- Closing the Gap in Orange: 10-year plan to help city’s Indigenous community thrive
- Support for Indigenous women and children in Central Australia with revamped Apmere Mwerre Visitors Park
- Exclusive: ‘Our kids deserve better’ — Sue-Anne Hunter on building a future where Indigenous children are heard
- How I’m using ‘cultural dramaturgy’ to support Truth-telling in Australian theatre
- 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.
Closing the Gap in Orange: 10-year plan to help city’s Indigenous community thrive
A new 10-year plan to help Orange’s Indigenous community Close the Gap has been revealed.
The 59-page report was developed in collaboration with Aboriginal organisations in the city including the Orange Aboriginal Medical Service (OAMS), Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council (OLALC), Orange Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (OAECG) along with Orange City Council.
Chairwoman of OAMS, Alisha Agland, said the plan looked to prioritise housing, health, education, employment and culture.
“Plans like this recognise that while the policy settings are put in place in the national and state parliaments, the gap won’t be closed in Canberra or Macquarie Street,” she said. “It will only be closed by Aboriginal community controlled organisations working hard and smart in countless local communities across Australia.”
The Aboriginal flag flying in Orange. File picture
Support for Indigenous women and children in Central Australia with revamped Apmere Mwerre Visitors Park
The federal government has announced new funding to expand emergency accommodation for First Nations families in Alice Springs/Mparntwe.
On Tuesday, government officials – including Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy – joined Aboriginal Hostels Limited (AHL) chief executive Shane Hamilton to open the newly upgraded Apmere Mwerre Visitors Park (AMVP).
The $4.9 million investment has added 20 short-term beds to the facility, which provides safe and affordable accommodation for First Nations people, including women and children escaping family and domestic violence.
Mr Hamilton said the expansion will “make a real difference” in the lives of Indigenous people in the region, arguing it refletcs AHL’s “ongoing commitment to providing culturally safe and affordable accommodation”.
“This milestone strengthens our capacity to support more First Nations people, including families, in need of a safe place to stay, especially in Central Australia,” he said.
Newly upgraded Apmere Mwerre Visitors Park (AMVP) Image: AHL
Exclusive: ‘Our kids deserve better’ — Sue-Anne Hunter on building a future where Indigenous children are heard
As incarceration and out-of-home care rates for Indigenous children continue to rise across the country, Australia’s inaugural National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Young People says her role is clear: it’s time to amplify children’s voices in policymaking.
For Sue-Anne Hunter, this is no symbolic appointment. It’s a responsibility built on decades of frontline work and advocacy, and one she doesn’t take lightly.
Speaking exclusively to National Indigenous Times, the Wurundjeri and Ngurai Illum Wurrung woman isn’t shy about the difficulties of her role. Having recently finished up as commissioner and deputy chair of the landmark Yoorook Justice Commission – Australia’s first official truth-telling body – she argues it’s not a burden “our kids need to carry”.
“I’ll carry that burden,” she says. “I want their voices to be heard, and… in a really safe way.”
Sue-Anne Hunter says she is doing this for the children. Image: James Ross (AAP).
How I’m using ‘cultural dramaturgy’ to support Truth-telling in Australian theatre
This article was written with the consultation and permission of the cultural collaborative Mob who assisted with Fiasco.
We need to encourage more Truth-telling of the history of this nation, particularly in the wake of the failed Voice Referendum, and in the hopeful lead up to Australia’s first treaty.
Theatre is an important way to educate audiences about histories that still affect First Nations people today.
Blak theatremakers and companies such as Ilbijerri Theatre Company, Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company, and Moogahlin Performing Arts are leaders in best practices for staging First Nations stories. Their ways of working often involve collaboration and engagement with First Nations communities to ensure representation and staging of their stories are self-determined.
But Truth-telling can’t just be left up to us Mob. We need white Australians to be honest about this nation’s colonial histories too.
Actors Sam McMillan (Sammy J), James Pender and Pirritu (Brett Lee) in Fiasco. Photo by Nick Robertson
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