition these skills to onsite clinical pharmacist practice roles in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities of the NT and Queensland. She is a strong advocate of the value of embedding a pharmacist into Aboriginal Health Services. Pharmacists working within Aboriginal Health Services can provide patients with culturally safe access to information about their medicines, provide education and training to existing staff on appropriate use of medicines, and assist in managing medications at transitions of care, such as discharge from hospital.

In her role as pharmacist adviser for NACCHO, she helped to facilitate the IPAC project (Integrating Pharmacists within Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services to Improve Chronic Disease Management) which showed positive benefits of integrating pharmacists into 18 Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services.  She is an experienced educator and has helped to prepare health professionals, including pharmacists, nurses and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Practitioners (AHPs) and Workers (AHW) for remote and rural practice at the Centre for Remote Health, Flinders University. She has also played a key role in the development of the Remote Primary Health Care Manuals (RPHCM) which guide health care delivery in remote areas.

To view the medianet. news story SA/NT Lifetime Achievement Award presented to Fran Vaughan MPS in full click here.

Fran Vaughan MPS holding PSA SA/NT Pharmacist Awards 2023 - Lifetime Achievement Award

Fran Vaughan MPS was presented with the PSA SA/NT Pharmacist Awards 2023 – Lifetime Achievement Award. Image source: PSA Twitter post 4 March 2023.

RACGP and NACCHO aim for preventive healthcare

On Friday last week the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) and NACCHO convened an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health roundtable. Held over two days and attended by people from across Australia with experience in primary healthcare for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the roundtable provided attendees with a special forum to exchange ideas on how best to support health services nation-wide so that they are prevention-focused, culturally safe and responsive, equitable, and free from racism.

RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins said “There is plenty of work to be done and not a moment to lose. As President this is right at the top of my priorities over the next two years, and I look forward to working closely with NACCHO on a range of endeavours that will make a real difference in healthcare for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Our organisations are currently working in partnership to develop flagship resources that support effective, culturally safe, and responsive primary healthcare that is valued by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”

Chair of the RACGP Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Faculty, Dr Karen Nicholls, said she was “optimistic that if we put our minds to it and listen carefully to health experts and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients we can improve primary healthcare outcomes. The focus will very much be on how to support genuine shared decision making and partnerships, and carefully considering how the cultural and social determinants of health impact primary healthcare for these patients.” The RACGP and NACCHO will publish the fourth edition of the National guide to preventive health assessment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people later this year – a flagship publication, spearheaded by NACCHO in October this year.

To view the medianet. article RACGP and NACCHO working together to achieve high-quality preventive healthcare in full click here.

cover of National guide to a preventive health assessment for ATSI people 3rd edition - RACGP & NACCHO

Keeping kids connected to siblings and culture

Victoria’s former Aboriginal children’s commissioner has called for increased allowances for kinship and foster carers in a bid to increase the pool of First Nations people looking after children in out-of-home care, and ensuring they remain connected to culture. Andrew Jackomos, who held the commissioner role for five years between 2013 to 2018 and was the first person to hold an Aboriginal children watchdog role, has also appealed for greater safeguards to ensure Indigenous siblings in the out-of-home care system remain in contact.

The Yorta Yorta and Gunditjmara man said it was a challenge to get enough Indigenous carers to step forward when a First Nations child was removed from their family and could not be placed with relatives. “When children cannot be placed with family they should be placed with people within our community,” he said.

Jackomos said increasing remuneration was one way to incentivise more First Nations people to become carers and ensure Indigenous children separated from their families could remain connected to their culture. “We need to make it attractive for people to step forward. And people are absolutely committed, but the problem is carers have become burnt out. There needs to be more after-care as well,” he said.

To read The Guardian article Calls to increase allowances for Indigenous carers to keep children connected with culture in full click here.

portrait of former Victorian Aboriginal children’s commissioner Andrew Jackomos

Former Victorian Aboriginal children’s commissioner Andrew Jackomos says it is vital that siblings remain in contact in the out-of-home care system and that separation should be the ‘absolute last resort’. Photo: Victorian government. Image source: The Guardian.

Enduring disgrace of deaths in custody

There can be little doubt that the final report from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, delivered in April 1991, was a watershed moment for our nation. Established in October 1987, the commission inquired into the circumstances surrounding the deaths over a 10-year period of 99 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people while they were held in detention. It produced more than 5,000 pages of documents and a list of 339 recommendations.

The Albanese government’s reconciliation envoy, Senator Pat Dodson, has now demanded the government immediately act on the commission’s recommendations and is calling for a national Indigenous justice committee, a federal office to oversee state coronial inquests and ensure the provision of Indigenous-tailored health services in jails.

