Category Evaluations

NACCHO Sector News: 23 May 2025

The NACCHO Sector News is a platform we use to showcase the important work being done in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, focusing on the work of NACCHO, NACCHO members and NACCHO affiliates.

We also share a curated selection of news stories that are of likely interest to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health sector, broadly.

Anniversary call to support Stolen Generations survivors “before it’s too late”

Ahead of National Sorry Day on 26 May, a national body has called for an urgent healing package for ageing Stolen Generations survivors, saying “we cannot wait another generation”.

“All survivors must have access to equitable redress and to the records that hold their stories,” The Healing Foundation said on Thursday.

National Sorry Day is about honouring survivors and also marks the 1997 tabling of the Bringing Them Home report, which shared Australia’s Stolen Generations history with the nation, and made a series of recommendations to address the damaging impacts.

28 years on, only six per cent of these recommendations have been fully implemented.

The Healing Foundation’s CEO Shannan Dodson urged all those with a responsibility to support Stolen Generations survivors to act without delay.

“Stolen Generations survivors have been through so much. Many suffered abuse in care, on top of the trauma of being separated from their families. They have seen how their trauma has affected their families. They deserve justice,” Ms Dodson said.

“A comprehensive and coordinated response is required from all sides of politics, all levels of government, police, churches and others, before it’s too late.

Read the full National Indigenous Times article here.

Image: Mick Tsikas (AAP).

Join the Evaluation of the Own It Campaign

NACCHO is looking for ACCHO staff to participate in a qualitative evaluation to understand how the cervical screening ‘Own It’ campaign has impacted cervical screening awareness and uptake in your Community.

If you would like to take part in the evaluation, please complete this short form and a member of the NACCHO Cancer Team will be in touch.

  • Will I be compensated for my time? Yes, from $150 and up, depending on your role in the form of an e-gift card
  • How long will it take? 1 hour
  • Where will the interviews take place? Interviews can be conducted at your convenience, either via phone or MS teams video and will be held across late May/early June.

Help shape a national education program on antidepressant use in young people

NACCHO, as part of the Quality Use of Medicines (QUM) Alliance is helping to develop a new education program to improve the use of antidepressants in young people.

The Alliance is seeking the following groups to get involved in the co-design process:

For more information, contact info@qumconnect.com.au or medicines@naccho.org.au

Construction begins on ACT Aboriginal health precinct

Work is underway on Canberra’s Watson Health Precinct redevelopment, the ACT Government has announced.

ACT Minister for Health, Rachel Stephen-Smith said the renewed Watson Health Precinct will enable delivery of better health services for young people and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community in Canberra.

The upgrades will provide new purpose-built facilities to support alcohol and other drug rehabilitation services, as well as residential mental health care for young people.

The precinct will also expand to include a new residential rehabilitation facility specifically for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people – designed, constructed and operated by Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services.

“The new residential rehabilitation facility is designed to support the need for both cultural and therapeutic programs specifically designed indoor and outdoor spaces to allow for a holistic approach for all programs to be deliver seamlessly,” said Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services CEO, Julie Tongs.

Learn more here.

Roadmap unveiled to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQA+ youth

A new roadmap has detailed actions that family and community, services, and government can take to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQIA+ young people’s mental health and wellbeing, including creating visibility, seeking wider education and advocating for safe spaces.

“Five years ago, there was almost no research that had been done with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQIA+ young people,” the roadmap’s lead author, The Kids Research Institute Australia (The Kids) researcher and UWA PhD student Mx Shakara Liddelow-Hunt said.

“But with the release of our national survey, and other research happening across Australia, we now have a body of evidence showing that there is a huge need to better support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQIA+ young people.

“The roadmap provides concrete actions that we can all take to achieve this. Our end goal in releasing this roadmap is to empower individuals, families, communities and services to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQIA+ young people are safe, healthy and thriving.”

Learn more here.

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

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.

28 June 2024

The NACCHO Sector News is a platform we use to showcase the important work being done in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, focusing on the work of NACCHO, NACCHO members and NACCHO affiliates.

We also share a curated selection of news stories that are of likely interest to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health sector, broadly.

New Aboriginal-led service for mob affected by FV

Aboriginal communities have worked with the Victorian government to deliver a new, Aboriginal-led service to support people affected by family violence  (FV) in the Barwon / Wadawurrung Country area. Victoria’s Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, Vicki Ward, this week officially opened the Aboriginal Access Point Barwon service, which is being operated by Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative.

Ms Ward said the state government is “investing in needed Aboriginal-led family violence supports that are culturally safe and tailored to meet the needs of Aboriginal people”. The service is fully staffed by an Aboriginal workforce who provide culturally safe support for local Aboriginal families affected by family violence, living on Wathaurong, Gulidjan and Gadabanud Country, in the Geelong, Bellarine and Colac regions.

Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative CEO Simon Flagg said the Co-operative “welcomes the investment into culturally safe support services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our region. This service, alongside services that Wathaurong already provides with The Orange Door, will allow us to support our community who are experiencing or at risk of family violence.”

To view the National Indigenous Times article Aboriginal-led service to help people affected by family violence on Wadawurrung Country in full click here.

Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative CEO Simon Flagg. Image: Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative

Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative CEO Simon Flagg. Image source: National Indigenous Times.

VACCHO framework aims to improve cancer outcomes

The Victorian government has announced their support of a new initiative to improve cancer outcomes for Indigenous people in the state, as well as helping to close the gap in cancer research and care. Yesterday (Thursday 27 June 2024), Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas announced $3.87m towards Framework Respect – a culturally responsive and safe framework to boost participation in cancer clinical trials – led by VACCHO in partnership with local ACCHOs.

VACCHO CEO and cancer survivor, Jill Gallagher said VACCHO’s journey strategy “provides the roadmap for improving cancer outcomes” for Indigenous Victorians. “This commitment means Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will have greater access to the latest approaches to detect and treat cancers, with ACCOs providing that access,” the Gunditjmara woman said.

This framework will form part of the Cancer Clinical Trials Program 2024–2028 and is on top of the $7.8m plan by the government to “support the development and implementation” of VACCHO’s Aboriginal Cancer Journey Strategy 2023–2028. “Equity in healthcare must be a priority, and we can’t ignore the fact that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander have worse outcomes when it comes to cancer – this funding will help address that gap,” Minister Thomas said. “These new guidelines will ensure that health services have a clear and consistent framework when engaging with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander in clinical cancer trials in a meaningful and respectful way.”

To view the National Indigenous Times article New funding a roadmap to improving cancer outcomes for Aboriginal Victorians in full click here.

van painted with Aboriginal art outside VACCHO office building

Image source: National Indigenous Times.

Murdered First Nations Women report due soon

A major investigation into violence against First Nations women and children will soon be released, almost two years after the Senate referred an inquiry to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee. The inquiry into Missing and Murdered First Nations Women and Children has since published  87 submissions and held multiple hearings.

Jade Bradford, a Ballardong Noongar freelance journalist based in WA, has been following the inquiry closely, and undertaken a thematic analysis of some of the key issues raised by submissions. Ms Bradford  found that while many different organisations and individuals from different places and contexts have made submissions to the inquiry, three clear themes emerged from hre systematic view:

Truth telling is foundational, including truth telling about the connections between colonial violence and the violence experienced by First Nations women. In their submission QAIHC cited research suggesting that the decision made by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women on whether or not to disclose violence was directly related to the cultural safety of services.

Self-determination was another key theme was the importance of self-determination in all responses, whether in prevention, or policy and service development and delivery. In their submission the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress (CAAC) said “ACCOs, especially ACCHOs, should be recognised as preferred providers for government funded services to address family violence, in recognition of their greater service effectiveness, their higher levels of employment of Aboriginal women, and their formal structures for involving Aboriginal communities in general and women in particular in decision-making.”

Investment in social and cultural determinants of health especially poverty and housing, and a lack of cultural safety in policy and services was highlighted in many submissions, including the one from CAAC, “Increased investment in housing for both remote and urban areas as an important underpinning strategy to support women’s independence and address mental health and social and emotional wellbeing issues, including family violence.”

To view the Croakey Health Media article Truth telling and self-determination are critical for addressing violence against First Nations women and children in full click here. 

Michael, Rose and Orlyn at the graveside of their mother

Michael, Rose and Orlyn at the graveside of their mother, Constance Watcho. Photo: David Maguire, Four Corners. Image source: ABC News website.

Important Stronger Bubba Born surveys

The Stillbirth Centre of Research Excellence (CRE) has developed two very important surveys to evaluate and improve the Stronger Bubba Born program. Both surveys are anonymous and will take about 10–15 minutes to complete.

One survey is for Health Care Professionals and is titled Co-design of stillbirth prevention and care resources for diverse communities in Australia. It is a part of the evaluation of the Cultural Adaptation of the Safer Baby Bundle (inclusive of Stronger Bubba Born and Growing a Healthy Baby). This survey is aimed at clinicians who provide maternity care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and/or migrant or refugee women. You can access this survey here or by clicking on the QR code below:Stronger Born Bubba QR codeThe second survey is titled Developing resources for a safer pregnancy: a survey for Indigenous women. This is targeted at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women who are 16 years of age and above and are either currently pregnant or were pregnant in the previous 3 years. Due to ethics requirements, the QR code can’t shared here but will be sent out to ACCHO practice managers to promote within house.

Please contact the NACCHO Maternal and Child Health team via email here if you have any questions.

culturally-sensitive resources for ATSI women to have a safer pregnancy

Culturally-sensitive resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women. Image source: Stillbirth CRE website.

