4 September 2024

The NACCHO Sector 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.

Getting everyone on board to eliminate cervical cancer by 2035

The Albanese Labor Government is today launching a $10 million campaign to encourage more women to get screened for cervical cancer and help Australia stay on track to eliminate the cancer by 2035. The Own It campaign is the first national cervical screening campaign in more than 20 years. It’s aimed at raising awareness of testing in priority populations.

The campaign focuses on empowerment and choice in cervical screening following the Labor Government’s introduction of self-collection in 2022. Self-collection allows women to do their own test, in private, at their local clinic using a swab. Own It has been developed for women who are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, multicultural, sexually and gender diverse, rural and remote, or living with disability.

Dr Dawn Casey, Deputy CEO for the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) says, “The national campaign is a significant step forward in raising awareness about cervical screening within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

“It builds on the successful implementation of human papillomavirus (HPV) self-collection already taking place in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations.”

To learn more, go here.

National Cabinet called on to adopt expert recommendations on alcohol as part of approach to preventing violence

More than 30 community, health, Aboriginal, research and women’s organisations from across Australia are calling on members of the National Cabinet to commit to taking action on alcohol’s role in domestic, family and sexual violence.

In an open letter sent to the members of National Cabinet ahead of their meeting this Friday, community leaders are calling for governments to implement the alcohol-related recommendations outlined in the rapid review panel final report, “Unlocking the prevention potential: Accelerating action to end domestic, family and sexual violence”.

The open letter also calls on National Cabinet to re-establish a national governance framework for the alcohol and other drugs sector to coordinate action across state and territory governments.

Signatories to the open letter include: Patricia Turner, Chief Executive Officer, National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation; Kym Valentine, Survivor Advocate; Annabelle Daniel OAM, Chief Executive Officer Women’s Community Shelters; Donna Ah Chee, Chief Executive Officer, Central Australian Aboriginal Congress; Shanna Whan, Chief Executive Officer, Sober In the Country; and Mr Brian Howe AO, Hon Professor, University of Melbourne, Former Deputy Prime Minister; and Caterina Giorgi, Chief Executive Officer, Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education.

To learn more, go here.

Community leaders are calling for governments to implement the alcohol-related recommendations outlined in the rapid review panel final report, “Unlocking the prevention potential: Accelerating action to end domestic, family and sexual violence.”

VACCHO and Deakin’s new research shows urgent action needed on food security

The Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) is thrilled to announce the publication of its landmark research paper, ‘Food Policies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (FoodPATH): A Systems Thinking Approach’. Developed in collaboration with Deakin University, the paper addresses growing food insecurity in Victorian Aboriginal Communities.

The research outlines the visual models Communities created to identify interconnected factors affecting food access – such as food affordability, food education and predatory junk food marketing. Plus, it emphasises the bold action needed to ensure Aboriginal families are supported to be healthy and thriving.

VACCHO stands behind the research and urges governments to take comprehensive action to address food insecurity, including by funding ACCOs to deliver new initiatives that meet Community’s needs.

Actions needed to create change should:

  • Increase access and affordability to healthy foods
  • Increase ability to grow food locally
  • Increase food-related knowledge and skills within families and communities, especially in relation to traditional foods
  • Limit junk food marketing and improve regulation of unhealthy food industries
  • Fund schools and ACCOs to increase children and families’ access to food and cooking education.

To learn more, go here.

Image source: VACCHO.

Indigenous delegates to bring back vital knowledge from global suicide prevention conference

Content warning: this article contains reference to suicide. Please refer to the services at the bottom of this article for support.

Aboriginal representatives travelled from Australia to the Seneca Nation in Niagara Falls, Western New York, for the 2024 World Indigenous Suicide Prevention Conference, bringing back vital knowledge to support their communities. The Anika Indigenous Cultural Exchange, funded by the Anika Foundation and the Poche Centre of Indigenous Health at The University of Western Australia, aimed to address suicide prevention and wellbeing in Indigenous communities.

Professor Pat Dudgeon Director of The Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention, from UWA’s School of Indigenous Studies, developed the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Evaluation Project.

Professor Dudgeon said the conference enabled First Nations people from across the world to share culturally based approaches when addressing suicide prevention.

“As native nations across the world continue to struggle with preventing and recovering from the impacts of suicide among our people, our Australian cohort, including youth and Elders, networked, strengthened relationships and discussed enabling protective factors through building identity, resilience and culture,” Professor Dudgeon said.

“Through the sharing of stories and knowledge, alongside the showcasing of wise practices on prevention and intervention, we have emerged stronger in reducing suicide risks and life promotion.”

To read the National Indigenous Times article in full, go here.

The Australian delegation to the 2024 World Indigenous Suicide Prevention Conference. Image: supplied.

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Indigenous Literacy Day – 4 September 2024

Indigenous Literacy Day is a yearly initiative by Australia’s Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF). Through literacy programs, ILF seeks to improve the lives and possibilities of Indigenous Australians with literacy programs that put the knowledge and wisdom of the Indigenous people first.

Australia’s First People have a deep knowledge of community, culture, and land with concepts of “literacy” that the western world may not understand. Literacy must be redefined in terms of what it means for different communities and their needs, to create forward-thinking spaces without losing roots. Indigenous Literacy Day advocates people’s right to an education in the languages they speak at home and celebrates Indigenous freedom of expression and participation in public life just as they are.

To mark the key day, ILF in collaboration with the Sydney Opera House are hosting an event highlighting stories from Vincentia (NSW), Cunnamulla in SW Queensland and The Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory featuring ILF superstar ambassadors Jessica Mauboy, Bianca Hunt, Gregg Dreisse, Josh Pyke and Justine Clarke.

For more information, go here.

Image source: Indigenous Literacy Foundation.