- ‘No understanding’: The extreme cost of living crisis affecting Australia’s most remote communities
- I’m a mother of five and a world champion. I refuse to let trauma define me
- Federal government puts states, territories on notice over failure to close the gap for First Nations peoples
- ‘He rode and ran to freedom’: Remembering Gunditjmara Elder Alby Clarke
- Innovative nurse-led clinics boost healthcare access in regional Australia
- Sector Jobs
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.
‘No understanding’: The extreme cost of living crisis affecting Australia’s most remote communities
It’s just before dusk and a warm breeze is blowing off the Gulf of Carpentaria, carrying the voices of the Yunkaporta family in Wik Mungkan across the top of the scrub. Bare-footed and waist-high in the grass, they collect what looks like clumps of bird’s nests. This is not a traditional practice, but a more contemporary way to make ends meet.
The Yunkaportas, just like many other families in Aurukun, are collecting grass seeds to sell to mining giant Rio Tinto. The scene is peaceful but freighted with symbolism; they stuff the seeds into reusable shopping bags, and most of the money they earn will be spent on groceries. As Eloise Yunkaporta watches on with her baby daughter nestled on her hip, she says the cost of living crisis is hitting her community hard.
“A weekly shop would cost me about $1,000 for only seven or eight bags of shopping,” she says.
“I do my shopping for the whole family, all the meat and vegetables, fruit … the basic needs for our household and [the cost] just blows my mind.”
Members of the Wik community in Aurukun set out to gather seeds during the dry season. (ABC News: Billy Cooper)
I’m a mother of five and a world champion. I refuse to let trauma define me
Shantelle’s story is one of strength. The proud Barkindji and Ngiyampaa woman says some people prefer to see her as a victim.
After 17 years, less than 15 per cent of Closing the Gap targets are on track to be met. Karla Grant hosts this special NITV Insight, asking what’s working to improve First Nations peoples’ lives? Watch episode Closing the Gap on SBS On Demand.
Growing up on Barkindji Country, I was a proud Aboriginal girl with mixed heritage whose identity was constantly challenged. My childhood was filled with paradoxes and intersections; connection and belonging in one breath, hardship in the next. But there were safe people and places anchoring me — my nan, Elders, aunties and uncles, country, culture, and community-run spaces.
Swimming at the local swimming pool with my siblings and cousins, and spending time by the river on Country are some of my strongest childhood memories. It was also from the water — a place of safety, guidance and Dreaming — where I first felt my ancestors call to me as a child. So, when I faced challenges growing up, I knew I carried a compass far older and stronger than any colonial system.
Three-time jiu-jitsu world champion Shantelle Thompson says she refuses to be a ‘trauma token’. Source: SBS
Federal government puts states, territories on notice over failure to close the gap for First Nations peoples
Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy has called out Queensland and the Northern Territory for their high incarceration rates of First Nations people as she outlines plans to impose penalties on states and territories failing to close the gap.
“The rising rates of incarceration and the early deaths still of First Nations people demand our country’s full attention, and we must do our utmost to make sure we meet those targets,” she told the ABC.
“There is no doubt that Queensland and the Northern Territory’s targets are alarming, in particular the Northern Territory around the high incarceration rates of First Nations people, in particular youth.”
Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy says the rate of young people being locked up in the Northern Territory is “alarming”. (ABC: Matt Roberts)
‘He rode and ran to freedom’: Remembering Gunditjmara Elder Alby Clarke
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised the following story contains the name of a person who has died.
Alby Clarke, a respected Gunditjmara Elder known for his tireless advocacy through sport, has been remembered for a life defined by resilience, transformation and determination.
Mr Clarke entered the Dreamtime on 16 September 2025, aged 90.
Born in Melbourne in 1934, he moved to the Framlingham Aboriginal Reserve near Warrnambool with his family after his father’s death when he was 10. An active child, he cycled to collect supplies and later joined a travelling boxing troupe, competing at country shows across Victoria and New South Wales.
In his ’60s, Mr Clarke faced a serious health warning after being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Determined to change his future, he gave up alcohol, began exercising and set himself a new mission – to use sport to advocate for First Nations health and reconciliation.
Gunditjmara Elder Alby Clarke, a champion for health and reconciliation through sport, passed away aged 90. (Image: Anthony Brady)
Innovative nurse-led clinics boost healthcare access in regional Australia
A new healthcare initiative in regional New South Wales is expanding, after successfully demonstrating how nurse-led clinics can improve access to care while reducing pressure on overstretched general practitioners and emergency departments.
A pilot program, led by Murrumbidgee Primary Health Network, saw over 25 nurses deliver chronic disease management and preventative healthcare across 18 general practices in Wagga Wagga and surrounding areas from October 2024 to May 2025. The Primary Health Network has been commissioned to run the strategy again, with 28 practices set to take part.
Operating in a region facing critical health workforce shortages and poorer health outcomes than metropolitan areas, the nurse-led clinics provided care for chronic respiratory diseases, chronic heart failure, diabetes, First Nations preventive health, and healthy ageing in residential facilities.
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