Workforce Wellbeing Guide for Kimberley ACCHOs

The Workforce Wellbeing Guide: A self-reflection and self-care resource for Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services in the Kimberley was written in Rubibi (Broome). It was developed by the Wellbeing Informed Care – Kimberley (WIC-K) research project in collaboration with the Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Service (KAMS), and the University of WA (Rural Clinical School of WA and School of Indigenous Studies).

The WIC-K project team would like to thank the Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB) workers, and Aboriginal Health Workers who contributed their time, knowledge, and lived experience to the development of this guide.

You can access the Workforce Wellbeing Guide on the Transforming Indigenous Mental Health and Wellbeing blog here.

cover of KAMS Workforce Wellbeing Guide for Kimberly ACCHOs

Image source: TIMHWB blog.

OAMS staff visit Nikinpa Aboriginal Child and Family Centre

Orange Aboriginal Medical Service (OAMS) staff Linda, Facilities & Assets Maintenance Manager and Ri, CQI Coordinator recently travelled to Toronto near Newcastle, NSW, to visit the Nikinpa Aboriginal Child and Family Centre. The centre brings together a range of education, health, and family support and early childhood services to improve local Aboriginal families’ overall health, education and wellbeing.

It was an exchange of ideas meet up where Emma, Centre Manger and Jennifer DCJ Program Director gave a centre tour and talked about their various free programs such as women’s art therapy, nutrition and healthy lifestyle activities. They also host events such as community breakfasts, and many other organisations, such as the AECG (Aboriginal Education Consultative Group), who use their space to hold regular meetings.

A highlight was a viewing of the artwork from members of the Nikinpa art group. One member of the artists group is Aunty Brenda Simon is a proud Wiradjuri woman from Gulargambone. All seven of Brenda’s children were taken from her by government authorities in the 1970s, and her story is now the subject of a powerful new documentary, The Last Daughter, on Netflix. Aunty Brenda attends the art group each week and says painting leaves has helped build connections in her community.

You can find more information about the Nikinpa Aboriginal Child and Family Centre on the Muloobinba Aboriginal Corporation website here and watch a trailer to The Last Daughter here.

collage 3 images, 4 women, woman with artwork, painted gumnut leaves

Images from the OAMS staff visit to the Nikinpa Aboriginal Child & Family Centre. Photos supplied by OAMS.

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.

22 May 2024

The NACCHO Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health News is a platform we use to showcase the important work being done in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, focusing on the work of NACCHO, NACCHO members and NACCHO affiliates.

We also share a curated selection of news stories that are of likely interest to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health sector, broadly.

Over-policing during pandemic amplified disadvantage

A new report has claimed disadvantaged and First Nations children in NSW were targeted by police during the COVID-19 pandemic, with fines up to $5,000 being issued, pushing families into financial hardship. Commissioned by the Redfern Legal Centre (RLC), the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Limited (ALS), Children and Covid-19 Fines in NSW paints a troubling picture of the over-policing of disadvantaged communities during the pandemic which was “unsuitable for achieving positive public health outcomes for children”.

The report observes fines were disproportionately issued to marginalised groups throughout the state, including to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, children with cognitive disabilities, and children experiencing socio-economic challenges such as homelessness, or unsafe home environments. Between March 2020, and September 2022, 3,628 children in NSW received a penalty notice for a breach of a public health order. More than half of those were fixed at $1,000 and some were as high as $5,000.

Chair of the Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS) NSW/ACT, Karly Warner, said Aboriginal communities set the “gold standard” for caring for each other during the pandemic. “Yet our children paid a higher price because of the Government’s punitive approach to enforcing public health orders,” Ms Warner said. “Fines are an extension of the way Aboriginal children are criminalised and punished in NSW. It’s time to reform the archaic and unjust fines system.”

To view the National Indigenous Times article “Simply amplifies disadvantage”: First Nations and disadvantaged children targeted by NSW police during COVID lockdowns, report reveals in full click here.

Aboriginal Legal Service CEO Karly Warner portrait shot against ATSI crocodile painting

Aboriginal Legal Service CEO Karly Warner says the fines are an extension of the way Aboriginal children are criminalised. Photo: NATSILS. Image source: National Indigenous Times.

ACCHO purchases primary health centre

Gunditjmara Aboriginal Cooperative has announced its purchase of Lyndoch Living’s primary health centre. The building, which cost Lyndoch Living about $25m to build, went on the market in October 2023 – less than a year after it opened.  Gunditjmara had planned major renovations of its Kepler Street site but costs of the works soared to $9.5m in February 2024. Costs had blown out by more than $4m.

Gunditjmara CEO Danny Chatfield said a decision was made to make the move to the Hopkins River location. “The decision to purchase the Lyndoch primary health centre came just at the right moment, presenting an ideal alternative when opportunity knocked,” Mr Chatfield said in a statement.

“The facility, situated beside the significant Hopkins River – a site of profound cultural importance to the Maar society- came as a perfect fit. This idyllic and tranquil setting naturally aligns with Gunditjmara’s holistic approach to health and social care, which encompasses a full spectrum of services from birth to elderhood. Undoubtedly, it will enhance both the physical and cultural well-being of our community members, visitors, and staff,” Mr Chatfield said.

The above has been extracted from an article ‘Just at the right moment’: Gunditjmara buys Lyndoch primary health centre published in The Standard last night (21 May 2024).

Lyndoch Living primary health centre

Gunditjamara Aboriginal Corporative has bought Lyndoch Living’s primary health centre. Image source: The Standard.

Call for greater LGBTIQ+ inclusivity in palliative care

“Discrimination drives many LGBTIQ+ people to avoid healthcare or avoid disclosing their diverse bodies, sexual orientations or genders. This directly impacts on their end-of-life planning,” said Dr Ruth McNair, GP, and honorary Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne. “Barriers to end-of-life care for LGBTIQ+ people can be overcome. Further education within the healthcare sector would greatly improve awareness of issues unique to LGBTIQ+ patients.” These comments for greater inclusivity come ahead of National Palliative Care Week, happening from Sunday, 19 May to Saturday, 25 May 2024. “When healthcare providers encourage LGBTIQ+ people to establish an advanced care directive, it can have a ripple effect throughout LGBTIQ+ communities where other people also better prepare for end-of-life scenarios,” Dr McNair said.

Dr McNair has been deeply involved in the LGBTIQ+ health space for a long time, collaborating closely with LHA and actively participating in its LGBTIQ+ Palliative Care Project. This year, LHA launched the LGBTIQ+ Inclusive Palliative Care eLearning to promote inclusivity in palliative care. This program offers professional development for the palliative care workforce focused on providing safe, inclusive palliative care that respects and supports LGBTIQ+ people, ensuring they can access care, free from discrimination. The four-module eLearning program is accessible at no cost to those working in palliative care or with an interest in the field.

“Fears of homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, and elder abuse can be highly distressing to older people who have faced these challenges in the past. As such, there is an urgent need for the aged care and primary care sectors to address the unique challenges faced by LGBTIQ+ people when accessing palliative care services,” Dr McNair said.

To view the Healthcare Channel article Call for greater LGBTIQ+ inclusivity in palliative care in full click here.

LGBTIQ+ Health Australia logo & portrait shot of Dr Ruth McNair

LGBTIQ+ Health Australia logo & Dr Ruth McNair. Image sources: LGBTIQ+ Health Australia website & The University of Melbourne website.

First Nations Aged Care Commissioner reports in

The Interim First Nations Aged Care Commissioner Ms Andrea Kelly, who commenced in the role on 8 January 2024, is currently conductingnation-wide consultations, to hear directly from First Nations older people, families, carers, communities and providers about their experiences accessing and engaging in the aged care system. Commissioner Kelly has been visiting communities across Australia, ensuring there is a mix of very remote, remote, regional and urban locations. She has also been speaking with a mix of service types who provide aged care to older First Nations people.

During these consultations, Commissioner Kelly has invited feedback on two questions::

  • What changes are required to enable culturally safe, trauma-aware and healing-informed access to the aged care system for older First Nations people, carers, families and communities?
  • · Should there be a permanent, statutory First Nations Aged Care Commissioner? If so, what should their functions and authority be?

Commissioner Kelly is not surprised that the community-controlled sector and organisations with long standing relationships in these communities have the solutions to deliver aged care to older First Nations people.

Some of the key themes Commissioner Kelly has heard so far from older First Nations people and the sector include:

  • wait times from assessment through to service provision are taking too long
  • allowing flexibility in funding models mean that care is localised and reflective of the needs of the individual
  • employing staff to work in the sector is difficult due to the lack of safe and affordable accommodation for workforce, particularly in remote and very remote communities
  • the importance of culture and remaining connected to Country and community is significant to the mental health and social and emotional wellbeing of older First Nations people

You can access the Interim First Nations Aged Care Commissioner – Communique – May 2024 in full on the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care website here.

cover of Aust Govt DoHAC publication, text 'Communique - May 2024 Interim First Nations Aged Care Commissioner' & DoHAC logo & ATSI art in orange & aqua

Image source: Department of Health and Aged Care website.

Aged Care Star Ratings – have your say

The Australian Department of Health and Aged Care has engaged Allen + Clarke Consulting to undertake an evaluation of Star Ratings for residential aged care. As part of the evaluation, Allen + Clarke Consulting is undertaking consultation with consumers and a range of stakeholders across the aged care sector, including representatives from aged care organisations, advocacy groups, service providers, and staff working in residential aged care.

