Category Alcohol and other drugs

4 September 2023

feature tile, round dot art from conference promotional material overlaid with text 'competition time!' & text 'COVID-19 vaccination program competition win flights, accommodation and tickets to the NACCHO Members’ Conference'

The NACCHO Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health News is 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.

COVID-19 competition – win flights to Perth

Win return flights, accommodation, and tickets to the 2023 NACCHO Members’ Conference

6 ACCHOs and 15 creative people can win return flights, accommodation, and tickets for up to 3 ACCHO staff members to attend the NACCHO’s Members’ Conference in Perth this October.

Enter the COVID-19 Vaccination promotion competition by submitting a deadly video advertisement/promotion that represents the theme: Getting a COVID-19 vaccination is looking after yourself, for your chance to win! Entries will be judged on the following criteria:

  • Relevance to the theme: Getting a COIVD-19 vaccination is looking after yourself
  • Composition
  • Creativity
  • Originality
  • Appropriateness for the target age group: Category 1 – kids 5–12 years (in the ACCHO community), Category 2 – teens and adults 13–49 years (in the ACCHO community), Category 3 – older adults 50+ (in the ACCHO community).

There are 3 amazing prizes up for grabs:

Category 1

  • First Prize includes return flights, accommodation, and tickets to NACCHO’s 2023 Conference in Perth for 3 staff members
  • Second Prize includes return flights, accommodation, and tickets to NACCHO’s 2023 Conference in Perth for 2 staff members

Category 2

  • First Prize includes return flights, accommodation, and tickets to NACCHO’s 2023 Conference in Perth for 3 staff members
  • Second Prize includes return flights, accommodation, and tickets to NACCHO’s 2023 Conference in Perth for 2 staff members

Category 3

  • First Prize includes return flights, accommodation, and tickets to NACCHO’s 2023 Conference in Perth for 3 staff members
  • Second Prize includes return flights, accommodation, and tickets to NACCHO’s 2023 Conference in Perth for 2 staff members

This is an opportunity for you to really show who and what your community is like, and the best ways to communicate with them.

We encourage teams to be creative with the theme. Is the best way to get your mob interested, through humour? Being strong and serious? Telling a story? Addressing negative stereotypes?

Be open to the possibilities of what ‘self-care’ looks like. Self-care could be 30-year-olds discussing the importance of getting the vaccination; or 70-year-olds spinning around the basketball courts because they’re fit and healthy and vaccinated; or tie your promotion to building community strength and vitality.

The more original and community-oriented, the better.

You can access a competition Entry Form here.

The Terms and Conditions for the competition are available here.

NACCHO tile text 'NACCHO Members' Conference 2023 - 23-26 October, Noongar Boodjar (Perth) MAY THE BEST ACCHOs WIN... - Return Flights; Tickets to NACCHO's Conference for 3 staff members; Accommodation; images of plane, city of Perth at night & motel bedroom

ACCHO named WA’s Best GP Service for 2023

Derbarl Yerrigan Health Services (DYHS) has been awarded WA’s best GP practice of 2023 by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP). This ACCHO that operates on the lands of the Whadjuk Noongar people in metropolitan Perth was recognised for demonstrating excellence in patient care, safety and a commitment to the wellbeing of the community. DYHS GP Registrar, Dr Corey Dalton, was named the RACGP’s 2023 GP in Training. It is the second consecutive year that an Aboriginal doctor from the DYHS medical team has taken out the award. DYHS CEO, Tracey Brand, said the RACGP awards come as the ACCHO prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

“It is remarkable that a service started 50 years ago by a group of volunteers in an old city building with disused equipment from Royal Perth Hospital has become the largest ACCHO in WA,” she said. “These awards acknowledge our Board’s strong leadership and the dedicated DYHS team’s compassion and commitment to cultural safety and clinical excellence.”

Earlier this year DYHS chose to undergo accreditation through the Australian General Practice Accreditation (AGPAL) which involved the practice team reviewing all systems and processes, prior to an independent assessment conducted by a team of AGPAL surveyors. Ms Brand said “Our model delivers culturally responsive comprehensive primary health services with a focus on prevention, early intervention, comprehensive care and care coordination across the life course of our 22,000 patients.”

To view the Derbarl Yerrigan Health Service media release Derbarl Yerrigan Health Service named state’s best GP service for 2023 in full click here.

tile of 50+ Derbarl Yerrigan Health Service with hands in air at top landing & down stairs of DYHS office

Glen for Women officially opens

On Wednesday last week, 30 August 2023, The Glen for Women was officially opened. The Glen for Women runs a 12-week residential rehab program based on the Aboriginal Drug and Alcohol Residential Rehabilitation Network (ADARRN) model of care. The program is designed to support participants with individualised case management plans; grief and trauma counselling; financial counselling; relationship and parenting programs; anger management and relapse prevention programs and 12 step fellowship meetings. Through the program, participants can also learn a range of practical skills to set them up for their return to community.

The Glen for Women has now been operational for 15 months and 84 women have passed through its doors. At the official opening the women who had fought so hard for The Glen for Women, Aunty Coral, Aunty Cheryl, Aunty Gail, Aunty Jan and Aunty Barbara were acknowledged.

You can find more information about The Glen for Women on The Glen website here.

image of outside seated guests for opening of The Glen for Women 20.8.23

Official opening of The Glen for Women. Image sourece: The Glen Rehab Facebook page.

Why the Voice is crucial to health outcomes 

Respected Aboriginal leader Aunty Jill Gallagher – CEO of the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) – recently spoke on NITV Radio about the upcoming referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, how Aboriginal Elders drive the narratives as well as an upcoming VACCHO Elder’s Summit. Aunty Jill explained emphatically why a Yes vote is crucial.

You can listen to the NITV Radio interview Aunty Jill Gallagher on why a Yes vote is crucial, the impact on Aboriginal health outcomes and more in full here.

NITV Radio tile text 'Aunty Jill Gallagher on why a Yes vote is crucial, the impact on Aboriginal health outcomes and more' & portrait image of VACCHO CEO Jill Gallagher

Image source: NITV Radio.

Children in detention increases crime

Some advocates say the best way to create an adult criminal is to lock up a child. The younger a child is slapped with a probation order or locked up for committing a crime, the more likely they are to return behind bars. So when QLD brought in laws allowing kids as young as 10 to be held in police watch houses, human rights groups were appalled.

Indigenous advocates were also alarmed given the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the youth justice system. Catherine Liddle, the head of a national organisation for Indigenous children known as SNAICC, said the Queensland government action was a disgrace.

“Suspending the Human Rights Act so children as young as 10 can be held in police watch houses and prisons designed for adults is utterly shameful,” she said. “It makes a mockery out of all the work that we’ve been doing to close the gap, which says to work in partnership with ACCOs before you make decisions like this.”

To view the SBS News article Does putting children in detention prevent or produce crime? in full click here.
corridor with closed prison doors either side

Photo: Jono Searle – AAP. Image source: SBS News.

Reducing medication-related problems

Medicines are the most frequent health care intervention type; their safe use provides significant benefits, but inappropriate use can cause harm. Systemic primary care approaches can manage serious medication‐related problems in a timely manner.

A quality improvement activity developed to improve medicine safety is ACTMed (ACTivating primary care for MEDicine safety). ACTMed uses information technology and financial incentives to encourage pharmacists to work more closely with general practitioners to reduce the risk of harm, improve patients’ experience of care, streamline workflows, and increase the efficiency of medical care.

A stepped wedge cluster randomised trial is planned to be undertaken in 42 Queensland primary care practices to assess the effectiveness of the ACTMed intervention. The primary outcome will be the proportion of people at risk of serious medication‐related problems — patients with atrial fibrillation, heart failure, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, or asthma or congestive obstructive pulmonary disease — who experience such problems. The trail will also estimate the cost per averted serious medication‐related problem and the cost per averted potentially preventable medication‐related hospitalisation.

To read the Activating pharmacists to reduce the frequency of medication‐related problems (ACTMed): a stepped wedge cluster randomised trial article published in The Medical Journal of Australia today click here.

You can also read a previous article on ACTMed published in this newsletter here.

tablet dispenser & hand pouring tablets into palm of other hand

Image source: The Economic 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.

24 August 2023

The image in the feature tile is from NACCHO’s Strong Born Campaign.

The NACCHO Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health News is 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.

Funding to address FASD in Central Australia

The federal government has announced that $18.4 million of the $250 million plan for A Better, Safer Future for Central Australia will go towards helping children with neurodevelopment issues. Central Australian Aboriginal Congress chief executive, Donna Ah-Chee said the funding would help identify children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), ADHA and autism.

“Congress has known for a long time that if we get the start of life right, we can change a child’s entire life story.

“We started this critical work in 2018 and now, with these much-needed additional resources, we can make sure that many more Aboriginal children and young people across central Australia can get the assessment and help they need to get on to a more healthy development pathway,” Ms Ah-Chee said.

The funding will see additional staff recruited for the Child and Youth Assessment and Treatment Services (CYATS) program, including two clinical neuropsychologists, an occupational therapist, speech pathologists, a clinical case co-ordinator and an Aboriginal family support worker.

NT Labor Senator Malarndirri McCarthy said expanding the assessment services will mean hundreds of children will be able to receive a FASD diagnosis and early intervention, “FASD is often referred to as an invisible disability but as far as many families and communities are concerned, it’s a very visible part of life with a profound impact on children and their families.”

Read the full National Indigenous Times article here and see NACCHO’s Strong Born FASD Campaign here.

NACCHO Strong Born Campaign social media tile.

Goondir Health Services and UQ improving oral health

The University of Queensland’s Dental Clinic in Dalby has been operating for a decade. The student-led clinic is a partnership with Goondir Health Services and sees more than 800 rural patients attend each year. Wulli Wulli man, Gavin Saltner said having access to the clinic was important, with cost and travel time a barrier for some Western Downs residents accessing dental treatment.