He says the responsibility is “absolutely” on the shoulders of the Albanese government, which has inherited the obligation to act on the work of the royal commission notwithstanding the abject failure of previous administrations, both Labor and Coalition, to end what can only be described as an enduring national disgrace.

To view The Sydney Morning Herald article Act now on enduring disgrace of Indigenous deaths in custody in full click here.

portrait shot Senator Pat Dodson

Senator Pat Dodson, the Albanese’s government envoy on reconciliation, has called for immediate action to prevent Indigenous deaths in custody. Photo: Rhett Wyman. Image source: The Sydney Morning Herald.

TB outbreak on the APY Lands

Health authorities are working to contain an outbreak of tuberculosis (TB) on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands. So far, the SA TB Service has diagnosed 10 cases linked to the outbreak. SA’s Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier and other health officials travelled to the APY Lands last week to try and contain the outbreak through contact tracing and treatment.

Professor Spurrier said she had met with community leaders and service providers, including schools. “Tuberculosis is not commonly seen in Australia but is treatable and preventable. It will need a sustained response over a prolonged period,” she said. “Strong relationships with community allowing co-design are essential. It’s important that all people in the community have the information they need to prevent the cluster from growing and to facilitate quick testing and treatment.”

To view the ABC News article Health authorities declare tuberculosis outbreak on the APY Lands after 10 cases diagnosed in full click here.

aerial shot of long straight road in APY Lands, SA

The APY Lands are in SA’s far north. Photo: Kent Gordon, Australian Story. Image source: 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.

3 March 2023

feature tile SAWCAN planning meeting, staff sitting at table, text 'community works best when ATSI people are in the driver's seat

The image in the feature tile is of the SAWCAN team during a planning session. Photo: Robert Lang. Image source: Reconciliation Australia website.

The NACCHO Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health News is a 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.

Community Control in Action

The winners and highly commended organisations of the 2022 Indigenous Governance Awards show that community works best when First Nations people are in the driver’s seat. Normally held every two years, last year was the first time the Indigenous Governance Awards were able to take place since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Judged on innovation, effectiveness, self-determination, sustainability, and cultural legitimacy, the winners epitomised Indigenous-led excellence. In particular, finalists were commended by the judges for demonstrating profound resilience in the face of lockdowns and restrictions, adapting to protect their communities, as well as continue their work in the toughest of circumstances.

The following organisations – Aboriginal Health & Medical Research Council Human Research Ethics Committee; the Koling wada-ngal Committee; South Australian West Coast ACCHO Network (SAWCAN); Brewarrina Local Aboriginal Land Council; and Wungening Aboriginal Corporation – were all either winners or highly commended in their categories, and their stories encapsulate self-determination and community control in action.

To view the Reconciliation Australia article Community Control in Action in full click here.

Four NT remote communities evacuated due to floods

Hundreds of residents from four remote communities in the NT are being evacuated due to major flooding in the region. NT Police Commander Danny Bacon said on Wednesday afternoon this week that emergency services were working to relocate as many as 700 people from Kalkarindji, Daguragu and Pigeon Hole, to Darwin via Katherine, as soon as possible, with the evacuation effort has now also extended to the community of Palumpa.

The announcement comes after NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles signed an emergency declaration Wednesday morning covering the communities of Kalkarindji, Daguragu, Pigeon Hole,  Palumpa and Yarralin. Commander Bacon said he could not yet say when the residents being evacuated would be able to return home. “With these flood events, it’s a case of assessing the damage and doing a survey of the communities when the water level goes down,” he said.

“Depending on the damage that’s occurred during the flood event, then that’ll give us a bit of a timeline of when people can safely return back to those communities. “We don’t want people returning … when there’s no sewerage, no power, no water, and the dwellings are uninhabitable.”

To read the ABC News story Residents being evacuated from NT remote communities of Kalkarindji, Daguragu, Pigeon Hole, and Palumpa amid major flooding in full click here.

flooding of remote NT community

Heavy rainfall is causing major flooding in a handful of remote communities south of Darwin. Image source: ABC News.

Few obese Australians receive targeted GP support

More than two-thirds of Australian adults are classed as overweight or obese and that figure is projected to increase in coming years. Obesity rates have doubled over the last decade at an annual cost of almost $12 billion. The findings are contained in a report released ahead of World Obesity Day tomorrow by Research Australia, which warns GPs need targeted assistance to support their patients. Less than 1% of obese Australians who visit their GP receive weight management support, the report says, despite research indicating many cases can be linked to genetics, family history and ethnicity.