As part of their consultation process, Allen + Clarke Consulting invite you to an interview. Your participation in an interview will help Allen + Clarke Consulting to understand whether Star Ratings are contributing to improved quality of care in residential aged care homes, and how well Star Ratings are working to improve transparency and decision-making about aged care for older people and their families and carers. If you’d prefer, you can delegate this invitation to another colleague in your organisation. You are also welcome to bring one or two additional team members to participate in the interview.

The interview will be held online and will be up to 45 minutes in length.

Key areas that may be discussed include:

  • How well do Star Ratings address the specific challenges and requirements of First Nations people?
  • What is the level of awareness about Star Ratings among First Nations people making decisions about aged care for themselves or someone else?
  • Should Star Ratings be expanded to National Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care (NATSIFAC) services?
  • What are the potential benefits and enablers for publishing Star NATSIFAC service types?
  • What challenges and considerations would need to be considered when implementing Star Ratings for MPS and NATSIFAC service types?

Interviews will run until Friday 31 May. If you would like to participate in an interview, please book a time here. If none of the dates offered are suitable, you can contact the evaluation team via email here and hey will find another time that is convenient for you. Prior to the interview, please review and sign the online consent form, available here. The online consent form also contains additional information on this work, including information about privacy and how your information will be handled.

Allen + Clarke Consulting will also be administering an online survey for sector stakeholders. If you are unable to participate in an interview, they would welcome your feedback through the survey. Please email the Allen + Clarke Consulting team, here, to request a link to the survey, if you have any questions or wish to know more. Alternatively, you can contact the Department of Health and Aged Care Star Ratings evaluation manager, Leanne Altinger via email here.

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.

Exercise Right Week – 20–26 May 2024

Exercise Right is a public awareness campaign which was developed by Exercise & Sports Science Australia (ESSA) in 2014. Its purpose is to inspire and inform all Australians to move more and to demonstrate the importance of seeking the right exercise expert for their requirements. ESSA have an Exercise Right blog which aims to educate Australians about the importance of exercise for general health, as well as for the prevention and management of a range of chronic conditions and injuries. Content on the ESSA blog is all evidence based and written by ESSA members.

Exercise Right Week runs from the 20–26 of May 2024. The campaign is all about promoting the health benefits of physical activity and showing Australians how they can “Exercise Right” for their needs. This year, the theme for Exercise Right Week is “Just Move”. Exercise Right Week is promoted in the Department of Health’s national events calendar, and continues to gain recognition in the allied health community.

You can find more information on the Exercise Right Week website here.

OAMS tile text 'Exercise Right Week 20-26 May 2024 - Just Move.; OAMS walu-win garraba logo & 2 staff members

Image source: Orange Aboriginal Medical Service LinkedIn page.

9 October 2023

Feature tile: Aboriginal art on side of tin shed & sign Yes for Hope; text 'Purple House provides model of what 'YES' could achieve'

The image in the feature tile is from the article Purple House provides model of what ‘yes’ could achieve published in the St George & Sutherland Shire Leader on 7 October 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.

Purple House shows what ‘yes’ could achieve

Within two decades, central Australia has gone from having the worst survival rates on dialysis to the best. In large part the turnaround is due to Purple House, an AACCHO based in Alice Springs. CEO Sarah Brown says Purple House is an example of how Aboriginal people and communities can come up with creative and innovative solutions to issues. Ms Brown believes it shows how an Indigenous voice to parliament could work if voters support the referendum on October 14.

In the late 1990s, Pintupi people from the Western Desert of central Australia were forced to leave their country and families to seek treatment for end-stage renal failure in hospital in Alice Springs or Darwin. 1,000 kms from home and family, they suffered great loneliness and hardship, and weren’t around to pass on cultural knowledge in their communities. In 2000, Papunya Tula artists from Walungurru and Kiwirrkurra collaborated on four stunning paintings which were auctioned along with other works at the Art Gallery of NSW, raising over $1m, which was used to start the Western Desert Nganampa Walytja Palyantjaku Tjutaku Aboriginal Corporation. Now called Purple House, it practises a model of care based around family, country and compassion.

Indigenous people have higher rates of diabetes as well as a higher rate of hospitalisation and death from diabetes than non-Indigenous Australians. Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases were the fifth-leading cause of death for Indigenous Australians in 2015–2019. In that period, 7.3% of Indigenous Australian deaths were due to diabetes, with the rates in remote Australia more than three times higher than non-remote areas. “It’s a little bit complex but the simple answer is that it’s about dispossession, powerlessness, and poverty,” Ms Brown said. “It’s about access to healthy food and clean water. “It’s about access to education, with housing. “It’s about being able to access culturally appropriate services in the place that keeps you strong, with your family around you, so a lot of things that other Australians absolutely take for granted but that Aboriginal people in remote communities still don’t have access to.”

To view the St George & Sutherland Shire Leader article Purple House provides model of what ‘yes’ could achieve in full click here.

The Purple Truck, a self-contained dialysis unit on wheels, in Central Australia

The Purple Truck is a self-contained dialysis unit on wheels which gives patients with end-stage renal failure the chance to return to home for family, cultural or sorry business. Image source: Purple House website.

Why mob have a lower life expectancy

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a significantly lower life expectancy than non-Indigenous Australians. The gap in life expectancy is on average 7.8 years for females and 8.6 years for males, though it wasn’t so long ago that it was 20+ years. ‘Why’ is a big question. Dr Zac Turner, who presents a weekly column Ask Doctor Zac says the answer to this question lies within conversations about health, science, economics and government.

Dr Turner believes to work out what can be done requires us to ask the right questions. Having grown up in literally out ‘the Back-o-Bourke’ and several other small rural towns, Dr Turner say it was shocking to him that his Indigenous Australian friends would live on average 20 years less at that time. He said the life expectancy gap is a staggeringly high disparity between populations in one country, especially a developed and prosperous nation. Dr Turner explained that while resources have been given to Indigenous Australians, the non-Indigenous understanding of what needs to happen to create change has been left without proper consultation. In addition, many of the funding routes and opportunities that have been allocated by one government have then been swiftly changed by the next.

Life expectancy is measured by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and covers not only health, but also social factors such as education, employment, housing and income. These social factors (the social determinants of health) are responsible for at least a third of the health gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. From the outset, Indigenous Australians have higher rates of chronic health conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory illnesses. Indigenous Australians also often experience socio-economic disadvantage, which is closely linked to health outcomes as it limits access to healthcare, nutritious food, and safe housing. Dr Turner believes the continuous feedback from a body such as the Voice may just be the assistance needed to closing this gap.

To view the news.com.au article ‘Why do Indigenous people have a shorter life expectancy?’ in full click here.

road sign with 179kms to Pindar, 512 Murchison Settlement etc beside dirt road Australian outback

Photo: Tamati Smith, Getty Images. Image source: news.com.au

On-line Self-Care Yarning Circles

Two senior Aboriginal psychologists from the Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association will be hosting a Self-Care Yarning Circle tomorrow Tuesday 10 October 2023.

It is an opportunity for ACCHO and NACCHO Managers to discuss their challenges and get insights into ways to look after their own personal wellbeing and the wellbeing of their team.

Spaces are capped at 25 so sign up now!

  • TOMORROW Tuesday 10 October – to register click here
  • Wednesday 18 October – to register click here

There will also be two Self-Care Yarning Circles available for anyone working at an ACCHO or NACCHO on:

  • Thursday 12 October 2023 – details available here
  • Monday 23 October 2023 – details available here

NACCHO tile 'on-line self-care Yarning Circles for Managers'

Limb loss through amputation a ‘hidden’ disability

The oldest known example of a successful surgical amputation dates back to 31,000 years ago. But in day-to-day life, amputation is not an experience that receives a lot of attention. National Amputee Awareness Week (4–11 October) aims to spotlight the experiences of people who’ve lost a limb. Darrel Sparke is President of Amputees NSW,says the reality for many people who undergo an amputation is a confronting experience, “it’s a hidden community, because amputation makes you want to retreat from society, because now you’re a spectacle. Nobody really gets prepared, there’s nothing else you do in life that gets you prepared for losing a part of your body, in such a visible and highly impacted way.”

There are number of reasons people undergo an amputation, including trauma like a car accident or workplace injury, or cancer and other diseases.  One of the leading causes is diabetes – and it’s a condition that’s on the rise. Australia has the second highest rate of diabetes-related amputations in the OECD. In any given year, about 5,100 Australians with diabetes will undergo an amputation as a result of complications from the condition. However it’s an issue that continues to disproportionately affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. According to Diabetes Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are almost three times more likely than non-Indigenous Australians to have diabetes.

The serious consequences of this disparity were recently spotlighted by Tanya Hosch, Executive General Manager of Inclusion and Social Policy at the Australian Football League. In August Ms Hosch, who is of Torres Strait Islander descent, stood to speak at the launch of the campaign for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, where she shared a deeply personal and real story, “a little over two weeks ago, I had my lower right leg amputated. I have type 2 diabetes and I contracted a related disease, that I have battled for 3 years and across six surgeries, trying to avoid the loss of my limb. I’m not without privilege, and access to services, but still the service design let me down.” In her speech, Ms Hosch advocated for Indigenous-controlled healthcare to improve outcomes.

You can listen to, or read a transcript of, the SBS News Headlines on Health podcast episode Australia’s ‘hidden’ disability – and one of the world’s oldest medical practices in full here.
banner of SBS News podcast 'hidden' disability & ATSI amputee Tanya Hosch

SBS News podcast banner. Australian for Indigenous Constitutional Recognition Tanya Hosch, who lost a leg to diabetes. Image source: The Australian.