“It’s made a lot of a difference to me.

“Knowing that I could come along to these clinics and get a check-up… they can fit you in wherever they can,” he said.

The clinic’s treatment room sits within Goondir Health Service’s building, allowing for easy referrals to other services. The ACCHOs executive, Shubham Weling said it provides cross influence between other areas of healthcare and the model of care is and should continue to be replicated across the country.

“We’re opening a clinic in Chinchilla as well and we want to advocate for this model out there,” Mr Weling said.

Read the full ABC News article here.

UQ Dental Clinic. Image source: ABC News.

New GP clinic to South Hedland

South Hedland in Western Australia will once again have a GP clinic with Indigenous-owned provider Marlu Health opening a practice to fill the void left by the closure of Sonic Healthcare. 

The practice will offer a variety of medical services including:

  • GP Services;
  • Occupational health, Pre-Employment Medicals, Fitness for Work and Injury Management Services;
  • Psychology and Mental Health Services through Hedland’s only psychologist Caroline Rodgers;
  • Employee Assistance Programs; and
  • Pathology collection services supported by Australian Clinical Labs, with saliva testing to replace urine testing for drug and alcohol screening.

Director of Medical and Health Services, Dr Lincoln Luk, said Marlu Health had a commitment to traditional owner values and giving back to the community.

“We are looking forward to providing a range of services to the Hedland community, and it was important for us to establish our clinic in South Hedland. We have not previously been a GP provider and were not looking to do so, but we saw the need in Hedland and felt that it was our civic responsibility to help,” Dr Luk said.

You can read the article on the Town of Port Headland website here. 

Sonic Health Plus.

“We cannot continue to have spaces that are void of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s leadership, voices, ideas, and solutions”

Co-chairs of the National Close the Gap Campaign, Karl Briscoe and June Oscar said if we as a nation are committed to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health equity and equality, and to closing the gap, then we must also be committed to “listening to and hearing the leadership and advice that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples share with us.”

If successful, the Voice, through constitutional recognition, will allow Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elected representatives to make representations to the Executive and to Parliament. Mr Briscoe and Ms Oscar wrote, “key to this structural reform is that it provides Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with a constitutionally enshrined voice, a permanent seat at the table, and a genuine opportunity to provide advice on matters that directly affect our lives.”

“We cannot keep doing more of the same. Large-scale structural reform is necessary if we ever hope to close the gap.

“We cannot continue to have spaces that are void of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s leadership, voices, ideas, and solutions. To do so will only entrench inequality further,” they said.

Read the full article here.

Image source: Close the Gap Campaign Instagram.

Lessons in heat resilience

When you arrive in Tennant Creek, 1000km south of Darwin, what hits you first is the absence of smells. Usually, the air is permeated with the cooking of kangaroo but now it is barely there.

In the last heatwave, dead kangaroos were found at the bottom of watering holes previously thought to have never dried up. Some locals believed kangaroos could never fall victim to thirst, that they would always find a place to drink. It wasn’t true.

Warumungu Elder Norman Frank Jupurrurla doesn’t need to consult records. He says his experience with the area over his lifetime tells him one thing for certain: it’s getting hotter. The decline of kangaroo populations, and the resulting impact on human food sources, is just one sign.

Dr Simon Quilty, of the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University, is direct when describing the impact climate change is having on the area: “It is an ecological disaster.”

He is the lead author of a new article in The Lancet, analysing heat-mortality rates in the NT. The study, which involved Associate Professor Aparna Lal, of the ANU, and Jupurrurla, also found that despite high rates of chronic illness, socioeconomic and housing inequity, and far less access to air-conditioned spaces, Aboriginal people living in the NT were no more likely to die from the heat than the local non-Indigenous population.

Quilty says this discrepancy appears to be cultural. He says it is “a story of how Aboriginal culture and knowledge of environment has enabled extraordinary resilience to extreme weather”.

You can read the article online in The Saturday Paper here. 

Expression of interest AMC Member Council

The Australian Medical Council (AMC) is seeking expressions of interest for the position of a Member of Council who is an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person with experience in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health issues.

Members need to commit to at least three full days per year to prepare for and attend the General Meeting (May/June) and Annual General Meeting (November). Members have the opportunity to collaborate with Council Members drawn from the medical profession, medical and health standards bodies, medical education and training, health consumers and community members.

To nominate for the position, complete and return the Expression of Interest Form along with your CV by Monday 2 October 2023.

Image source: AMC website.

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.

23 August 2023

feature tile image of Deadly Choices Tobacco Education Program information stand; text 'New suite of Deadly Choices preventative health promotional assets launched today'

The image in the feature tile is of a Deadly Choice Tobacco Education Program information stand from the Deadly Choices section of the Institute of Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH) website.

The NACCHO Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health News is 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.

New Deadly Choices promotional assets launched

Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled health sector came together in Brisbane today to assist in launching a suite of Deadly Choices preventative health promotional assets, including a series of television advertisements, aimed at limiting the number of community members from across the state taking up vaping and smoking.

Seeking to orchestrate healthier, happier communities right across Queensland, Deadly Choices will shine a light on the endemic global health concerns of vaping among youth, while also targeting the incidence of tobacco smoking among pregnant mothers, plus families living in remote communities, all key directives of the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH)’s integrated statewide approach via the Tackling Indigenous Smoking (TIS)-Deadly Choices partnership.

The major directives of the 2023 Deadly Choices advertising campaigns will be to stress to individuals the importance of making deadly, healthy choices, not only for themselves, but for their families and for their communities as a cultural commitment. “TIS funding allows Deadly Choices to propagate its preventative health messaging around the dangers of tobacco smoking, from Far North Queensland through the Central and South-Western regions of the State, and from the North Coast all the way down to the border areas of the Gold and Tweed Coasts, Stanthorpe and Goondiwindi,” confirmed IUIH Director of Commercial Operations, Dallas Leon.

“Notably, we’ll establish strategic new partnerships with community-controlled health service organisations from Palm Island, Yarrabah, Nhulundu Health in and around the Gladstone region, North Coast, plus Goolburri Health which has an established footprint across the Darling Downs and South-West. “We’ll also strengthen our preventative health practice and messaging in areas of Queensland where Deadly Choices currently delivers health education programs in schools, on behalf of Health and Wellbeing Queensland.

Deadly Choices has previously been acknowledged by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for its efforts in promoting the dangers of smoking among Indigenous communities and has at its disposal an arsenal of health sector service provision experience to enhance protocols against smoking.

You can view IUIH’s media alert ‘Deadly Choices’ Formulates Tobacco Takedown for Qld Communities in full here and find more information about IUIH’s Deadly Choices program here.

Griffith’s award winning eye care model

An ophthalmology project set up at Griffith Base Hospital in NSW to improve access to eyecare services for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people living in the Western Murrumbidgee Local Health District has hit the ground running and with further support can strengthen its delivery of eyecare to the region. When an ophthalmologist and a hospital director floated the idea of establishing a visiting eye health service at Griffith Base Hospital – a six hour drive west of Sydney – little did they know that 24 months later their initiative would be nominated by the hospital staff for a NSW Government Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD) Excellence Award.

At a ceremony in Wagga Wagga in June, ‘Saving Sight is our Vision’ was named winner of MLHD’s Keeping People Healthy Award, one of 15 award categories. At the time, MLHD CEO Ms Jill Ludford said it was rewarding to see the number of activities happening across the district with sincere efforts to support First Nations communities, “Improving access to eyecare services through the delivery of high quality, sustainable, affordable, regular and culturally sensitive eye services has been Griffith Ophthalmology’s focus.”

Led by Associate Professor Geoffrey Painter, one of the founders of Gordon Eye Surgery and a director of Foresight Australia, and colleague Dr Dominic McCall, a group of mostly Sydney-based ophthalmologists visit Griffith Base Hospital every four weeks to see and operate on patients from the Western MLHD. In addition, Foresight has sponsored two training courses to upskill employees from the Griffith Aboriginal Medical Service. 

To read the Insight article Griffith Base Hospital’s award-winning eyecare model in full click here.

eye testing training at Griffith AMS - 4 health workers

Foresight Australia has sponsored two training courses to upskill employees from the Griffith Aboriginal Medical Service. Image source: Insight.

NAATSIHWP Professional Development Symposium

The National Association of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioners (NAATSIHWP) is holding a professional development symposium at the Adelaide Convention Centre on Kaurna Country over Tuesday 24 and Wednesday 25 October 2023.

The symposium will consist of two full days of  of workshop-based sessions for full and student NAATSIHWP members to learn about leading-edge clinical and primary health care practices as well as social and emotional wellbeing and culturally based activities.

You can find out more about the symposium, including scholarship opportunities here.

tile: NAATSIHWP professional development symposium 24-25 Oct 2023

2023 Oceanic Palliative Care Conference

The 2023 Oceanic Palliative Care Conference (OPCC) is taking place in Sydney between Wednesday 13 September and Friday 15 September. Close to 80 scholarships have been awarded to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers, palliative care workers, consumers, and carers in Australia and the Oceanic region to attend the conference. The scholarships cover registration costs and travel from as far away as Broome, Katherine, northeast Arnhem Land, PNG and Samoa.

Palliative Care Australia CEO Camilla Rowland said the cost of participating is often a barrier “and our hope is that these scholarships enable important voices to be heard and experiences to be shared. OPCC represents a critical learning and development opportunity, and we want that to influence and grow the care people receive – wherever they are.”

The theme for OPCC 2023 is ‘With the end in mind; shaping stronger health systems, delivering quality palliative care.’

Find more information about the 2023 Oceanic Palliative Care Conference click here.

tile: 2 images: Oceanic Palliative Care Conference 13-15 Sep 2023 logo & image clip board with title 'palliative care' & stethoscope

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.

Key Date – Brain Injury Awareness Week – 21–27 August 2023

During Brain Injury Awareness Week 2023 NACCHO is sharing information about brain injury, in particular how brain injury impacts Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Brain injury impacts many Indigenous, rural, and remote communities across Australian.