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) specialist Georgia Rigas said obesity is a complex medical condition that affects individuals in many different ways, ranging from metabolic complications to mental health issues. “Obesity management is not about loss of weight but rather gains in health,” she said. Obesity remains “greatly misunderstood”, leaving patients at risk of stigmatisation, miscommunication and a lack of formal medical diagnosis.

The report highlighted the disproportionate impact of obesity upon Indigenous people, those living in the regions and older adults. More than 70% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders aged 15 or above are overweight or obese, contributing to the health gap with non-Indigenous Australians, the report found.

To read the yahoo! news article Few obese Australians receiving targeted GP support in full click here.

stethoscope on scales

Image source: Medical Journal of Australia.

Aboriginal Benefits Foundation grants open

A number of grants for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander projects and initiatives open this month. The Aboriginal Benefits Foundation provides grants to assist Aboriginal communities and individuals by providing funds to support projects which advance the aims of the Foundation. The current focus is on supporting art, literacy, education, health and cultural projects with a connection to Aboriginal art or artists.

There is expected to be a high level of interest in this grant funding, which will be distributed between states and territories. Grants will be awarded to eligible recipients on a first come, first served basis under the funding is exhausted in each jurisdiction.

To view the National Indigenous Times article Grants open to support Indigenous business, art, energy, film, education, health and cultural projects, which includes more information on all of the grants available including application details, click here.

An example of a previous project funded by the Aboriginal Benefits Foundation is the artistic promotional materials created by the Mujaay Ganma Foundation (Mujaay Ganma) to increase awareness of the culturally nurturing service MiiMI Aboriginal Corporation provide to people and their families who are dealing with cancer. For more information on this project click here.

Mujaay Ganma Foundation artwork to raise awareness of MiiMi AC cancer services

Promotional material to raise awareness of cancer services provided by MiiMi Aboriginal Corporation. Image source: Aboriginal Benefits Foundation Trust website.

No room COVID complacency as winter wave threatens

The AMA is encouraging people to check their eligibility and get a COVID-19 booster to protect themselves for the onset of winter and future waves of COVID-19. Vaccines reduce transmission, reduce the severity of illness and there is emerging evidence that vaccination reduces the chance you will develop long covid. AMA President Professor Steve Robson said anyone aged over 18 years who has not had a COVID-19 booster or a confirmed COVID infection in the past six months is eligible for another booster.

The Government in early February accepted advice of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI), which particularly recommended that those over 65 years and adults aged 18–64 years with complex health needs get a 2023 booster if their last COVID-19 vaccine dose or confirmed infection (whichever is the most recent) was 6 months ago or longer,  regardless of the number of prior doses received.

Professor Robson said people needed to prepare for the “next wave” of COVID-19 or the next variant to emerge. “With the COVID-19 virus very capable of mutating it’s inevitable there will be further variants and new waves in the community, and with winter just around the corner, we really want to encourage people to get their booster shot if they are eligible. It’s natural over time that we tend to become complacent with the risks associated with COVID-19, however, last year there were 8,800 deaths due to COVID-19 and there has been an increase in people dying with COVID-19 as the pandemic has progressed. Clearly there is no room for complacency. The AMA’s strong advice is for eligible people to get their booster shot.”

To read the AMA’s media release Get boostered! No room for COVID complacency as winter wave threatens in full click here.

Image source: Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.

Racism, the most significant public health issue

Over 120 staff members and managers from Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD) gathered at the ParkRoyal in Parramatta for the first Aboriginal Staff Conference in the district. The event involved workshops, presentations and addresses by key stakeholders in the business. Attendees were encouraged to be open to learning and sharing in the space, while unpacking issues like cultural safety and how WSLHD staff can better support and engage with Aboriginal patients and workers.

A special address was also delivered by keynote speaker Honorary Associate Professor Carmen Parter, who spoke about her PhD area of racism and how it impacts the healthcare system. “Racism is the most significant public health issue facing Australia,” Associate Professor Carmen said. “Our ways of being, knowing or doing are either diminished, devalued or not recognised due to racism and exclusion. This not only relates to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, but any marginalised group that accesses healthcare services and provisions.”

“Racism remains invisible and is not often spoken about or fully understood in terms of the violent realities and subtleties that manifest themselves in clinical and non-clinical environments of health, and in the workplace for Aboriginal staff.”

To view The Pulse article ‘Building an environment of cultural safety’: Western Sydney Local Health District holds Aboriginal Staff Conference in full click here.

Associate Professor Carmen Parter speaking at WSDLHD Aboriginal Staff Conference

Associate Professor Carmen Parter. Image source: The Pulse.

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