Never too late for a career change

These days Jennie Waters, 66, runs the only Indigenous disability service provider in SW Queensland – but the tale started long before that. A proud Kamilaroi woman, Ms Waters grew up in St George, one of six children born into a bicultural family, “smack bang in the middle of the assimilation period.” She says, that nevertheless, she had a wonderful childhood, loving parents and a wonderful education. She married young and had two children in quick succession. Ms Waters knew she wanted to continue to study, but suddenly that was not an option.

As the kids were growing up Ms Waters was finally in a position in her life to contemplate further study. She enrolled in a Bachelor of Applied Science (Psychology) at the University of Southern Queensland as a mature age student she was 35 and graduated in 1996. While studying, Ms Waters worked at the local TAFE college as an Indigenous support officer. After graduating, I was offered a role as the southwest Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander co-ordinator for Queensland Health.

It was Ms Waters’ daughter who recognised the need for a specialised disability service in our region and eventually Ms Waters decided to start her own business. Indigicare Connect has been running for eight years now and it’s the only Indigenous disability service provider in SW Queensland. Indigicare Connect is 100% Indigenous owned and 70% of staff are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The above is an extract from the article Never too late to follow your dreams’: Jennie Waters on her late career change published in the Cairns Post on 7 October 2023.

66 year old Jennie Water St George Managing Director Indigicare Connect, in work uniform standing by river

Jennie Waters. Image source: Cairns Post.

Rural placements offer full scope of practice

Rural health care placements offer a range of students a broader scope of practice in their first years after graduation, according to a recent narrative review published in the Medical Journal of Australia. The review, undertaken by members of seven Australian universities with departments of rural health, explored the efficacy of their programs, as well as the overall benefits of rural placements for students and communities. Ms Sandra Walsh, a Research Assistant with the University of SA Department of Rural Health, was the lead author, “The biggest challenge for rural health right now, and into the future, is growing and sustaining a rural health workforce. Rural placements are one part of that puzzle. We know we can change the way people perceive rural health through rural placement.”

The review found that successful rural placements changed perceptions about rural practice, leading to more students deciding to work rurally. The main reason for the success of rural placements was the ability for students to work at the top of their scope of practice, Ms Walsh said. “The feedback from students is that they get to do and see so much more on a rural placement,” she said. The review found several other factors leading to students who completed rural placements staying in rural work, including a more collaborative working environment. “In country areas where you don’t have a huge team of specialists, people often work in a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary way,” Ms Walsh said.

Rural placements also offer students a unique opportunity to work in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health care. “Students valued the opportunity to learn about First Nations culture and gained a better understanding of their health needs,” she said. “Working in partnership with local Aboriginal health organisations to provide a placement was good for the organisations, good for the people and good for the students.” The review also identified that one of the consistent elements of a successful student placement was quality supervision. “If a supervisor loves rural practice, they give the student the passion for rural health,” Ms Walsh said.

To view the AMPCo. InSight+ article Full scope of practice offered through rural placements in full click here.

Dr Marian Dover, stethoscope around neck, Australian bush in background

Dr Marian Dover is a rural GP in training who ‘feels passionately’ about supporting the health of regional communities. Image source: The Sydney Morning Herald.

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 September 2023

feature tile text 'HUGE PRIZES to be won - DON'T MISS OUT on the COVID-19 Vaccination Promotion Competition'

The red and yellow dots in the feature tile are from the National NAIDOC Secretariat 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.

Don’t miss out – HUGE PRIZES to be won

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-19vaccination 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. All entries must be submitted by Thursday 28 September 2023.

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

Elders say aged care system needs to change

The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety recognised the aged care system has failed to provide culturally safe care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as they age. It recommended major reforms, including active partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The Australian government has also committed more funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander aged care services, with a focus on boosting the role of ACCOs.

So what do older Aboriginal people need to age well? And how can aged care funding and systems enable that? This was at the centre of a study, led by the Dharriwaa Elders Group in its long-term partnership with the University of NSW, known as Yuwaya Ngarra-li. The study involved speaking with 22 Elders in the remote NSW town of Walgett about what ageing well means to them.

Aboriginal Elders play an important role as community leaders and protectors of cultural heritage. This involves passing down knowledge and stories, leadership, care-giving and safeguarding family, community and intergenerational wellbeing. Supporting this aspect of ageing well is crucial. As one Elder explained: “Talking about our stories and storylines, and telling those stories […] It’s Aboriginal culture – it’s an oral system of educating people and giving people information. It’s part and parcel of Aboriginal life […] you know your stories, you know where you come from. For Elders who have worked away from Walgett in various careers, this means a kind of “active retirement” – returning to Country to bring back knowledge and continue a legacy for future generations.

To view The Conversation article The aged care system has failed Aboriginal people. Here’s what Elders say needs to change in full click here. You can also access information about NACCHO’s Elder Care Support Program here.

Dharriwaa Elders Group members sitting at table in staff room - 1 woman, 3 men

Dharriwaa Elders Group. Image source: The Conversation.

Noongar mob encouraged to reach out

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

This year’s theme of World Suicide Prevention Day (Sunday 10 September 2023) was “Creating hope through action” and South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council (SWALSC) chairperson Megan Krakouer, who has worked for a decade in suicide postvention and prevention, is leading a push to raise awareness in Indigenous communities.

Suicide is the leading cause of death of First Nations people under 40 and almost all First Nation deaths by suicide involve individuals who were living below the poverty line. SWALSC encourages the Noongar community, and all First Nations people, to reach out to those around us and offer love and support to people who are struggling.

Ms Krakouer, who is also the Director of the National Suicide Prevention and Trauma Recovery Project, said suicide is “the most pressing issue that affects our people. This needs to be prioritised by this nation, by every government in this country, before all other issues,” she said. According to the Indigenous mental health and suicide prevention website, available here, data from 2017–2021 shows the rate for suicide among Indigenous Australians is twice the rate of non-Indigenous Australians.

An important step towards suicide prevention and mental wellbeing is connection to community and it’s one of the seven domains of social and emotional wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Social and emotional wellbeing is a holistic way of looking at relationships between individuals, family, kin and community in the context of land, culture, spirituality and ancestry.

To read the National Indigenous Times article SWALSC encourages Noongar community to reach out on World Suicide Prevention Day in full click here. You can also access information about a recent documentary, Keeping Hope, presented and co-produced by actor and proud Nyikina man Mark Coles Smith (below) here.

Mark Coles Smith at Hovercraft Bay, Broome, WA

Presenter and Co-producer of documentary Keeping Hope, Mark Coles Smith at Hovercraft Bay, Broome, WA. Photo: Torstein Dyrting. Image source: SBS.

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

13YARN – 13 92 76, 13yarn.org.au

Lifeline – 13 11 14, lifeline.org.au

Beyond Blue – 1300 224 636, beyondblue.org.au/forums

MensLine – 1300 789 978

National Suicide Prevention and Trauma Recovery Project, click here

Kids Helpline – 1800 551 800

Suicide Call Back Service – 1300 659 467

Voice is a chance to close economic gap

The Liberal MP Julian Leeser, esigned in April as the shadow attorney general and shadow minister for Indigenous Australians after the Coalition decided to oppose an Indigenous voice in the constitution, says a voice to parliament is not about “special treatment or privileges” but about getting Indigenous Australians “to the same starting line that other Australians are at”. Amid rising partisan rancour in the referendum debate, with his own side leading the charge for the no campaign, Leeser told parliament he supported the voice because it was a manifestation of “deeply Liberal and conservative ideas”.

Leeser said he is supporting the voice to parliament because “my concern, as a Liberal, is that Indigenous Australians are not sharing in this country’s opportunities”. Leeser said establishing a constitutionally enshrined advisory body was about “Indigenous children, their lives and their future; and trying to create the conditions so that Indigenous children can walk confidently in two worlds”. It was also about “empowerment, respect and the strengthening of Indigenous civic infrastructure, all within our democratic system”. He said the disconnect between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia was “the root cause of the economic disconnection in Indigenous communities and lives”.

“In our country, the Indigenous employment rate is around 49% – this compares with 75% for non-Indigenous Australians,” he said. “In terms of household income, the latest data of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has found that 43% of Indigenous adults receive a total weekly pre-tax income of $500 a week or less. The poverty line in Australia is $489 a week for a single person. Almost one in two Indigenous adults live on the poverty line.” He said closing the gap meant creating opportunity. It meant “jobs, not welfare. It’s about universities not prisons.” Leeser invited “all Australians to lift up their eyes, and despite their own challenges, to see the gap that does not close.”

To view The Guardian article Voice can close economic gap for Indigenous Australians, says Julian Leeser in full click here.

Liberal MP Julian Leeser holding papers, facing press

Julian Leeser says closing the gap is about ‘jobs, not welfare. It’s about universities not prisons.’ Photo: Bianca de Marchi, AAP. Image source: The Guardian.

Prenatal program helps mums and bubs thrive

When Natalie Page went into labour suddenly with her first baby she was quite frightened. Ms Page’s mother drove her to the nearest hospital to give birth to her oldest daughter Emariah. “I was so scared, my mother had a very traumatic time giving birth and I kept thinking, ‘What if this is me? What if I don’t make it?’,” Ms Page said. But by the time she had her third daughter Unarra at the Mater Mothers’ Hospital she benefited from having a midwife by her side who made her feel at ease. Birthing in Our Community (BiOC) is a partnership program between Mater Hospital, the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH) and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service Brisbane (ATSICHS).