Australia’s Brain Injury Organisation, Synapse, has produced a number of Indigenous factsheets that talk about issues in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities that may result in a brain injury, or be occurring because of one. The factsheets. available here, include all the most relevant and current information about brain injury and outline what supports are available. The topics covered by the factsheets include:

  • Domestic and Family Violence
  • Drug and Alcohol Abuse
  • Mental Health and Suicide
  • Physical Assault
Yarning Circle for ATSI people with traumatic brain injury

A Yarning Circle developed to bridge the gap for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with traumatic brain injury. Photo: Edith Cowan University. Image source: NITV Radio website.

15 August 2023

The NACCHO Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health News is 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.

Elder Care Support: Community-led pathways to care

NACCHO’s Elder Care Support Program will work with the sector to ensure older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, as well as their families, receive the necessary assistance in understanding, navigating, and accessing the aged care services they are entitled to. The program has been made possible by a three-year Commonwealth funded initiative and aims to increase workforce capability and capacity in community-controlled aged care support and empower the sector to coordinate place-based aged care needs.

The Elder Care Support program aims to:

  • Support older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to understand and engage with the aged care system, to receive greater local support.
  • Reduce barriers across the aged care journey to increase the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people accessing aged care services, achieving, or exceeding parity with non-Indigenous people at a while of system program level.
  • Increase the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people receiving care on Country.
  • Increase clinical and non-clinical employment and career opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in aged care.
  • Increase real time intelligence on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s needs and experience in aged care.

If you want to support Elders in community through connecting them with the care they need, talk to your local ACCHO to join the Elder Care Support team.

Find out more here.

Implementation of the National Lung Cancer Screening Program

Mark your calendars for the National Lung Cancer Screening Program webinar taking place on Thursday 31 August. Joint hosted by NACCHO Deputy CEO, Dr Dawn Casey, the Department of Health and Aged Care, and Cancer Australia, the purpose of the webinar is to provide an update on the planning of the National Lung Cancer Screening Program and discuss opportunities for stakeholder engagement.

In May, Health and Aged Care Minister Mark Butler announced Government investment of $263.8 million from 2023-24 to implement the program, for commencement by July 2025. The program aims to maximise prevention and early detection of lung cancer.

Webinar details:

Date: Thursday, 31 August 2023

Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm (AEST)

Access link: Click here.

Password: pAPfPEhg384.

*Please allow 5 minutes to join the webinar. Questions can be submitted during the session.

Find more information on the National Lung Cancer Screening Program here.

Image source: Unsplash.

What happens in a sobering up centre?

When someone has a problem with alcohol, the first step is to reduce immediate harm because it can sometimes be a slow process to change longstanding drinking behaviours. Earlier this month the VIC government announced it’s establishing a permanent sobering up centre, following in the footsteps of WA, NT, SA, and QLD. It follows the state’s decriminalisation of public drunkenness, where instead of making an arrest or processing a fine, police will take people to a sobering up centre, if there is one in the area.

Public drunkenness laws disproportionately affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and homeless people. Sobering up centres are a more effective and less harmful response to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people found intoxicated in public places than a police cell, as it understands alcohol and other drug problems as a health issue.

Sobering up centers are safe places where people who are too intoxicated to look after themselves can go to recover, with health professionals including Aboriginal health workers on site who can provide care if someone is sick or injured. They also provide food, showers, clean clothes, beds, access to help and support, including referrals to withdrawal and rehabilitation services and on-site counselling.

Read the full The Conversation article here.

Image source: Unsplash.

Voice to Parliament resources

The referendum to constitutionally enshrine an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament is critically important for health and wellbeing.

Croakey Health Media has compiled a valuable list of articles and resources surrounding the Voice to Parliament:

The Uluru Statement from the Heart

The Uluru Statement from the Heart is an invitation to the Australian people from First Nations Australians. It asks Australians to walk together to build a better future by establishing a First Nations Voice to Parliament enshrined in the Constitution, and the establishment of a Makarrata Commission for the purpose of treaty making and truth-telling.

The Uluru Statement from the Heart

Australian Electoral Commission’s Yes/No pamphlet – fact checked by RMIT/ABC

The Yes and No cases for the Voice to Parliament, drafted by parliamentarians from each side of the debate, have been published on the Australian Electoral Commission website and are being mailed out to Australian households. The ABC News article contains fact check’s analysis of claims made in the No campaign and the Yes campaign.

Australian Electoral Commission Factsheet on Disinformation

During the referendum you may come across information that isn’t supported by evidence, is missing context or is even deliberately misleading. To be well informed, be a critical thinker when consuming information and think about whether the information is accurate and truthful.

Australian Electoral Commission Factsheet on Disinformation.

 

Pat Turner on “the most important vote of our collective lifetimes”

The referendum for a constitutionally enshrined Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament is the most important vote of our collective lifetimes, according to NACCHO CEO, Pat Turner.

“I am dismayed at how the debate on the Voice has been hijacked by all sorts of nonsense and misinformation.

“We have a simple truth here. Believe it or not, Aboriginal people know what’s best for Aboriginal people. All we want is a say in our own affairs, not a veto, not an advantage over others. We want a fair go. And a Voice will help us get it,” Ms Turner said.

You can read Ms Turner’s speech The significance of the Voice in Closing the Gap speech in full on NACCHO’s website here.

Read the full list of articles and resources on the Voice to Parliament on the Croakey Health Media website here.

Community-controlled organisations team up for Homelessness Week

Broome Regional Aboriginal Medical Service came together with other Aboriginal organisations to provide vital services and information for Homelessness Week (Monday 7 August to Sunday 13 August). Staff from the ACCHO provided holistic health checks and vaccinations, attendees were also able to access shower facilities, free haircuts and shaves, and were provided with resources from Kimberley Community Legal Services.

Housing support worker, Paula Clayton said the day allowed those attending to have fun and hopes people can be more understanding of the homeless community.

“It can happen to any of us, it doesn’t matter where you come from, especially in this social and economic situation with housing.

“[It’s] about celebrating our clients and letting them have a fun day to do some activities and see all the services provided,” she said.

Read the full The West Australian article Centacare Kimberley and Aboriginal Family Legal Services host Homelessness Week even in Broome here.

Tegan Kissane and Debbie Ryder. Image by: Katya Minns. Image Source: The West Australian.

AI in Eye Care

The AI in Eye Care (with Indigenous Perspectives) Conference will take place on Yawuru Country (Broome, WA) on Tuesday 24 October and Wednesday 25 October. The aim of the conference is to bring together experts in the field to discuss the advances in AI and its impact on eye care and diagnosis. Intended for ophthalmologists, optometrists, and orthoptists, the event will also include a session open to non-eye care professionals including Aboriginal health workers.

A key focus of the conference will be a workshop, where visiting experts will discuss and examine the principles and ethical implications of AI diagnostic tools in eye care. Topics that will be covered include privacy and patient data, equality of access and results, transparency in the development and application of algorithms.

Read more here.

Image source: Flinders University.

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.

4 August 2023

feature tile image red gold Aboriginal art across map of Australia superimposed with white font text 'self Determination'; other text 'Self-determination is a key factor in achieving positive health outcomes'

The image in the feature tile is from an article To achieve racial justice, we must self-determine meaningfully by Jarrod Hughes published by IndigenousX on 6 August 2020.

The NACCHO Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health News is 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.

Self-determination is key to positive health outcomes

Next Wednesday, 9 August, is the United Nations’s (UN) International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, a day to raise awareness and highlight the rights of the 476 million Indigenous people across 90 countries. In May this year the World Health Assembly passed an unprecedented resolution aimed at strengthening the health of Indigenous people. The resolution contains several ambitious obligations for member states to improve Indigenous health, including the development of national plans to improve access to health care for Indigenous peoples; the integration, where possible, of traditional and complementary medicine in health systems, particularly in primary care and mental health; and the training and recruiting of Indigenous people as health workers. It hopes to reduce some of the stark inequalities faced by many Indigenous peoples as a result of colonisation, displacement, and repression.

The term “Indigenous peoples” is in many ways a crude one, isolating and homogenising 5000 diverse cultures with vastly different experiences, needs, hopes, challenges, opportunities, and ways of life. But there are areas of common cause and solidarity, especially with regards to health. Life expectancy is more than 5 years lower in Indigenous than in non-Indigenous populations in Australia, Cameroon, Canada (First Nations and Inuit), Greenland, Kenya, NZ, and Panama. Maternal mortality, infant mortality, and mental health are often of particular concern. A recent Health Policy on environmental equity argues that Indigenous communities face a disproportionate burden of illness and mortality due to climate change, yet their inclusion and involvement in environmental health policy has been tokenistic at best.

Respect, support, and prioritisation of different Indigenous leadership, knowledges, cultural expression, and continuity and resilience are essential across health, as shown most recently by the COVID-19 pandemic. First Nations peoples in Australia were able to reverse initial disparities in the burden of COVID-19 when empowered by the government to lead their own response early in the pandemic. Indigenous sovereignty, coupled with a community-centred approach focused on cultural relevance and the use of Indigenous health-care providers, appears to have played a crucial role in mitigating the effects of COVID-19.

To view The Lancet article Indigenous health: self-determination is key in full click here.
health workers in PPE in Indigenous community

Health workers in an Indigenous community at the end of 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo: Michael Franchi. Image source: ABC News.

Purpose built AMS planned for Brewarinna

Frustration was apparent in the 2022 annual report of the Walgett Aboriginal Medical Service (WAMS). Mary Purse, the chairperson of the WAMS Board of Directors noted that “for some fifteen years past, the federal government are not responding to WAMS formal applications for the expansion of the Sandon Street property. Efforts to access funding have finally paid off with WAMS recently being awarded funding from the Federal Government’s $120m allocated for major capital works at community‑controlled organisations. Funding will help construct a new purpose built Aboriginal Medical Service building in Brewarrina.

