11 October 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.

Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Australia calls for wellbeing and suicide prevention to be addressed “beyond the health system”

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

Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Australia, the national peak body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social and emotional wellbeing, mental health, and suicide prevention, says Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing must be addressed beyond the health system.

In a statement issued Thursday the group noted that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people “should have every opportunity to live happy and fulfilling lives… Instead, too many of our families are struggling with mental health challenges, continuing grief and trauma, and suicide”.

Rachel Fishlock Gayaa Dhwui chief executive said the organisation’s Declaration Implementation Plan and the NATSISPS provide positive ways for government and community to work together, “ensuring our people can get the support they need, where they seek it”.

The Gayaa Dhuwi Declaration Implementation Plan focuses on a “best of both worlds” approach to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health, social and emotional wellbeing, and suicide prevention, promoting an appropriate balance of clinical and culturally informed mental health system responses.

To read more, go here.

Image source: Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Australia.

If this article brought up anything for you or someone you love, please reach out to, call or visit the online resources listed below for support.

Dignity for Elders within independent living community

A new independent living community for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders has opened in Ballarat. The facility was a joint project between Ballarat and District Aboriginal Cooperative (BADAC), and the State Government, alongside input from Elders.

The living community is designed to provide a culturally safe space for Elders aged 50 years and over to live. There will be room for 16 Elders to live on site in eight self-contained one or two-bedroom units as well as a central hall for shared meals, managers’ quarters, medical treatment rooms and a vegetable garden.

Melissa Bray BADAC Community Home Support Program and NDIS manager said in the context of the Stolen Generation, it is important to provide Elders with a comfortable place to live.

“We found a need that a lot of our Elders were isolated, living on their own and being part of the Stolen Generation a lot of our Elders do not have families there to look after them and support them,” she said.

“That’s what’s important about the community that we have here today, it is to be able to support our Elders and be able to break that social isolation.”

Read more here.

Celebrating: Member for Eureka Michaela Settle unveiled a plaque outside the living community along with First Nations elders and members of BADAC. Photos: MIRIAM LITWIN.

Professor of genomics followed family path into medicine

Professor Alex Brown’s research into Indigenous genomics has been recognised with a fellowship with the Australian Academy of Technological Science and Engineering. Initially practising as a medical doctor, the Yuin man has had a career in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health spanning 25 years.

Professor Brown’s focus on empowering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, identifying and overcoming health disparities, and addressing chronic disease in vulnerable communities led him to public health and research and the field of genomics.

“There’s a whole bunch of work around understanding what’s unique about Indigenous people’s genetic story, given we’ve been here for 65,000 years plus in Australia,” he said.

“That gives us a better way of understanding how people grow and develop in place, on Country for a long period of time, in a very stable, long-standing nexus between healthy people and healthy country.”

But to understand the genetic story of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Professor Brown said communities had to be empowered to make their own decisions and their rights and interests protected.

To read NITV article, go here.

Medical doctor and genomics researcher Professor Alex Brown has been awarded a fellowship with the Australian Academy of Technological Science and Engineering. Credit: Ben McPherson/PR IMAGE.

New rural Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led bladder health campaign launched in NSW

The first rural Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led campaign focusing on the often sensitive topic of bladder control issues, such as incontinence, is urging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to ‘have a yarn about our bladder’.

Hunter New England Local Health District alongside Narrabri, Armidale and Uralla Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders are sharing the important message ‘Speak up, there is no shame, and help is available’ through targeted new resources which focus on bladder health and treatment options.

Angela Knox, Aboriginal Health Practitioner and Narrabri Project Lead, Hunter New England Local Health District said Elders provide a vital understanding of how messaging on this sensitive topic is best communicated to the community, including in Men’s and Women’s business.

“This is the first initiative addressing this topic with an Aboriginal cultural lens, and we are excited that the work has been community-led. This is reflected by the artwork and language used in the resources and we hope these can be shared and adapted across NSW.”

To learn more, go here.

‘Have a yarn about our bladder’ launch. Image source: NBN News.

One Year On: Reflections from Yes

Join The Uluru Statement from the Heart this Sunday October 13, for a special online event. To mark the anniversary of the Voice Referendum the webinar will reflect and celebrate the efforts of our community.

On Sunday October 13, 7pm AEDT the webinar will feature Yes Campaigners and Uluru Dialogue figures as they share their favourite images from the Yes campaign and their personal reflections on these powerful moments.

Join Pat Anderson AO, Jill Gallagher, Professor Megan Davis, Sally Scales, Bridget Cama, Allira Davis,Dr Fiona Rowe Minniss and Geoff Scott as they reflect on the hard-fought Yes campaign. Moderated by Lucy Davis from Mob23, this photographic journey will capture the spirit of the campaign as we regroup and look ahead to what’s next.

To learn more, go here.

Image source: The Uluru Statement.

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.

ACCHO Governance Workshops

Free, specialised governance workshops for ACCHOs will be delivered in multiple locations across the country during 2024 and 2025. 

Registrations are now open for:

  • Broome: 24-25 October

The program is delivered by legal experts and covers:  

  • Delegation of powers 
  • Finance for Boards
  • Governance documents
  • Managing conflicts of interest 
  • Managing risk  
  • Principles of good governance  
  • Structure and role of boards and sub-committees 

To register, go here.

For more information, please contact NACCHO using this email link.