The prenatal health care program, now in its 10th year, is promoting a self-determination model that prioritises Indigenous mums’ physical and mental wellbeing. Ms Page said she benefited and wished she had been able to access the BiOC program with her first pregnancy. “They have provided so many services, including transport to medical appointments and have been there to provide milk and bread if needed,” she said.

ATSICHS Brisbane CEO Renee Blackman said the success of the birthing program showed what could be achieved when partners worked together with a shared vision and commitment to Aboriginal-led models of care and IUIH CEO Adrian Carson said improved outcomes demonstrated the success of ACCHOs leading reform with mainstream maternity services, such as Mater Mothers’ Hospital. “The ACCHS sector has long advocated that models of care specifically designed for First Nations people and delivered by ACCHSs can achieve better outcomes for our people and be more cost-effective,” Mr Carson said.

To view The West Australian article Prenatal program helps Indigenous mums and bubs thrive in full click here.

Natalie Page sitting on beach with children: baby, toddler & older girl

Natalie Page and her children were helped by a birthing program for Indigenous mums and babies. Photo: from PR handout, AAP. Image source: The West Australian.

Mornington Island store engages Outback Stores

Mornington Island’s only grocery store and takeaway outlet are under new management. Gununamanda Limited Deputy Chairperson Roxanne Thomas says Outback Stores had been awarded a three-year management agreement to manage the store and lift standards after a select tender process was conducted. “We have undertaken a major restructure in the last 12 months, and Outback Stores have agreed to work with the directors to improve our store and we welcome them to Mornington Island,” Ms Thomas said.

The store is in the town of Gununa on Mornington Island, the largest of the North Wellesley Islands in the Gulf of Carpentaria, 125kms north-west of Burke and 444 kms from Mt Isa. The community of about 1,000, about 80% are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders, is serviced by five weekly flights from Mount Isa and Cairns and a weekly barge freight service. “Outback Stores was selected as the successful tenderer due to its retail expertise and successful track record over the last 15 years in assisting remote communities,” Ms Thomas said. “They operate as a not‑for-profit, provide a range of support services and return all profits to the community.”

CEO Michael Borg says Outback Stores was founded in 2006 to improve the health of Indigenous Australians living in remote Australia by addressing nutrition-related health problems, unreliable food supplies and poor management practices associated with many remote stores. The company operates 52 stores in the NT, SA, WA, NSW and now QLD. “Our priority will be to get the Mornington Island store back on its feet, ensure people have access to healthy food and provide a good range of produce at affordable prices. In particular, we will look at reducing prices on staples such as milk, bread, potatoes and carrots,” he said.

To read the RetailWorld article Mornington Island store engages Outback Stores in full click here.

Gununamanda Limited Deputy Chairperson Roxanne Thomas with Store Manager Tyler Sandercock

Gununamanda Limited Deputy Chairperson Roxanne Thomas with Store Manager Tyler Sandercock. Image source: RetailWorld.

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.

12 September 2023

Feature tile: Pharmacist Kylie van Rooijen (R) with RN Neil Dunning, discussing how to use a MediSachet roll, Port Lincoln AHS; text 'Calls to integrate PHARMACISTS WITHIN ACCHOs to fight chronic disease'

The image in the feature tile is of GP pharmacist Kylie van Rooijen (R) with RN Neil Dunning, at the Port Lincoln Aboriginal Health Service, discussing how to use a MediSachet roll. The image appeared in the article Why this Aboriginal health service values its GP pharmacist published in the Australian Pharmacist on 2 June 2021.

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.

Calls to integrate pharmacists within ACCHOs

The Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council (QAIHC) submission to the recent House of Representatives Inquiry into Diabetes centers on the impact of social, environmental, and health system factors that create additional challenges for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in preventing the illness and its associated complications. QAIHC’s Public Health Physician Associate  Professor Sophia Couzos said diabetes can be a complex condition for patients to manage and it can be difficult for patients to adhere to treatment, especially medications. “And medications can’t work if patients don’t take them,” she said.

A/Prof. Couzos played a pivotal role as the lead researcher in the Integrating Pharmacists within Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services to Improve Chronic Disease Management (IPAC Project). This nationwide trial aimed to integrate non-dispensing pharmacists into the clinical teams of 18 ACCHOs in QLD, NT, and Victoria.

This comprehensive approach led to improvements in diabetes management, a reduction in cardiovascular disease risk factors, a decrease in medication errors, and enhanced medication understanding, ultimately resulting in improved medication adherence among the patients. QAIHC CEO Cleveland Fagan said pharmacists working in ACCHOs made a significant difference, “There were improvements in diabetes, blood pressure, and kidney function, more medicine reviews by doctors, far fewer medication prescribing errors, more patients took their medicines as they needed to, and patients felt healthier as a result.”

The Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC), an independent body established by the Australian government, supports the value of the IPAC Project. In June this year MSAC advised funding to expand the integration of non-dispensing pharmacists into ACCHOs more widely, reflecting the positive impact observed in the project’s outcomes.

To read the National Indigenous Times article Call to integrate pharmacists within Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services to fight chronic disease in full click here. You can also watch a short video below on the benefits of an ACCHO Pharmacist.

VtP and Indigenous LGBTIQA+SB research

In the latest episode of the podcast Well, Well, Well educator and researcher Professor Braden Hill talked about his extensive work on Indigenous LGBTIQA+SB health, student equity and access, and his recent advocacy videos about the Voice to Parliament (VtP) Referendum.

Professor Braden Hill is a Nyungar Wardandi man from the SW of WA and the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Equity and Indigenous portfolio Edith Cowan University, and is the Head of Kurongkurl Katitjin, ECU’s Centre for Indigenous Australian Education and Research. Braden has significant experience in Aboriginal education, and leading equity work in universities, and has lead significant research about LGBTIQA+SB Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, most recently being involved in the Walkern Katatdjin report about mental health for Indigenous LGBTIQA+ youth.

To listen to the Joy 94.9 Radio Well Well Well podcast episode Braden Hill on the Voice to Parliament and Indigenous LGBTIQA+SB research click here. You can view a video of Prof Hill talking about his work below.

Tjuntjuntjara calls for better TB screening

Authorities in one of Australia’s most remote communities are calling for help to screen its residents for tuberculosis, after a 19-year-old woman who spent time there died from the contagious disease in Kalgoorlie. Paupiyala Tjarutja Aboriginal Corporation CEO Jon Lark said the young woman died in November last year was a transient resident of Tjuntjuntjara.

Mr Lark said she spent a lot of time in the remote community, where she had many close contacts, but also travelled to Kalgoorlie and the APY Lands in SA. Mr Lark said the WA government had known about the woman’s death since the end of January. But more than six months later, screening of the woman’s contacts in Tjuntjuntjara is yet to be completed.

103 cases of tuberculosis have been recorded in WA this year, with at least two cases involving Indigenous people, according to Department of Health data last updated on 9 September. Mr Lark said he wanted WA Health staff to travel to Tjuntjuntjara to conduct community-wide screening, to help to determine whether tuberculosis was spreading locally. “It’s so disappointing to be so far removed, so far forgotten, so far from everything and having such limited resources for our health service to be able to deal with a situation like this,” he said.=

To read the ABC News article Tjuntjuntjara community calls for better tuberculosis screening after woman’s death in full click here.

map of Australia with pin for Tjuntjuntjara WA

Tjuntjuntjara is one of Australia’s most remote communities. Photo: Sharon Gordon, ABC News.

Black Comedy star on body image

Australian actress and comedian Nakkiah Lui can remember when she realised her relationship with food was wrong. “I had started getting comments about my weight and being bullied for being fat,” she said. “It’s been a huge defining part of my life, because food was always the enemy.”

The Black Comedy star knows the importance of understanding body image, saying, “When it comes to the discussion of food and body image, the more intersectional we can be in discourses around these the better. We need lots of different perspectives around things like food and especially body image, because for a long time they’ve both been used as ways to include and exclude people,” Lui says. “Our idea of what a beautiful person looks like, what an acceptable body looks like and what a ‘healthy’ body looks like has very much been defined by race, sex and gender.”

The radio host noted that adding an Indigenous lens to discussions of body image may allow people understand the true extent of its impact. “I think when you start adding in conversations around Indigeneity to that, then you’re going to be talking about things like colonisation, like white supremacy, and you’re going to start unpicking things that get to usually go invisible,” she says.

To view the 9Honey article ‘Food was the enemy’: Australia actress Nakkiah Lui’s body image admission in full click here.

portrait image of Nakkiah Lui, host and co-producer of podcast First Eat with Nakkiah Lui

Nakkiah Lui, host and co-producer of podcast First Eat with Nakkiah Lui, which explores First Nations’ food cultures in Australia and abroad. Image source: The Guardian.

Broome home to Australia’s worst prison

In the heart of picture-postcard Broome stands WA’s oldest operating prison, a crumbling vestige of the state’s earlier colonial days. Last month the WA Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services (OICS) released a damning report denouncing the prison as “dilapidated” and “poorly maintained” to the point of being a health and safety hazard with foul-smelling, open drains, persistent mould, water damage, and garden crates used as furniture. Disturbingly, the report found an underlying, unacceptably racist element to the conditions.