“(We) are very pleased WAMS has secured the funding to assist in the build in a new purpose-built building and looking forward to the Brewarrina community having access to new state of the art primary health care facility,” Ms Purse said after the announcement. BAMS services Brewarrina and the surrounding communities and small towns in the area, providing not only health care but also programs which focus on Aboriginal culture, youth, education, housing and all aspects of life in a remote rural community for Aboriginal people.

BAMS is auspiced by the Walgett Aboriginal Medical Service Limited (WAMS) who accepted an invitation from the NSW Department of Health to oversee the running of the service to maintain a well-disciplined ACCHO. Chief Operations Manager, Katrina Ward is excited to oversee the new project for enhancing medical services for the Brewarrina community and offered thanks the WAMS Board of Directors and CEO for their continued support and assistance in maintaining medical services for the local and surrounding communities. WAMS CEO, Mrs Christine Corby AM, who also recognises the overdue need for a new medical facility in Brewarrina, was very happy with the funding outcome.

To view the Western Plains App article Long term goal achieved with purpose built AMS planned for Brewarrina in full click here.

external view of Brewarrina Aboriginal Health Service Ltd

Brewarrina Aboriginal Health Service Ltd. Image source: Gather website.

CTG Report – no joy in ‘I told you so’

Last week the Productivity Commission released its draft Review of the National Closing the Gap Agreement (the Agreement). The Agreement was launched in July 2020, promising a new era of reform and a ‘genuine’ commitment of governments to work in partnership with First Nations peak organisations. Rather than any bland words of tepid excuse or obfuscating, the Commission launched right into the heart of why, 18 years after the first call to Close the Gap  in health outcomes between First Nations and non-Indigenous peoples, the Government’s ‘efforts’ to fix things continues to languish in failure:  “Progress in implementing the Agreement’s Priority Reforms has, for the most part, been weak and reflects a business-as-usual approach to implementing policies and programs that affect the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”

Weak. Business-as-usual. Michelle Gratton called it ‘depressingly predictable’. This has been the never ending story for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities when it comes to social policies that impact them. The Commission went on to say that the “Current implementation raises questions about whether governments have fully grasped the scale of change required to their systems, operations and ways of working to deliver the unprecedented shift they have committed to” and that “It is too easy to find examples of government decisions that contradict commitments in the Agreement, that do not reflect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s priorities and perspectives and that exacerbate, rather than remedy, disadvantage and discrimination. This is particularly obvious in youth justice systems.”

Pat Turner, NACCHO CEO and convenor of the Coalition of Peaks that negotiated the 2020 National Agreement on Closing the Gap has said ‘…that governments need to do much more to implement their commitments to the Priority Reforms, that progress has been patchy and not as intended. I hope this review is a wakeup call to governments to get on with the job they have all agreed to do.’ This was also the reflection of Productivity Commissioner, and Djugun-Yawuru man Romlie Mokak who said that good intentions are not translating to meaningful action on the ground and in communities.

To view the Pearls and Irritations blog post No joy in ‘I told you so’: the Productivity Commission’s 2023 Closing the Gap Report by Paul Wright published earlier today, in full click here.

Aboriginal & Australian flags flying

Image source: Pearls and Irritations.

National Cervical Screening Program update

The National Cervical Screening Program education course for healthcare providers has now been updated to reflect the expansion of self-collection eligibility on 1 July 2022. The course is a self-directed Continuing Professional Development (CPD) online training course consisting of six modules, intended to enhance, reinforce and increase knowledge about the Cervical Screening Test and clinical pathways.

The duration of each module is approximately one hour, with one self-directed CPD point able to be allocated per hour spent completing the modules. Information on self-collection as a screening option can be found throughout all modules, but of particular interest may be Module 4 Screening in Practice which describes the steps involved in supporting a patient to self-collect a vaginal Cervical Screening Test sample.

We encourage you to distribute this information to your networks to ensure all healthcare providers who administer cervical screening are able to offer and promote self-collection as a safe and accessible Cervical Screening Test option.

You can find more information about the National Cervical Screening Program education course here.

The below video is from the NSW Government Cancer Institute NSW webpage Cervical screening for Aboriginal women available here.

FASD Communications and Engagement grants

NACCHO is excited to announce Round 2 of the FASD Communications and Engagement Grant is now open 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.

Round 2 of the FASD Grant is open to all NACCHO members who did not receive funding in Round 1. Eligible ACCHOs are also able to deliver a place-based response in collaboration with other community-controlled organisations and communities.

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 ‘Strong Born’ campaign materials and/or key messages into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages

You can register for the grant information session on Wednesday 9 August at 2.00pm AEDT here.

You can find more information about the FASD Grant and how to apply on the NACCHO website here.

Applications for Round 2 will close 11.00pm AEDT 11 August 2023.

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

tile NACCHO logo; text 'FASD Communications & Engagement Grant Round 2 Open wwww.naccho.org.au/FASD Strong Born

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 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day is celebrated across the country each year on 4 August. It is a time for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities to celebrate the strength and culture of their children. Children’s Day was first held in 1988. Part of the reason it was started was because there were many of our children in orphanages and institutions who did not know their birthday, so Children’s Day was set aside each year to celebrate the birthday of these children.

The Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC) is the National Voice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children. As the national peak body, they have a responsibility to make Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’s voices as powerful as possible, now and into the future. A First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution will amplify the work being done to ensure our children can flourish, with power over their destinies.

This year’s National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day theme ‘Little Voices, Loud Futures’ fires that ambition. SNAICC is raising awareness for the bright futures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and the potential for their voices to pave a new path for our nation. As always, SNAICC supports the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in calling for a future where they are proud and empowered by their culture to speak their truth and be listened to by all Australians.

You can find more information about National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day on the SNAICC website here.

banner SNAICC's National ATSI Children's Day 'Little Voices, Loud Futures' 4 August 2023

World Breastfeeding Week – 1–7 August 2023

During World Breastfeeding Week, 1–7 August 2023, NACCHO has been sharing a range information about breastfeeding as it relates to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and their families.

Below is a video Just Let Them Them Feed requested by the Western Arrarnta people of Ntaria (Hermannsburg, NT). The Aboriginal women wanted to reinforce the benefits of breastfeeding and educate their community and other Aboriginal people about the importance of breastfeeding. Sometimes this essential health information gets missed in the messages health staff communicate out bush because most Aboriginal women are seen as “natural breast feeders,” but this isn’t always the case.

The project came about through a direct connection with a core group of breastfeeding women who live and work in Ntaria. They had been talking about the decline in breastfeeding among young women in their community, and they wanted to do something about it. Young men and women were involved from the start of the project to attract younger community members to watch and listen to what the older, wiser men and women had to say about the benefits of breastfeeding. The younger ones rapped about the importance of breastfeeding through the use of song and dance, while the elders spoke with wisdom and truth about the benefits of breastfeeding for mother and baby and the next generation.

Voices from the community, as well as from the staff at the local health centre, were recorded so that people could hear about how breastfeeding is important for the future of the culture and community. Published research about drops in breastfeeding rates in Central Australian remote communities has not been presented to date, but even a small shift down in these rates is something local women and Elders want to address now. Community members report that some young mums bottle feed because they want to smoke, drink, or go out, but they don’t want their actions to affect the baby, or they have tried breastfeeding and just cannot breastfeed for whatever reason. Another youthful perception is that if other people can formula feed, so can they; but they don’t really know the consequences to the health of their baby when making this decision. We know that during the first six months of a baby’s life, we need to Let Them Feed.

20 July 2023

The NACCHO Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health News is 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.

Embedding pharmacists in ACCHOs

The Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC) has announced it supports funding for embedding pharmacists in ACHHOs. NACCHO Chair Donella Mills said, “MSAC’s support confirms ACHHOs can better ensure safe and effective use of medicines when pharmacists are present.”

“Our member services have been calling for support and funding for non-dispensing pharmacists integrated into ACCHOs for years… This endorsement further validates their requests and demonstrates the impact of team-based community-controlled healthcare,” she said.

The recommendation from Australia’s principal medical advisory group is based on a joint submission by NACCHO, PSA, and James Cook University, which found compelling evidence in the Integrating Pharmacists within Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services to improve Chronic Disease Management (IPAC) project. Pharmacists were proven to be valuable in improving the health outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; this includes a significant improvement in self-reported adherence to medicines, clinically significant improvements in the control of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes, and reduced risk of chronic disease patients developing CVD.

Read NACCHO’s media release here. Read the Australian Pharmacist article here.

Mandatory alcohol labelling – what’s next?

An expert panel including NACCHO Deputy CEO, Dr Dawn Casey will come together next month, Wednesday 2 August for the FASD Australia Mandatory Alcohol Labelling: A long fought battle. Now what’s next? webinar. From Tuesday 1 August labels identifying the harms of alcohol during pregnancy will be mandatory on all packaged alcoholic beverages with more than 1.15% alcohol by volume sold in Australia and NZ. Label messaging will state: “Alcohol can cause lifelong harm to your baby.”

The event will celebrate the landmark policy and the successful collaboration between researchers, advocates, community, and government. The panel will hear from a mother with lived experience of raising a child with FASD. The webinar will also explore the impact of the changes and other policies in reducing alcohol harms in communities, before looking at what’s next for reducing the risk of prenatal alcohol exposure and FASD across Australia.

Learn more here.

Image source: FASD Hub Australia.

Remote supervision keeps GP doors open

Remote supervision aims to get more GPs training and working in remote communities and communities in need across Australia. Regional NSW town, Armidale has been contending with workforce shortages in recent months, with clinics relying on telehealth services as a stopgap since its onsite GP moved away. A Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) remote supervision placement will see a new registrar practice at West Armidale Medical Clinic, supported by two remote supervisors.

“Remote supervision enables a GP to train in a community with limited or no onsite supervisor available – it’s an innovative way to get more GP registrars into communities in need and improve access for patients,” said RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins.

RACGP Senior Local Medical Educator, Head of Training New England Northwest, Dr Donna Quinn said the program in Armidale is an example of improving and expanding access to care for patients, “the fact that a registrar will be able to practice with remote supervision means that the patients at the clinic can continue to access care, and that makes a huge difference for a community.”

Read more here. More information about the RACGP’s remote supervision placements can be found here.

Image source: Unspalsh.

Ongoing impacts of COVID-19

Healthcare leaders are concerned about a lack of information and awareness about the ongoing risks of COVID-19. NACCHO Medical Advisor, Megan Campbell said, “COVID-19 continues to spread and affect many people across the country, including ACCHO clients and staff.” Victoria Allied Health Professionals Association, Executive Officer Andrew Hewat says across the board, COVID-19 continues to put pressure on the healthcare system and it’s important to recognise the ongoing efforts of health workers.

“COVID has taken regular healthcare workload pressures and put it on steroids,” he said.

Meanwhile, Professor Lesley Russell said national COVID data is lacking, and Australia has “no effective national surveillance or no standardised national collection of epidemiological and genetic data.” This makes it difficult to determine how many Australians are affected, plan for future waves, identify accurate prevalence of Long COVID, and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions and treatments.

Lung Foundation Australia says not many people are aware of the impacts of Long COVID.  The Foundation is urging people to “remain vigilant as COVID continues to be a major health concern” and to ensure they are up to date with COVID and other vaccinations, particularly during winter while other respiratory viruses are circulating.

Read the full Croakey Health Media article here.

Image source: Unsplash.

Improving mental health literacy of young men

Young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men aged between 1425 will be at the centre of new mental health research in Stirling. The Curtin University research project will aim to understand how young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men perceive mental health and their current approaches to promoting mental wellbeing, as well as the barriers and facilitators to fostering wellbeing and resilience. The research team will develop and test culturally appropriate mental health messages that will resonate with young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men.

“We will conduct co-design workshops to develop new strengths-based approaches to increase mental health literacy and mental health promotion grounded in Indigenous ways of knowing and being, which might include social media campaigns or mass media campaigns,” said Curtin’s School of Population Health, Professor Penelope Hasking.

“We will soon be recruiting our research team to guide the project… comprising young Aboriginal [and Torres Strait Islander] men and Elders before we commence an initial pilot within the City of Stirling early next year,” she said.

Read the full West Australian article here.

Curtin University. Image Source: The West Australian.

Palliative Care Conference registrations near 1,000

Registrations for the 2023 Oceanic Palliative Care Conference (23OPCC) are now open with registrations climbing towards 1,000 delegates. Running between Wednesday 13 September and Friday 15 September, the conference centres around the theme, ‘With the end in mind, shaping stronger health systems, delivering quality palliative care.’ Topics on the agenda include building and sustaining the workforce, caring for diverse populations, future models of care and primary health reform. Palliative Care Australia CEO, Camilla Rowland said, “our sector is very passionate about the care they provide and OPCC really energises innovative thinking, not just in the palliative care sector but also its connection with aged care, disability services and the wider health system.”

“We were blown away by the strength of the abstract submissions we received, the best and brightest speakers are lining up to share their work and knowledge at OPCC,” said Ms Rowland.

Speakers include geriatrician Dr Sue Kurrle, Canadian researcher and podcaster Dr Hsien Seow, former Health Secretary Professor Brendan Murphy, Aboriginal nurse practitioner Kat Hooper, and renowned researcher and leader Professor David Currow. Registrations are open until Thursday 17 August, a late fee will apply from Friday 18 August.

For further registration details click here.

To view the medianet. article Strong conference program and passion for reform draws palliative care sector to Sydney this September in full click here.

Image Source: Palliative Care Australia Twitter.

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.

27 June 2023

feature tile: aerial view of Thursday Island Hospital; text 'Torres Strait leaders want a review into health service amid 'declining health', 'weekly deaths''

The image in the feature tile is an aerial view of the Thursday Island Hospital published in the ABC News article Torres Strait leaders want review into health service amid ‘declining health’, ‘weekly’ deaths yesterday, Monday 26 June 2023. Photo: Brendan Mounter, ABC News.

The NACCHO Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health News is 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.

Torres Strait leaders want review into health service

Leaders in Queensland’s Torres Strait Islands say a review into “avoidable” weekly deaths at the region’s hospitals is overdue but needs to be independent. In a desperate letter to Premier Annastascia Palaszczuk, three First Nations leaders raised concerns, including that at least three avoidable deaths occurred each week. They also said culturally safe frontline services had been withdrawn in the “declining health status of our highly burdened, defenceless community”.

A co-author of the letter and chair of the Torres Strait Regional Authority, Napau Pedro Stephen, said people from the Torres Strait who sought treatment at Far North Queensland hospitals “should get better and come back to our homeland” but instead have been dying. “They’re coming back in wooden boxes,” he said. In their letter, the leaders said some families had been forced to decide whether to go to Cairns for life-saving treatment, which carried the risk of “creating additional expenses for their loved ones to repatriate their remains home”.

Earlier this month, the mayor of the Northern Peninsula Area on Cape York called for an investigation into the death of a two-year-old girl who had presented to Bamaga Hospital. The mayor of the Torres Shire Council, Yen Loban, and has called for Torres Strait Islander medical experts and grassroots community members to be involved in the review. Mr Stephen said it was “frightening” to learn Queensland Health would lead the review of the health service and an independent process was the “only way to move forward. It’s not that we would just come up with problems with Queensland Health,” he said. “We’d come up with solutions.”

To view the ABC News article Torres Strait leaders want review into health service amid ‘declining health’, ‘weekly’ deaths in full click here.

Bamaga Hospital ER sign

A toddler died after presenting to Bamaga Hospital in the Torres and Cape region this month. Photo: Brendan Mounter, ABC Far North. Image source: ABC News.

ACCHOs essential to Closing the Gap

Culturally safe healthcare and social services are essential for Closing the Gap. Professor in tropical health and medicine at James Cook University, Ian Ring describes Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations as some of the “best health services in Australia.”

“These services understand the important cultural issues which are fundamental to Indigenous health care provision, and crucially, provide better access for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to health services in general and, of course, to the health and social services that are essential for Closing the Gap,” Professor Ring said.

The service model in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations, which provide comprehensive primary healthcare, are regarded around the world as the preferred model of care. Professor Ring says where delivery of healthcare fails is the result of actions by the executive government which impacts what happens on the ground. He said, “too little funding was directed to services run by and for Indigenous peoples (National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation) which have been shown to outperform mainstream services in recognising and dealing with key Indigenous issues like chronic disease and maternal health.”

The above story has been extracted from an opinion piece Ian Ring | Indigenous Voice to Parliament must include executive government was published in The Area News yesterday, 26 June 2013. You can read more from Professor Ring on the Close the Gap Facebook page here.

Puntukurna Aboriginal Medical Services Healthcare, Newman WA aerial view

Puntukurnu Aboriginal Medical Services Healthcare, Newman WA. Photo: Robert Frith, Acorn. Image source: North West Telegraph.

Hepatitis B treatment in remote and regional areas

Despite the effectiveness of hepatitis B care and treatment in reducing the risk of liver disease and cancer, significant gaps remain in access and Australia is not meeting National Hepatitis B Strategy 2023–2030 Strategy targets for coverage. A new study by the Doherty Institute has revealed healthcare services and treatment for hepatitis B are being unevenly distributed across Australia, resulting in disparities among individuals living with hepatitis B.

Remote and regional areas experience lower rates of hepatitis B testing, diagnosis and subsequent treatment compared to metro areas. This includes limited access to specialised healthcare services, such as liver specialists and antiviral treatment options. The study highlights the need for targeted interventions and improved healthcare infrastructure in underserved regions to ensure equitable access to care.

However, certain remote areas in the NT and Far North Queensland have achieved care uptake rates of 70% or higher. These findings highlight the positive impact of the comprehensive programs implemented to improve access to care for hepatitis B, particularly within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in areas where the challenges to health care service delivery are substantial.

The Royal Melbourne Hospital Professor Ben Cowie, Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Viral Hepatitis at the Doherty Institute said that addressing geographic disparities in hepatitis B care and treatment is crucial for achieving optimal outcomes nationwide. “By leveraging the insights from the Report, healthcare professionals, policymakers, and researchers can work together to bridge the gaps in access and improve the overall management of hepatitis B across Australia,” Professor Cowie said.

You can read the Doherty Institute article Geographic disparities in uptake of care and treatment for hepatitis B across Australia in full here.

blue gloved hand holding vial with words 'Hepatitis B' & '+' ticked

Image source: Pharmaceutical Technology website.

Tamworth region health leaders celebrated

The Tamworth Aboriginal Medical Service (TAMS), and Moree health leader, Donna Taylor are among the recipients of the 2023 Primary Health Network (PHN) Primary Care Quality and Innovation Awards. The awards celebrated the outstanding contributions of local health leaders, including those continuing to make a positive contribution for improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health outcomes. The event recognised the efforts and achievements of individuals and organisations dedicated to improving health outcomes for Aboriginal communities and providing appropriate care to Aboriginal people in the Tamworth region.

The First Nations Health Award was won by the Tamworth Aboriginal Medical Service Cardiac Rehab and Prevention program. The award acknowledges organisations that address health inequalities for First Nations communities. After a well-respected Aboriginal woman informed TAMS that the Tamworth Hospital Cardiac rehab was based in the mammography building and men are never going to go there, TAMS worked with Hunter New England Health and a local gym owner to start the extremely successful Aboriginal-led Cardiac Rehab and Prevention program.