It said, “With 80% of the [prison] population Aboriginal, the sub-standard services and conditions would not have been acceptable in a metropolitan prison where Aboriginal people were in the minority.” Since 2001, the WA inspector of prisons has published no fewer than seven reports declaring the prison unfit for its purpose in terms varying from “decrepit” to “inhumane.” Yet hundreds of people spend time in Broome prison each year, with devastating consequences for their physical and mental health.

This situation compounds an already serious mental health crisis in WA prisons. A 2020 study of men who entered the prison system in WA found that over 50% of Aboriginal prisoners had experienced the death of a close family member in the previous 12 months, increasing the risk of depression, self-harm, and suicide.

To read The West Australian article Kriti Sharma and Daniela Gavshon: Picture-postcard Broome is home to Australia’s ‘worst prison’ in full click here.

collage 3 images Broome prison exterior, kitchen, storeroom

In the heart of picture-postcard Broome stands Western Australia’s oldest operating prison, a crumbling vestige of the state’s earlier colonial days. Image source: The West Australian.

Outlet to craft has mental health benefits

Aunty Cheryl Norris can be found most days sitting behind a table at a craft store in SA’s Riverland. Her hands weave tiny beads onto even thinner threads, crafting jewellery to be worn across wrists and ears. “I was like a prisoner at home,” the Indigenous Erawirung woman says. “But now I can come down here to the shop every day. “I’m out and about, I’m seeing people, I’m doing things here.

Joining her at the table, strewn with wool, is Marian Reeves and Darren Ellis. The couple runs the store, nestled in the streets of Berri, having moved from Victoria after their Shepparton rental was devasted by flooding. “We weren’t sure whether we wanted to reopen the shop,” Ms Reeves said.

“But with Cheryl nagging us saying that the community here needs something, we decided to reopen.” The couple had offered a similar space in Shepparton, and knew it could provide a spot for people from the community to craft or even just have a chat.

Ms Reeves said some of the people who came into the shop didn’t have a project, but they just wanted to sit. “It makes us feel good because we’ve made somebody else happy,” she said.

To view the ABC News article Riverland community space provides outlet to craft, along with mental health benefits in full click here.

Aunty Cheryl Norris beading at craft group

Aunty Cheryl Norris says having a place to craft offers her ways to socialise and get out of the house. Photo: Sophie Holder, ABC Riverland.

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 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.

28 August 2023

feature tile image VAHS premises on Nicholson Street, Fitzroy; text 'Victorian Aboriginal Health Service celebrates 50 YEARS making a difference and saving lives'

The image in the feature tile is of the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service (VAHS) premises on Nicholson Street, Fitzroy. The image appeared in an article by Bertrand Tungandame – VAHS celebrates 50 years making a difference and saving lives, published by NTIV Radio on 25 Auguste 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.

VAHS marks 50 years of saving lives

The Victorian Aboriginal Health Service (VAHS) was set up in 1973 by Aunty Alma Thorpe, Uncle Bruce McGuiness and other Aboriginal community advocates as a place where Aboriginal people could access medical and social care in a time when racism and other barriers prevented Aboriginal people accessing care. Marking the 50th anniversary on August 18, 2023, VAHS Chairperson Tony McCartney reflected on the importance of the date in the history of not only Aboriginal health, but in the Aboriginal rights movement of Melbourne, Victoria, and Australia at the time.

“…VAHS is the oldest Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation in Victoria, and second oldest in the country. Since its inception VAHS has been instrumental in self-determined Aboriginal health and wellbeing in Australia. Since starting from humble beginnings and with volunteers at the small shop front in Fitzroy to a place community members called a home away from home – we have grown into a service with sites across Fitzroy, Preston, Epping and expanding to St Albans in our 50th year,” Tony McCartney said.

Over the years VAHS has achieved many supports and firsts in Australia – including establishing the first Aboriginal dental clinic that travelled around Victoria and to border towns, the first Aboriginal women and children’s program and the country’s leading Aboriginal health worker education program Koori Kollij.

To read the VAHS media release VAHS celebrates five decades of making a difference and saving lives in full click here. You can also listen NITV Radio podcast of VAHS Chairperson Tony McCartner talking about the history of VAHS here.

tile VAHS 50 years 1973-2023 Respect our past. Honour our present. To build our future.

UQ student dental clinic making a difference

Gavin Saltner, Wulli Wulli man is among more than 800 rural patients who attend a student-run dental clinic in SW Queensland each year. The UQ Dental Clinic — run by supervised fifth-year dental students — opened at Dalby 10 years ago, with another practice opening more recently at St George. Mr Saltner said having access to the clinic was important, with cost and travel time making dental treatment prohibitive for some Western Downs residents.

A report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) earlier this year found that regional and remote populations had poorer oral health standards than those in the city. It also found that access to fewer dentists, longer travel times and limited transport options impacted the oral health care rural residents received. But the model of the dental clinics in SW Queensland has been deemed so successful it could be used elsewhere. The clinics are a partnership between the university and Indigenous organisation Goondir Health Services.

Goondir Health Services executive Shubham Weling said the unique co-location model and a student-led workforce had the potential to be replicated across a range of allied health fields. “We’re opening a clinic in Chinchilla as well and we want to advocate for this model out there,” Mr Weling said. He said placing the clinics’ treatment rooms within the Indigenous organisation’s building allowed for easy referrals to other services. “So you’ve got cross influence between GPs, dentists, as well as disability support workers for the one client,” Mr Weling said. “It improves the uptake of services and just overall health outcomes and family gain because it’s all interrelated.”

To view the ABC News article UQ free dental health clinic in Dalby improves Indigenous oral health outcomes in full click here.

ATSI man Gavin Saltner in in dental chair at UQ Dalby Dentral Clinic, Goodnir Aboriginal Health Services & Dental Clinic

Gavin Saltner is a regular patient at the UQ Dalby Dental Clinic. The clinic is embedded within the Goondir Health Services facility and treats about 800 Indigenous patients a year. Photo: Laura Cocks, ABC Southern Qld.

Kidney Health 4 Life effectiveness study

Newly diagnosed with kidney disease and want more support? Then Kidney Health 4 Life might be for you!!

This September, Kidney Health Australia is launching a research study to assess the effectiveness of Kidney Health 4 Life , a pilot program designed to help people with kidney disease to self-manage their condition. By participating in the study, you will have access to the program before it goes to the wider public, as well as helping to shape the future of kidney disease support.

You may be eligible for the study if you meet the following criteria:

  • Adults (18+ years) diagnosed with early to mid-stage CKD (Stages 1-4) within the past 12 months (from time of enrolment)
  • Adults (18+ years) who have commenced dialysis (both PD and HD) in the past 12 months (from time of enrolment)

Eligible participants will be assigned to either the program group or standard support group. This will help determine how effective the program is compared to Kidney Health Australia’s standard support. People assigned to the program group will have access to online modules covering topics such as diet and nutrition, disease management, exercise, and managing stress and sleep. Health coaching will also be offered.

People assigned to the standard support group will have access to Kidney Health Australia’s current services including Helpline and Kidney Buddy peer support program and extensive resources. The good news for those assigned to the standard support group is that they will have access to the full KH4L program once the study is complete

If you think you fit the eligibility criteria, you can submit an EOI form on the Kidney Health Australia website here. HURRY. Places are limited.

Kidney Health Australia tile text 'are you new to kidney disease or dialysis & need more support? Apply for the KH4L research study today.

Just 3 in 10 kids had a health check in 2021–22

Just three in 10 First Nations children aged 0–14 years received a health check within the past year, according to new data released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). The AIHW report — Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander specific primary health care: results from the OSR and nKPI collections, available here, contained data collected from more than 200 organisations.

A total of 586,000 First Nations patients were treated between 2021 and 2022, but only 30% of children had a formal health check in the previous 12 months, making target 4 of the Closing the Gap agreement’s socioeconomic outcome areas — which reads “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children thrive in their early years” — seemingly further away than ever.

With regards to other preventive health measures, 45% of patients received an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health assessment and 47% received a risk assessment for heart disease in the last two years. 70% of patients aged 11 and over had their smoking status recorded in the past year, of which 53% reported quitting smoking or never smoking. Among First Nations patients assessed for CVD risk, 58% aged 35-74 with no known history of CVD reported a low absolute risk within the last two years, 35% were high risk and 7% had a moderate risk. 65% of First Nations patients with type two diabetes reported blood pressure results within recommended guidelines in the past six months, while more than half had a chronic disease management plan completed within the past two years.

To view the Health Services Daily article Just three in 10 First Nations kids had health check in past year in full click here.

young ATSI child having ear check

Image source: QLD Government Children’s Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service webpage.

Mental Health for Mob fills service gap

Walgalu-Ngambri and Dharawal woman and Mental Health for Mob founder Kristen Franks has seen and heard a lot over the past decade working in the mental health sector. She has worked across towns in central west NSW and in Canberra and its surrounding regions and helped an array of people – from children, the young, schools and families to pregnant women, the suicidal or self-harming, those with behavioural disorders and in the criminal justice system.

“Throughout all this, I noticed that I was often the first Aboriginal mental health clinician an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person would see,” Kristen says. “It was incredibly difficult to hear this was the first time they’d felt culturally safe [and that] they’ve never felt heard or connected because there was no lived experience understanding.” A decade of hearing this message reached fever pitch in late 2021 when Kristen’s community and Elders supported her to meet this cultural need.

While Kristen never intended to make a profit from offering free mental health care, she soon found herself staring down the hard realities of starting a non-profit organisation. Insurance, registrations and finding a space for clients, to name a few. All while Kristen held down a full-time job and tried to begin to address an “overwhelming” community need. Over the following six months, crowdfunding and some modest grants transformed Mental Health for Mob from an Instagram page that shared mental health resources to a fully fledged mental health service.