Donna Taylor of Pius X Aboriginal Corporation in Moree won the Primary Care Leader Award, given for innovation and leadership in primary care, and demonstrating the values of ‘respect, innovation, accountability, integrity, cooperation, and recognition’. Ms Taylor has been the CEO of Pius X Aboriginal Corporation for 24 years and has been instrumental in the provision of specialist health practitioners to Moree and surrounding areas. Recognising the barriers in the community to see specialists, such as cost, travel and separation from family, Donna set herself the mission to entice specialists to come to Moree and successfully attracted and ENT, gynaecologist, rheumatologist, ophthalmologist, cardiologist, psychiatrist, paediatrician and neurologist.

You can read The New England Times article Local health leaders recognised at PHN awards the full article here.

Moree health leader Donna Taylor holding Certificate of Excellence Finalist award

Moree health leader Donna Taylor was a recipient of the 2023 PHN PC Quality and Innovation Awards. Image source: The New England Times.

WSLHD leads research on vaping in schools

The Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD) has taken a significant step in understanding the issue of vaping in schools. Professor Smita Shah OAM and her team at WSLHD’s Prevention Education Research Unit undertook a study across seven high schools in Greater Western Sydney, to address the issue of adolescent e-cigarette use. More than 160 students, 130 school staff and 30 parents participated in the research, which employed an interactive, strengths-based approach, engaging students, staff, and parents to understand their perceptions and concerns regarding e-cigarette use among adolescents.

Results found an alarming prevalence of vaping among school-aged children in Western Sydney. WSLHD has called for proactive intervention measures and education programs to safeguard the health and wellbeing of the younger generation.

Key takeaways from the study includes:

  • There is no ‘one size fits all’: Schools request tailored education and engagement to address unique needs!
  • Education for young people needs to centre on effective learning approaches for tackling vaping. This means a focus on how and what young people learn, and the best ways to engage.
  • Prevention messaging needs to resonate with the children’s peer group.
  • A holistic approach to combat vaping needs to be embraced across the school, with supportive strategies, policies, and parent/staff education.
  • Focus on collaborative efforts between health and education for wellbeing-centred vaping prevention strategies.

You can read The Pulse article ‘Eye-opening’: Western Sydney Local Health district leads the way on new key research about vaping in schools in full here.

hand holding Peach Ice vape with school playground in the background

Photo: Tahlia Roy, ABC News.

Spotlight needs to be on communities not government

Government should be a spotlight on communities rather than control the spotlight, according to the Healthy Communities Foundation Australia CEO Mark Burdack. Mr Burdack said “One of the strategic shifts for government to really contemplate and think through is how to move the spotlight from government to a position where the government is a spotlight on communities.”

“How do we empower communities? And how does government generate a sense of success through the successes of communities, rather than through its own outputs and inputs? An issue surrounding governments’ community consultation is policy designed at scale, resulting in “one size fits all” solutions. We know, for example, that improving educational attainment will actually, in a lot of ways, do more to reduce the overall burden of disease, and therefore improve health and reduce hospitalisations than having a doctor in a small town,” Burdack said.

“I’m not saying it’s an either/or. What I’m saying is that we understand the dynamics, the cycle of disadvantage, and what drives those social determinants of health.” He mentioned Closing the Gap as an example of pressure on public servants to deliver improvements. “Departments are under a lot of pressure to demonstrate tangible improvements in the lives of Aboriginal people, reducing the child mortality rate, reducing the diabetes rate, and increasing the number of children in early childhood,” Burdack said. “And that pressure has a tendency or a risk of forcing people into their own lanes.”

To view The Mandarin article Government needs to be a spotlight on communities for better outcomes in full click here.

group of young adults, Healthy Communities Foundation Australia (HCFA) logo

Image source: The Healthy Communities Foundation website.

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.

23 June 2023

feature tile image: run down urban housing; text 'Coalition of Peaks urges politicians to take immediate action to resolve delays on the Housing Australia Future Fund Bill'

The image in the feature tile is from an article Aboriginal housing: Australian biggest policy failure? written by Paul Cleary and published by Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTAR) on 9 June 2023.

The NACCHO Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health News is 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.

Coalition of Peaks urge immediate action on housing

The Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peak Organisations (Coalition of Peaks) has urged politicians to “stop squabbling” and take immediate action to resolve delays on the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) Bill. Coalition of Peaks’ Deputy Lead Convenors, Scott Wilson and Catherine Liddle, said housing was too critical an issue to “fall victim to political game-playing. Housing is a key social determinant of health; our people need housing now. It’s time to stop procrastinating,” Mr Wilson, who is Chair of the SA ACCHO Network, said.

Ms Liddle, who is also chief executive of SNAICC – National Voice for our Children, said Federal politicians “should be shamed for holding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to ransom. These politicians are letting perfect get in the way of good, forcing our people to languish on the streets and in overcrowded and unfit housing,” she said. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare: 18% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people live in overcrowded households; 20% of those who were homeless in 2016 were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander; and 34% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults rent through social housing.

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Association (NATSIHA) CEO and Co-Chair of the Housing Policy Partnership, Ivan Simon, said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people “continue to be severely disadvantaged by the lack of appropriate response from government over many years to the housing circumstances that impact on their daily lives. This also means positive outcomes for the Closing the Gap targets are not being achieved, despite the efforts of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations and the hard work to implement the National Agreement on Closing the Gap,” he said.

To view the National Indigenous Times article Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peak Organisations urge immediate action on housing fund in full click here.

Ninga Mia local man John outside his home in the Pilbara

Ninga Mia local man John outside his home. Photo: Tom Joyner, ABC Goldfields.

$6.5b shortfall in rural health spending

Australia’s leading medical organisations are calling on state and federal governments to revolutionise the rural health system, with research revealing a spending shortfall of $6.5b. The National Rural Health Alliance (NRHA), whose members include medical colleges, Aboriginal health organisations and the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), commissioned the analysis that shows each rural Australian misses out on $850 in health spending per year.

The report by consultancy firm Nous Group found those who live in the country receive far less funding per capita than those in urban areas and workforce shortages make the problem worse. According to the report, released today, “Further action to address these inequities would improve both social justice and economic prosperity.”

The alliance is calling for funding of place-based rural health programs, which are locally delivered and target specific needs of communities, along with more country-based education that would allow doctors and nurses to train in the regions. It also wants a national rural health strategy to streamline complicated and varied funding initiatives. “Tweaking around the edges with trials and funding that stops after three years has exhausted rural communities,” the alliance’s chief executive Susi Tegen said.

To view the Kyabram Free Press article Rural health reform call over $6.5b shortfall claim in full click here and the National Rural Health Alliance media release Rural Australians missing out on $6.5 billion annually in health care access while coffers fill up with rural contributions here.

RFDS plan, patient, health workers, 4WD, outback

A report has found people in the country get far less funding per capita than those in urban areas. Photo: RFDS PR Handout. Image source: Kyabram Free Press.

Alcohol restrictions are having a positive impact

Alcohol restrictions in the NT are having a positive impact, advocates say, as police statistics show a drop in family violence callouts, property offences and other antisocial behaviour. Earlier this year, the NT government faced pressure over rising crime and antisocial behaviour in Alice Springs after Intervention-era bans on alcohol in remote Aboriginal communities came to an end, making liquor legal in some communities for the first time in 15 years. Alcohol bans were reintroduced in central Australia in January, with further restrictions imposed in February. Aboriginal people living in remote communities and town camps in the NT are not able to buy takeaway alcohol, although communities will be able to lift the bans if 60% of residents vote in favour of an alcohol management plan.

NT police statistics collated by the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress (CAAC) revealed a 37% decrease in domestic violence assaults from January to April. All other assaults dropped 35% while property offences were down 25% over the same time period. The People’s Alcohol Action Coalition, a community-based group aimed at raising awareness over alcohol-related harms and headed by the Alice Springs-based Dr John Boffa, said the renewed restrictions were having a positive impact.

CAAC acting CEO, David Busuttil, said it had been tracking police data on crime and antisocial behaviour for many years, analysing trends and seeing the impacts of different legislation, including alcohol restrictions and policies. “In the data, you can see the historical context, when different legislation or changes were made over time … we’ve been monitoring this for a long time because we think it’s one of the key social determinants of health and a key public health issue.” He said the impact on domestic and family violence callouts was particularly stark: “Everyone deserves to be able to live safely. Domestic violence is a major issue all around Australia, but especially in the NT and Alice Springs.”

To view The Guardian article ‘Incredibly noticeable’: alcohol bans have cut family violence and crime in Alice Springs, advocates say in full click here.

aerial view Alice Springs at night

‘The town is a different place’ … alcohol restrictions in Alice Springs have had a positive impact on family violence and crime rates. Photo: Blake Sharp Wiggins. Image source: The Guardian.

$3m for university to help CTG in health outcomes

The University of Newcastle has received $3m in federal funding to establish new medical research infrastructure that will help close the gap in health outcomes for First Nations people. The project, which is being undertaken in partnership with the Lowitja Institute, will help ensure culturally safe health and medical research for First Nations people.

It includes the establishment of a national ethics committee to provide advice and guidance on future research projects. The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Research Human Ethics Committee will be co-designed with First Nations people to ensure Indigenous Australians have a say in the research projects that affect them. The project is spearheaded by Wiradjuri woman and National Health and Medical Research Council Early Career Research Fellow, Associate Professor Michelle Kennedy.

The funding is part of the National Critical Research Infrastructure Initiative, a 10-year, $65m Australian Government investment from the Medical Research Future Fund. The Initiative funds facilities, equipment, systems and services that support world-class health and medical research.

To view the Newcastle Herald story University of Newcastle receives $3million to help close the gap in health outcomes for First Nations people in full click here.

Associate Professor Michelle Kennedy

Associate Professor Michelle Kennedy. Image source: University of Newcastle.

Menzies diabetes program a best practice example

Menzies School of Health Research (Menzies) has been involved in two papers published in The Lancet and The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

These have found diabetes is pervasive, growing in prevalence and outpacing most diseases globally, despite increased awareness and ongoing multinational efforts.