You can read the Riotact article How Kristen turned an Instagram page into a culturally safe mental health service in less than six months in full here.

Kristen Franks' face with white body paint & Mental Health for Mob logo

Kristen Franks established Mental Health for Mob. Image source: National Indigenous Times.

Emergency aeromedical evacuation training

About 7 million of Australians (about 30%) live in rural and remote areas. People living in these areas have poorer health outcomes overall according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), and also have access to fewer primary, secondary and tertiary health services. Potentially preventable hospitalisations are twice as high as for those in metropolitan and regional areas. A 2023 Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) report found that Australians in rural and remote settings are at substantially higher risk of heart, stroke and vascular disease (accounting for a quarter of all RFDS missions), and the health services are not always there to support them.

A new agreement between CareFlight and Charles Darwin University (CDU) will give health students the opportunity to work in the Top End with emergency aeromedical retrieval teams on flights. The agreement creates clinical placements for future medical students at the CDU Menzies School of Medicine. The university will apply for 40 of 80 places in the Australian Government’s $114.2m Increasing Rural Medical Training Grant Opportunity to support the placements.

Ms Quinn is excited about the CDU partnership. “It is something we have wanted to do for years,” Ms Quinn said. “It is really important for building our workforce for the future. Our patients are some of the most disadvantaged in Australia; they have complex medical problems and disease processes. Students will see what it’s like to be an independent practitioner. It’s not just the medicine – it’s about logistics and making quick decisions,” Ms Quinn said, who added it was a privilege to work in those remote locations.

To view the InSight+ article Tyranny of distance: emergency aeromedical retrieval in outback Australia in full click here.

CareFlight van, plane, patient on gurney, 3 medical professionals

CareFlight treats and transports patients needing specialist care. Photo: CareFlight NT. Image source: InSight+.

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.

18 August 2023

feature tile image pilbara landscape in heatwave; text 'Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Service co-designs culturally appropriate heatwave adaption resources'

The image in the feature tile is of the Pilbara region of WA from the article WA’s Pilbara hits 45C as large swathes of Australia swelter in heatwave published in The Guardian on 17 February 2023. Photo: John White, Getty Images.

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.

Local solutions vital for sustainable healthcare

Amid growing global concerns about the impacts of heatwaves upon health and health services, a regional ACCHO in WA is taking steps to adapt to the changing environment. The Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Service (KAMS), which represents eight independent member ACCHOs from towns and remote communities across the Kimberley region, is co-designing culturally appropriate heatwave adaptation resources for the region.

Community consultations as part of the KAMS Climate Health Adaptation Project found that heatwaves are a priority issue in the Kimberley region, according to Dr Sophie Moustaka, public health registrar and project officer employed by KAMS for its Climate Health Adaptation Planning project, “We identified that there was an awareness that it is getting hotter, there is an increased intensity of heatwaves, and also less relief between the heatwaves.”.

How health services are addressing climate mitigation and adaptation will be profiled at the Greening the Healthcare Sector Forum next month on 14-15 September, in-person at the Fiona Stanley Hospital, and online, with the aim of providing “opportunities for connection, knowledge sharing, learning and upskilling for all attendees”. Following its theme, “empowering action for sustainable, climate resilient healthcare,” the forum will focus on ‘how’ to empower action and include sessions on Caring for Country, strategy and systems, engagement, leadership and sustainability in practice.

To view the Croakey Health Media article Cultural context, empowered staff and local solutions are vital for sustainable healthcare in full click here.

exterior of KAMS, WA

Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services.

Voice necessary to close the gap

As co-chairs of the National Close the Gap Campaign Karl Briscoe and June Oscar AO say they are privileged to represent 52 First Nations and mainstream organisations, who – since 2006 – have come together as allies to create a national movement committed to ensuring health equity and equality and improved life outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Since 2006, this Campaign has advocated for large-scale systemic reform and a paradigm shift in policy design and delivery to truly empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. And since the inception of the Uluru Statement from the Heart the Campaign has supported the full implementation of its three components – Voice. Treaty. Truth.

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. The Executive can choose to incorporate these representations when creating legislation, policy, or program design. Equally, they can choose not to. But 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. The intention of the Voice is to change old practices by governments and their agencies. We cannot keep doing more of the same. Large-scale structural reform is necessary if we ever hope to close the gap.

In truth, across the political and policy spectrum there is a tendency to attribute the lack of progress or success of the Closing the Gap Strategy as the individual failures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. But it is in fact systemic political, institutional and policy failures. It is the continual development of poor policies, pursued and implemented by successive Governments, that consistently fail Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities. This has real and often detrimental consequences. It is felt in our lived experiences, it is visible in our exclusion, and it is crippling this nation’s ability to pursue justice, equity, and equality for all. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities know when policy is harmful instead of helpful, and we know what our own communities need to thrive.

To view the Law Society Journal article The Voice is necessary if we want to close the gap in full click here.

portrait shots of Closing the Gap co-chairs Karl Briscoe & June Oscar

Closing the Gap co-hairs Karl Briscoe (image source: Law Society of NSW Journal) and June Oscar (Image source: IndigenousX website).

Mob must be central to LGBTQIA+ plans and policy

Yesterday Dameyon Bonson was a guest on the podcast Joy 94.9 Radio Drive with Warren, discussing why Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people must be central to LGBTQIA+ plans and policies. Dameyon has extensive experience working in and with remote Indigenous communities in suicide prevention and is the founder of Black Rainbow, Australia’s first and only national Indigenous LGBTIQA suicide prevention charity organisation.

Mr Bonson hopes data that has come out of the recent Walkern Katatdjin: Rainbow Knowledge survey will mobilise work that should have been happening decades ago. He explained that until now there has been no data, and when there is no data there is no policy and when there is no policy there is no funding. To date, Mr Bonson said, there has been no formal recognition of First Nations LGBTQIA+ people in any policy across the country, particularly at a Commonwealth level, that one we exist as a population group but also our needs, because as the report stresses the issue is not just about suicidality it is also around mental ill health, homelessness, and drug and alcohol usage. Mr Bonson wants investment in First Nations LGBTQIA+ led work in this space.

To listen to the Joy Drive 94.9 Radio Drive with Warren podcast episode Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people must be central to LGBTQIA+ plans and policies click here. You can also read an ABC News article Walkern Katatdjin: Rainbow Knowledge survey shines spotlight on mental health issues faced by Indigenous LGBTIQA+ youth about the report referred to in the podcast here.

banner JOY 94.9 Radio DRIVE with Warren & image of Dameyon Bonson

Banner from Joy Media website. Dameyon Bonson is the founder of Australia’s first Indigenous LGBTI support group. Photo: Anthony Pancia, ABC South West.

Lowitja Institute on health and climate strategy

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and research sectors must be resourced appropriately to respond to climate change, according to the Lowitja Institute’s submission to the National Health and Climate Strategy consultation. The Lowitja Institute said their submission to the National Health and Climate Strategy consultation could be summarised under the following nine themes.

  • strengths-based
  • governance matters
  • resource services
  • emissions reduction
  • building the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mitigation and adaptation workforce
  • dedicated research funding
  • human rights and climate justice
  • terminology matters
  • acknowledgements

You can access the National Health and Climate Strategy consultation paper here and read the Croakey Health Media article Nine key messages for the National Health and Climate Strategy: Lowitja Institute in full click here.

cover of Aust Govt Dept Hlth & Aged Care National Health & Climate Strategy Consultation Paper

Understanding the toll of everyday racism

Everyday racism is a familiar experience for many Indigenous people in Australia. Its impact on wellbeing has been understood anecdotally, but a long-term study has recently been able to demonstrate this with data. In an epsiode of BLA.C.K Medicine, Dr Mikayala Couch chatted with Kirsty Nichols about Mayi Kuwayu, a ground-breaking research project tracking Indigenous health over time. The Mayi Kuwayu Study is a large-scale project tracking 12,000 participants over time, providing data for Indigenous-led research projects.

One project that developed from the study was to determine how much psychological distress is caused by everyday racism. Two thirds of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult population have experienced the eight types of everyday discrimination included in the study. Examples of everyday racism include being treated with less respect than other people or being given worse service. People reported being insulted or yelled at, being treated as stupid, or dangerous, or followed around in shops. The study demonstrated that for those with high or very high psychological stress, up to half of it was caused by everyday racism. If we eliminated everyday racial discrimination, we could hypothetically half the gap in the prevalence of high to very high psychological distress.

The study aims to provide data for research that can address Indigenous health from an Indigenous perspective. People can apply to access data from the study to develop research projects that align with Indigenous needs. These strategies need to be Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identified and led. We can no longer afford for anything we do to improve health to be implemented through the white lens. And also, the white savior complex that these western institutional changes are born out of needs to stop.

You can listen to the SBS BLA.C.K Medicine podcast episode Understanding the toll of everyday racism here.
banner for BLA.C.K. Medicine podcast episode Understanding the toll of everyday racism & image of ATSI woman Kirsty Nichols

Kirsty Nichols (pictured left) is a Muran and Kungarakun woman who works in health service policy, public health, system planning and delivery. Image source: SBS.

Too Deadly for Diabetes funding boost

A successful program supporting people living with Type 2 diabetes in Aboriginal communities will benefit from a funding boost so that more people will be able to access the service. NSW Minister for Regional Health, Ryan Park has pledged $40,000 to Too Deadly for Diabetes to work with the Walhallow Aboriginal Health Corporation to expand its community-based lifestyle programs. Too Deadly for Diabetes is a research-based lifestyle program developed by Gomeroi man Ray Kelly, and is run primarily through local Aboriginal Medical Services.

“I was so impressed to see this initiative in action through the Coonamble Aboriginal Health Service and the incredibly positive impact it’s having on the local community,” Mr Park said. “We know that communities are achieving great health results, and with the right support they can accomplish even more. I’m pleased to be able to help this program expand into other communities where it can make a big difference. This funding will allow Too Deadly for Diabetes to expand into more regional communities, including Quirindi, Caroona, and for the first time Werris Creek.”

Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty, David Harris, welcomed the funding that would improve health outcomes for Aboriginal people, particularly in rural and regional areas. “The further you get from major centres in NSW, the worse your health outcomes are. This is particularly the case for chronic disease in our Aboriginal communities,” Mr Harris said. “This funding boost shows our commitment to closing the gap in health outcomes.”

To view the NSW Health media release Too Deadly for Diabetes given funding boost in full click here. You can also find more information about the Too Deadly for Diabetes program, including videos like the one below on the Too Deadly for Diabetes website 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.

26 July 2023

feature image: NAIDOC march Melbourne 7.7.23; text 'Governments are failing to SHARE Decision-making with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people'

The image in the feature tile is from on a NAIDOC march in Melbourne earlier this month. The image appeared in The Conversation article Governments are failing to share decision-making with Indigenous people, Productivity Commission finds published this morning, Wednesday 26 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.

Governments failing to share decision-making

Governments have failed to properly share decision-making with Indigenous people to accelerate Closing the Gap, despite formally undertaking to do so, according to a scathing indictment by the Productivity Commission. The commission says too many government agencies consult Indigenous people “on a pre-determined solution, rather than collaborating on the problem and co-designing a solution”.

The broad-ranging criticism is contained in the commission’s first review, available here, of the 2020 “National Agreement on Closing the Gap”. The Albanese government will use the findings to reinforce its pitch for the Voice – which is that Indigenous people are not being properly heard on what needs to be done to tackle the problems in health, housing, employment, education and other areas of disadvantage.

The review says: “There appears to be an assumption that ‘governments know best’, which is contrary to the principle of shared decision-making in the Agreement.” The national agreement was put in place in negotiations with the Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peak Organisations. Federal, state, territory and local governments and the Coalition of Peaks share accountability for the agreement’s implementation. Then-prime minister Scott Morrison lauded it as a new collaborative way forward. But Productivity Commission chair Michael Brennan says while the agreement holds significant promise, “so far we are seeing too much business as usual and too little transformation”.

To view The Conversation article Governments are failing to share decision-making with Indigenous people, Productivity Commission finds in full click here.

cover of Aust Govt Productivity Commission July 2023 Review of the National Agreement on CTG draft report

Mental health issues for LGBTIQA+ youth

Nearly one in two young Indigenous LGBTIQA+ Australians have attempted suicide at some point in their life, new research has found. More than 600 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, aged between 14–25 and who also identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or asexual, were surveyed as part of a national study. The findings, published today, show nearly one in five of the participants had tried to take their own life in the past year.

The Walkern Katatdjin: Rainbow Knowledge survey — the first of its kind — also found more than 90% of those surveyed experienced high or very high levels of psychological distress in the prior two weeks.

Lead author of the report Shakara Liddelow-Hunt said the extent of the poor mental health among the Indigenous, LGBTIQA+ youth was “shocking” but not unexpected, saying “Our findings confirm what our communities have known for a long time. But capturing these statistics through the survey was an important step.”

To view the ABC News article Walkern Katatdjin: Rainbow Knowledge survey shines spotlight on mental health issues faced by Indigenous LGBTIQA+ youth in full click here.

James Hill is a queer Ngarrindjeri

James Hill is a queer Ngarrindjeri man who took part in the survey. Photo: Daryna Zadvirna, ABC News.

Rural GPs on climate change front line

A heavy burden of responsibility for responding to climate-induced health impacts will likely fall to rural GPs, so our National Health and Climate Strategy should reflect this, says the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM). “Rural generalists are uniquely placed to lead the response to the burden of disease resulting from climate change, including mental illness, and to provide high quality care and keep people healthy and out of hospital,” ACRRM says in its response to the strategy.

Noting the intertwined health disparities of rural and Indigenous Australians, ACCRRM’s submission highlights the need to defer to Indigenous traditional knowledge of the environment and empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to lead climate action planning. “Best practice principles to facilitate this will include place-based adaptation and mitigation strategies, leveraging valuable biocultural knowledge and sustainable resourcing, all as outlined in the recent Lowitja Institute discussion paper,” the college says.

ACRRM specifically calls out “one-size-fits-all” approaches outlined by the strategy and highlights the challenges, and higher costs, smaller practices will likely face in implementing the climate change strategies. “The Strategy must recognise that there will be different challenges for different communities, requiring purpose-built solutions. Strong partnerships and a multi-agency approach, which is flexible to adapt to the specific needs of rural and remote communities is required to address health inequity.”

You can access more information on the National Health and Climate Strategy on the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care website here.

To read the Medical Republic article Rural GPs on the Climate Change front line in full click here.

housing in Aboriginal town camp

Aboriginal town camps Town camp housing typically lacks simple features to keep cool, such as insulation and wide awnings. Photo: Mike Bowers. Image source: The Guardian.

Students spend day in the life of a physio

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from across SEQueensland have experienced a day in the life of a physiotherapist thanks to a new pilot program at Mater Hospital Brisbane. The school-based trainees from the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH), Pathways Our Way Academy (POWA) were part of The High School Health Adventure program for First Nations students, run by Mater Education, in conjunction with Mater Physiotherapy.

The enthusiastic cohort learned how to strap an ankle injury, assist with movement and baby handling techniques and took part in simulation physiotherapy sessions in a make-shift Intensive Care Unit. Mater physiotherapist Felicity Prebble facilitated the program and said that, according to the Australian Physiotherapy Association, only 0.7% of physiotherapists are recognised as a First Nations person.

“Increasing the representation of this population in healthcare is vital to ensure we are delivering considered and specific healthcare,” Mrs Prebble said. “Research has shown that increasing the involvement of First Nations people within healthcare delivers positive outcomes, helping to close the gap and leading to increased cultural awareness, understanding and exposure.”

To view the Mater article First Nations students inspired to pursue career in healthcare in full click here.

group of 10+ students who took part in the 'day in the life of a physio' Mater program

School-based trainees from the IUIH, Pathways Our Way Academy were part of The High School Health Adventure program for First Nations students, run by Mater Education, in conjunction with Mater Physiotherapy. Image source: Mater News.

BRAMS funded to pilot Kids Club program

Broome Regional Aboriginal Medical Service (BRAMS) will receive more than $230,000 in Cook Government funding through Healthway to pilot the Kids Club program. The program will address health behaviours such as unhealthy eating, lack of physical activity and poor mental and oral health in young children aged 0–16 years and is set to benefit nearly 3,000 Aboriginal children and their families living in and around Broome.

Aboriginal people make up 43% of the Kimberley population with half under the age of 20 years. BRAMS, in conjunction with the community, identified a need for a community-based, early intervention and prevention program to address poor health and social outcomes for young people, which can lead to health issue.

The pilot project which aims to instil lifelong habits and promote the importance of regular health check-ups, vaccinations, and screenings will:

  • facilitate culturally appropriate relationship building, engagement, and education opportunities for local Aboriginal children on improving health and wellbeing;
  • develop a youth committee of young Aboriginal people who can support project co-design and provide guidance on health promoting strategies for Aboriginal youth;
  • develop a ‘Kids Club’ that will utilise birthday incentives, prizes, and culturally appropriate mascots to motivate Aboriginal children and their families to complete annual health checks and engage in healthy lifestyles;
  • deliver school holiday family activities that provide educational and participation opportunities; and
  • build capacity of families through educational sessions and appropriate activities during their annual health check.

To view the media statement Keeping Kimberley kids healthy now and into the future released earlier today by Hon. Amber-Jade Sanderson, WA Minister for Health and Mental Health in full click here.

ATSI kids eating fruit

Image source: UNICEF Australia website.

Study backs tax on sugar-sweetened beverages

New research showing more than 500,000 cavities could be prevented over 10 years if a sugar tax was introduced provides yet another reason for the federal government to introduce the AMA’s proposed sugar tax. The research from three Australian Universities has concluded a tax on sugar sweetened beverages would have a major positive impact on dental heath in Australia and save the country millions of dollars.

The Monash University-led collaboration with Deakin University and the University of Melbourne provides important new data for Australia. AMA President Professor Steve Robson said there is now more impetus for the government to adopt a sugar tax which both improves health outcomes and raises revenue. “We’ve known a lot about how high sugar consumption contributes to obesity and chronic disease, but oral health is often excluded from studies.

“This important research deepens our understanding of the impact of sugary drinks on dental health across a wide range of age groups in the Australian context. It’s further evidence a tax on sugary drinks is the right decision for Australia and puts to bed industry arguments there is insufficient evidence to support a sugar tax. We know the government is focusing on ways to prevent chronic disease in Australia and we continue to urge them to implement a sugar tax like more than 85 other jurisdictions across the world.

You can read the AMA’s media release Australian study backs AMA calls for a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages in full here.

group of different softdrinks

Image source: The Conversation.

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