In addition, the Diabetes across the Lifecourse; Northern Australian Partnership (the Partnership), available here has been recognised as a best practice case study, to drive innovation in diabetes care and reduce inequity in diabetes outcomes.

You can read the Menzies School of Health Research media releases:

  • Global study highlights Menzies’ program as a leading example of diabetes best practice here and
  • Menzies’ researchers contribute to global studies on Structural racism’s impact on unequal diabetes cases and care here.

Below are the logos of the Menzies School of Health Research NT and Far North Queensland partners.

logos: AMSANT, Apunipima, Baker Institute, CAAC, Diabetes Aust, Miwatj Hlth, Healthy Living NT, KAMS, Qld Govt, NT Govt, Mater, Telethon Kids Institute

Menzies NT and Far North Queensland partners. Image source: Menzies School of Health Research webpage: DIABETES across the LIFECOURSE – Northern Australia Partnership.

Event connects communities in NE and Border regions

A Shields of Emotion Festival in Wangaratta at the weekend was a hit, highlighting connections and services for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community in the North East and Border regions. Event manager from Albury Wodonga Aboriginal Health Services (AWAHS) said as a health service they want to highlight the many services they have including doctors, dentists, family violence support, drug and alcohol and mental health counselling.

“We also wanted to bring community together because it is a very fragmented indigenous community in Wangaratta,” he said. “Events like these help bring people together and share culture and community. It’s part of game plan to keep the connection between culture, community and healing strong. It was great to see people coming from far and wide, and we had people travelling from Moyhu and as far as Albury,” he said.

Mr Jones said the AWAHS health van visits Apex Park every Thursday and up to 40 people generally show up, with some seeing the doctor but others just to share a meal and see community. It’s hoped that the event can be held each year to perpetuate the values of connection within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

To view the Wangaratta Chronicle article Event helps connect the indigenous community in full click here.

Albury Wodonga Aboriginal Health Servicesw staff Trent Jones, assistant manager Kieran (surname sacred), Rose Kirby

L-R: AWAHS event manager Trent Jones, assistant manager Kieran (surname sacred), and Ros Kirby. Image source: Wangaratta Chronicle.

NACCHO Conference sponsorship opportunities open

Sponsorship opportunities are now open for the 2023 NACCHO Members’ Conference that will be held 25–26 October at the Hyatt Regency Perth, Noongar Boodjar.

This conference will expose your business to over 400 individuals and up to 200 organisations that are focused on delivering positive health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

The conference will be promoted via NACCHO’s social media channels, daily news and website reaching a combined audience of more than 236,000 people.

You can also register to attend the NACCHO Members’ Conference and the NACCHO Youth Conference (23 May).

Download Sponsorship Prospectus or register for the conferences here.

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.

14 June 2023

image Adam Goodes opening session conference; text 'LOWITJA INSTITUTE'S 3rd International Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Conference KICKS OFF IN CAIRNS'

The image in the feature tile is of Adam Goodes speaking at the Opening Plenary Session at the Lowitja Institute’s 3rd International Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Conference on the tropical lands of the Gimuy Walubara Yidinji and Yirrganydjii peoples (Cairns). Image source: Melbourne Poche Centre for Indigenous Health, University of Melbourne Twitter post, 11.20 am Wednesday 14 June 2023.

The NACCHO Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health News is 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.

International Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Conference

An important conference is taking place on the lands of the Gimuy Walubara Yidinji and Yirrganydji peoples, in Cairns. The Lowitja Institute’s 3rd International Health and Wellbeing Conference began earlier today, Wednesday 14 June, with around 1,200 attendees. During the three-day conference there will be more than 250 presentations.

The conference brings together people from across the country and around the world, to share knowledge for the health and wellbeing of First Nations peoples and communities. Community leaders and representatives, researchers, health professionals and practitioners, policy makers, government representatives, and international First Nations leaders are expected to attend.

Proud Narrunga Kaurna woman, Adjunct Professor and CEO of the Lowitja Institute, Janine Mohamed, said “we’ve been really overwhelmed by the interest in the conference – it’s been sold out for a month…It shows that there is such an appetite for sharing innovative ideas and transformational community-led research that is grounded in our ways of knowing, being and doing – knowledge that disrupts Western research narratives.”

To view the Croakey Health Media article Sharing, learning, celebrating and more at the 3rd International Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Conference in full click here. For more information about the conference, including the program click here to access the Lowitja Conference website. You can also listen to Adjunct Professor Janine Mohamed speaking earlier this afternoon on NITV Radio about the conference here.

Lack of investment creates ‘sickcare’ system

Australia’s struggling healthcare system will remain a ‘sickcare’ system until governments see investing in health not as a cost, but as an investment that improves the wellbeing of Australians and pays economic dividends well into the future. In a report being launched today at the National Press Club by Australian Medical Association (AMA) President Professor Steve Robson, the AMA says Australia’s lack of investment in health, particularly in prevention and early intervention, is making health care more costly and challenging.

The Health is the best investment: Shifting from a sickcare system to a healthcare system report, available here, highlights the growing rate of chronic disease, with almost half the population having one or more chronic diseases and an ageing population that is putting the health care system under increasing pressure.

“Our current approach to investing in and managing health is focused very much on treating poor health outcomes not preventing them, which leads to a sickcare rather than healthcare system,” Professor Robson said.  “We need to reframe our thinking and focus more on how the money we invest in healthcare can improve health outcomes and support economic growth because the evidence is clear — keeping people healthy reduces the costs and burden on our healthcare system and drives economic growth and productivity. And while we are wealthy nation, our spend on health as a proportion of Gross Domestic Product is modest when compared to OECD countries like the UK. We have room for investment.”

To view the AMA’s media release Lack of investment and innovative thinking creates a ‘sickcare’ system in full click here.

AMA President Professor Steve Robson speaking at the National Press Club

AMA President Professor Steve Robson speaking at the National Press Club earlier this afternoon. Image source: AMA Media Twitter post 12:41 PM 14 June 2023.

Little progress in gynaecological cancer outcomes for mob

The Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet’s latest review of gynaecological cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia, available here, shows that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are still disproportionately burdened by gynaecological cancers, impacted by increased exposure to risk factors as a direct result of colonisation. Senior author, Associate Professor Lisa Whop, says that “Providing effective cancer prevention by risk reduction and participation in cancer screening programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people requires improved access to both high quality primary health care services and tertiary specialist services. This will also enable earlier diagnosis, management, and care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women at all stages.”

Culturally safe, accessible and patient centred care are seen as key components to decreasing the burden of gynaecological cancers on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and their communities. Without equitable resourcing to implement effective prevention, management and care of gynaecological cancers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women will continue to suffer. While national strategies and policies have highlighted the need to improve awareness of cancer prevention and early detection through the provision of culturally safe and high-quality care, little progress has been made and the disparities in gynaecological cancer outcomes persist.

Rigorous research is the urgent need to focus on implementation, monitoring and evaluation of strategies which hold the health system accountable to providing culturally safe care free of racism that is patient centred. With the Australian cancer plan, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cancer plan and the National Strategy to Eliminate Cervical Cancer under development, their implementation is critical as is their subsequent monitoring, and evaluation to ensure tangible outcomes in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women with gynaecological cancer.

VIC mental health system: racism, violence, sexual assault

Indigenous people in Victoria are subject to violent acts of seclusion and restraint in the mental health system at greater rates than non-Aboriginal people, a damning report has found. The special report found mental health patients who had their human rights violated under Victoria’s flawed health system are owed public apologies and compensation from the state government.

A number of mental health patients were allegedly subjected to traumatic incidents while undergoing mandatory treatment including seclusion and restraint, and coercive treatment such as the use of induced comas. The report, released yesterday, was commissioned by the state’s health department, and called for a truth-telling process to hear and document cases it says are unresolved. “On average, those within Victoria’s mental health system may lose 30 years of life due to the medications they are forced to take,” the report said. Incidents of racism, sexual assault and violence were also reported. Families, carers and supporters have also been mistreated and neglected by the system, with a lack of information about treatment, care and support options.

While systemic flaws were highlighted during a 2021 mental health royal commission, the report found truth-telling and acknowledging harms were not the focus. Human rights consultant Simon Katterl, who led the project, said the purpose of the report was to force the government to acknowledge harm, “Let there be no doubt that there are gross human rights violations being committed within the mental health system on a daily basis and we really need to, as a matter of urgency, start acting on this.”

To view the National Indigenous Times article Calls for justice after report finds racism, violence and sexual assault in Victoria’s mental health system in full click here.

side view of man's nose, mouth, cheek, rest of face obscured by black hoodie

Some people who received mental health treatment were subjected to compulsory treatment that sometimes included the use of induced comas. Photo: Chris Gillette, ABC News.

GRAMS launches Stopping Family Violence program

Geraldton Regional Aboriginal Medical Centre (GRAMS) has launched a new program to assist men in Carnarvon improve their relationships and reduce family and domestic violence in the community. The Department of Communities-funded We Can Together program is focused on empowering Carnarvon men to challenge and transform their behaviours.

Through a partnership between GRAMS and Stopping Family Violence (SFV), the program aims to address family and domestic violence and create a positive pathway for change. The well-rounded, culturally sensitive and tailored program will be led by GRAMS men’s intervention co-ordinator David Batty with support from SFV project manager Kyalie Moore.

“Family violence has a profound impact on children, shaping their lives in ways we cannot underestimate. Through training, education, and unwavering support, we can empower our community to grow and heal,” Mr Batty said. “It’s crucial to address the barriers that men face in seeking support, challenging the misconception that seeking help is a sign of weakness.” Ms Moore said by working together, the organisations could pave the way for change and create availability for services. “Addressing family domestic violence within Aboriginal communities requires a collaborative approach, with a strong focus on investing in and supporting our ACCHOs,” she said.

To view Midwest Times article Geraldton Regional Aboriginal Medical Service launches Stopping Family Violence program in Carnarvon in full here. You can also view the GRAMS media release GRAMS and Stopping Family Violence partner for “We Can Together” project here.

L-R: David Batty, Kyalie Moore and Damian Green

L-R: David Batty, Kyalie Moore and Damian Green. Image source: GRAMS website.

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.

Key Date – Men’s Health Week 12–18 June 2023

International Men’s Health Week (IMHW) is celebrated around the world in the middle of June every year. It’s a reminder to support and promote the health and wellbeing of men across the globe. The week focuses on physical health, mental health, emotional wellbeing, and community connection – and it’s a good prompt to consider men’s use of alcohol and other drugs.

When it comes to alcohol and other drug use, research has shown that compared to women, men:

  • are more likely to engage in illicit drug use
  • begin using alcohol and other drugs at an earlier age
  • have higher rates of substance dependence1, 2
  • often drink more than the recommended guidelines in one sitting3
  • have higher rates of unintentional drug-induced overdoses.4

Higher rates of alcohol and other drug use mean that men often experience more associated harms. The Alcohol and Drug Foundation webpage Men’s Health Week – time for healthy habits here provides information about how to build healthier habits, the signs to check if you need support, how to talk to a mate about their alcohol and other drug use, and find out where to get support. You can also watch the Queensland Reds rugby union players(L-R) Zane Nonggorr, Jock Campbell and Harry Wilson dispel some men’s health myths in the video below.

6 June 2023

feature tile ATSI mum & baby at smoking ceremony; text 'Various initiatives implemented across Western Sydney to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mums-to-be'

The image in the feature tile is of Aboriginal Elder Uncle Elvis and Kiralee Moss performing the smoking ceremony for Anne-Shirley Braun and baby Amelia at the first yarning circle at Westmead Hospital’s Cultural Gathering Place in June 2021. The image appeared in article Breaking down barriers to support western Sydney Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mums-to-be  published in The Pulse yesterday, Monday 5 June 2023.

The NACCHO Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health News is 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.

Breaking down barriers to support mums-to-be

The Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mums and Bubs Program Steering Committee is working hard to implement various initiatives to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mums-to-be and their families across the district. With over 30 attendees, 40% of who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, this committee is breaking down silos to improve health services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait families in a culturally appropriate way through establishing sustainable partnerships.

Committee member Jo Fuller is the Integrated and Community Health Priority Populations program lead at WSLHD, and since 2016 has managed the Aboriginal Health portfolio and was a founding member in starting this committee. Jo is passionate about service collaboration and strongly believes that reconciliation needs to be driven by non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples. “Through the Mums and Bubs Program Steering Committee, we have been able to establish culturally sensitive and appropriate services and provide alternative pathways for the delivery of non-Aboriginal services to the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across western Sydney,” said Jo.

One example of this is the Westmead Hospital Midwifery Caseload Practice and Westmead Dragonfly Midwifery group that offers culturally safe midwifery continuity of care for women from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families with a service that runs 24/7 during pregnancies and up to six weeks following birth.

To view The Pulse article Breaking down barriers to support western Sydney Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mums-to-be in full click here.

Belinda Cashman (Acting Director Aboriginal Health Strategy), Koorine Trewlynn (Principal Project Officer Kimberwalli)

Belinda Cashman (Acting Director Aboriginal Health Strategy), Koorine Trewlynn (Principal Project Officer Kimberwalli). Image source: The Pulse.

Stolen as a child, now training others to heal

Aunty Lorraine Peeters’s last memory of her homeland was watching the mission gates fade into the distance from the back of a rattly truck. After being snatched from her parents at Brewarrina Mission in NW NSW in 1942, four-year-old Lorraine was taken 650 kms south with her five sisters to Cootamundra Domestic Training Home for Aboriginal Girls. The Wailwan Gamilaroi woman’s life was about to change forever.

Separated from her sisters, Aunty Lorraine described being ripped from her family and culture and “plonked into another” as a government-led assimilation strategy to get rid of her people. “Brainwashed, abused, and the whip — if you ever used your own culture,” she said while reflecting on the former home’s mantra of ‘act white, speak white, be white’. “I really think it was a genocide of our race.”

Lorraine Peeters has step up a program, Maumali, to help other members of the Stolen Generations, and the wide community, work through and understand trauma. Marumali is a Gamilaroi word for “put back together”.

To view the ABC News article Lorraine Peeters was stolen and trained to be a servant in NSW, now she trains others to heal in full click here.

Aunty Lorraine Peeters leaning on bridge wall

Aunty Lorraine Peeters. Photo: Carly Williams, ABC News.

Health advocate address UN delegates

To deliver a speech for your own nation among the nation states of the world in diplomatic Geneva is always deemed a privilege, but one personal address from the heart of the world’s oldest continuous living culture was worth the wait of the journey. There Pat Anderson from the podium was surveying the eyes of the room of delegates of United Nations members staring back, all the while carrying the weight of 65,000 years of history proudly on the resilient Alyawarre woman’s shoulders.

The internationally-recognised advocate for Indigenous health grew up from humble beginnings and that upbringing was not far from her mind in that moment. “All I was thinking is, ‘I am a long way from Darwin, let alone a long way from Parap camp’,” Pat says. Parap camp, which she called once home, was a collection of surplus army tents, pegged down and sheltered away from the rest of established Darwin for Aboriginal and “mixed” families to exist.

“That’s where my parents instilled in us a really strong sense of justice and what was right and wrong. They also encouraged us to be brave, to stand up and say what you needed to say. I’ve spent my life of trying to make change, trying to educate, trying to convince, trying to coax, trying to cajole what is a wider community to our cause,” Pat says. “We are a sovereign people, an ancient people, we have knowledge and we are of value.”

To view the National Indigenous Times article Pat Anderson’s long journey has important steps to come in full click here.

Pat Anderson arms crossed across chest standing under gum tree

Pat Anderson. Photo: Andrew Mathieson. Image source: National Indigenous Times.

JCU welcomes first Indigenous Chancellor

Last Thursday 1 June 2023, at James Cook University’s (JCU) Bebegu Yumba Campus in Townsville, on the lawns in front of the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library Professor Ngiare Brown was welcomed as JCU’s  sixth Chancellor. Professor Brown is the first female and first Indigenous to assume the university’s most senior governance and strategy role.

“I’m a Yuin nation woman from the South Coast of NSW. I’m a doctor by trade, a mother, a researcher, a clinician, and I get up to lots of mischief,” she said. “I find this quite an extraordinary opportunity. I would never have anticipated being approached for such a role. I am hoping that I can be a good role model for other women, girls, other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples but also people who have limited opportunities in their current context. There are institutions that want them to be part of their journey.”

Deputy chancellor Jayne Arlett said the appointment of the institution’s first female and first Indigenous chancellor was “significant. She is an exceptional person with very high standing at a national and international level,” she said.

You can read more about Professor Ngiare Brown in the ABC News article New James Cook University chancellor hopes to bridge education divide amid ‘growth period’ here.

16 seated people, 13 in academic robes, 3 women in civilian attire; Professor Ngaire Brown at investiture as Chancellor of JCU

Professor Ngaire Brown seated in the middle of the front row at her investiture as Chancellor of James Cook University on 1 June 2023.

Perception Alice Springs unsafe deters workers

Top NT doctor John Boffa says alcohol restrictions mean Alice Springs is “back to being a safe place” but and healthcare workers are being put off coming to the area by “a situation which has largely been addressed”.

Central Australian Aboriginal Congress (CAAC) chief medical officer Dr John Boffa said the “single most important factor” in attracting healthcare workers to the region was to “get the message out that Alice Springs is now safe. The crisis is over, we’re back to where we were in 2021 and we had no staff not coming in because they said it was unsafe,” he said.

“But unfortunately in the national picture there’s still this perception that this town is unsafe as it was leading up to Christmas last year — that’s not true.”

The above has been extracted from the NT News article Top Alice Springs doctor John Boffa says alcohol restrictions mean the town is now ‘safe’ published earlier today.

CAAC Chief Medical Officer John Boffa speaking to media outside building

CAAC Chief Medical Officer John Boffa said the “situation” in Alice Springs had largely been addressed by alcohol restrictions. Photo: Laura Hooper. Image source: NT News.

Culturally appropriate mental health support coming

People in the Alice Springs region will soon have access to free, and culturally appropriate mental health and wellbeing support in their own community. Together, the Australian Government and NT Government are investing $11.5m to establish and operate new adult and kids Head to Health services, which are expected to open in 2024.

The Head to Health services in Alice Springs will be safe and welcoming places for all people, with a strong focus on being culturally safe and responsive to meet the needs of First Nations people. Head to Health services provide compassionate, flexible and high-quality mental health and wellbeing support from multidisciplinary care teams. People can be seen  without an appointment, to get the services they need from a range of professionals, which may include First Nations health workers, psychologists, paediatricians, nurses, social workers and peer support workers.

The new Head to Health service for adults will provide short to medium-term care for people with moderate to severe levels of mental illness. This new service will take a holistic approach to supporting mental health and wellbeing, and provide immediate support and follow up for people who are in crisis or distress. The new Head to Health Kids service will deliver culturally appropriate specialist therapeutic services for children ages 0 to 12 years, strengthening outcomes for children’s mental health and wellbeing and their families throughout the Central Australia region.

Both of these Head to Health services will be co-designed in close partnership with the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress (CAAC) and First Nations representatives, health professionals and service providers, as well as local communities, including people with lived and living experience of mental ill-health and families experiencing childhood difficulties.

To view The Hon Emma McBride MP, Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention and Assistant Minister Rural and Regional Health’s media release New free mental health services for Alice Springs in full click here.

Head to Health logo: Aboriginal boy Dujuan Hoosan sitting on hells near home in Hidden Valley in Alice Springs

Head to Health logo and Dugjuan Hoosan sitting in hills near his home Hidden Valley in Alice Springs. Photo: Maya Newell – Director of In my blood it runs. Image source: Alice Springs 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.