Category Immunisation

20 April 2023

feature tile image of Medicare card sitting on $50 notes; text ' Strengthening Medicare - General Practice (GP) Grants program will allow ACCHOs to expand patient access and improve their services'

The image in the feature tile is from an article Strengthening Medicare – General Practice (GP) Grants Program published on the PNH Hunter New England and Central Coast website on 3 April 2023.

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.

GP grants to help expand patient access

The Australian Government is delivering on a key election commitment to strengthen GP practices across the country. The $220m Strengthening Medicare – General Practice (GP) Grants Program will allow all General Practices and eligible ACCHOs to expand patient access and improve their services.

The GP Grants will support all general practices and eligible ACCHOs across Australia to make investments in innovation, training, equipment, and minor capital works in one or more of the three investment streams below:

  1. Enhance digital health capability
  2. Upgrade infection prevention and control arrangements
  3. Maintain and/or achieve accreditation against the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Standards for General Practices (5th edition).

Grants will be provided depending on accredited GP practice size, with smaller practices eligible for grants of $25,000 or $35,000 and larger practices eligible for grants of $50,000. GP practices and ACCHOs not currently accredited against the RACGP standards will be eligible for $25,000.

The grants will be delivered through local Primary Health Networks (PHNs) and  NACCHO. Over the coming weeks, PHNs and NACCHO will be sending letters directly to general practices inviting participation in the Grants Program.

To view Minister Mark Butler’s media release Strengthening Medicare with $220m in GP Grants in full click here.

vector hand holding bag with grants written on it, clinic in background

Image source: WA Primary Health Alliance website.

Funding to narrow the digital divide

Minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney and Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland say the Albanese Government has bolstered its commitment to narrowing the digital divide for First Nations Australians by providing an additional $10m in funding to the latest round of the Regional Connectivity Program (RCP).

“This funding will deliver dedicated solutions to improve digital connectivity for First Nations communities in Central Australia. Improvements in digital connectivity will help address low levels of digital inclusion for individuals and communities and, in turn, support improved social inclusion and access to online services including health, education and social support services.”

To view Minister Burney and Minister Rowland’s joint media release Additional funding to drive digital inclusion for First Nations communities in full click here.

2 vector people joining plugs, text 'digital divide' computer code in background

Image source: article Bridge the digital divide to promote inclusion published in Capacity on 3 December 2021.

Alice Springs alcohol restrictions working

Chief Minister and Minister for Alcohol Policy, Natasha Fyles, says the NT Government will extend takeaway alcohol restrictions in Alice Springs. Over the past three months we have seen these alcohol restrictions work, and support our community and frontline workers.

Alcohol-related emergency department presentations at Alice Springs Hospital have almost halved, and domestic violence has dropped by a third in the month since the takeaway alcohol restrictions were reintroduced into the Northern Territory town.  In January we outlined a number of measures to address anti-social behaviour and crime in Alice Springs, with alcohol restrictions being part of this plan.

To view the Chief Minister of the NT Natasha Fyles’ media release Alice Springs alcohol restrictions working in full click here.

VB carton in sandy creek bed

Photo: Xavier Martin. Image source: ABC News.

Australian Immunisation Register enhancements

Enhancements to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) implemented on 15 April 2023 in preparation for the 2023 influenza season include:

COVID-19 and Influenza Immunisation History Statement

Individuals can use a new COVID-19 and Influenza Immunisation History Statement (IHS) from the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR).

The new IHS only displays COVID-19 and influenza vaccination information (including medical contraindications) on the AIR for an individual. This provides individuals with more privacy as they can use it as evidence for employment purposes, instead of providing their full vaccination history.

Individuals can view and print their COVID-19 and Influenza IHS (PDF version) from the AIR by:

  • accessing their Medicare online account through myGov or the Express Plus Medicare mobile app
  • calling Services Australia on 1800 653 809 to ask for a copy
  • asking their vaccination provider to print a copy.

NOTE: For privacy reasons, anyone aged 14 or older can get their own IHS.

Digital versions of the new IHS will be available in late 2023. Individuals will be able to use and share the new IHS with their digital wallets (Apple/Google).

COVID-19 Vaccination Report (AIR042A)

The AIR042A report is now available for vaccination providers to generate through the AIR site. Updates were made to improve the usability of the AIR042A report. Vaccination providers can extract information from the AIR based on an individual’s COVID-19 vaccination history. This allows providers to choose the:

  • vaccine brand
  • total number of doses an individual has received
  • number of doses received in a specified timeframe
  • For example, an individual has received ‘0’ doses in the last ‘6’ months
  • age or Date of Birth range

Services Australia will publish an eLearning module for the AIR042A report in the coming weeks. This will include more information on how to use the AIR042A report.

It is mandatory under the Australian Immunisation Register Act 2015, for vaccination providers to report the administration of COVID-19 and influenza vaccinations to the AIR. Reporting timely, high quality and accurate vaccination information ensures that the AIR contains a complete and reliable dataset. This allows the monitoring of immunisation coverage and administration.

The Department of Health and Aged Care will continue to work with Services Australia to help vaccination providers meet their reporting obligations.

hand holding mob ph with COVID-19 vax certificate

Image source: Australian Government Every Australian online webpage.

PSA calls for action to improve access for mob

From changes to policy, service design and delivery, PSA is calling for action to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ access to healthcare. There is a staggering gap in life expectancy between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians.

The PSA has partnered with NACCHO to deliver several Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led healthcare programs and educational initiatives over the years, including the Integrating Pharmacists within Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services to Improve Chronic Disease Management (IPAC) Project and the Deadly pharmacist foundation training course, available here.

While NACCHO is the national leadership body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health in Australia, PSA shapes initiatives from a pharmacist-standards, policy and educational perspective. ‘To develop pharmacy-related resources and information, we need to work with the peak bodies operating in the pharmacy world to translate and distil the messages from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people into practice,’ said Mike Stephens MPS, Director, Medicines Policy and Programs at NACCHO.

To view the Australian Pharmacist article PSA demands equity of healthcare access for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in full click here.

2 images: Mike Stephens; 2 ATSI staff Danila Dilba, NT

Mike Stephens. Danila Dilba, NT staff. Image sources L-R: Australian Pharmacist and Danila Dilba website.

Improving health with good sleep

The University of Queensland and Beyond Blue have partnered to deliver culturally responsive sleep health services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adolescents in Queensland. Project lead Assoicate Professor Yagoot fatitma from UQ’s Poche Centre for Indigenous Health said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adolescents experience disproportionately high rates of poor sleep – up to twice as high as other young people.

“Improving sleep among young people means they can become more engaged in school, sport, cultural and community activities,” Dr Fatima said. “Poor sleep can be caused by medical conditions like sleep apnoea, restless leg syndrome, home environments or behavioural issues such as an irregular bedtime. Our previous studies have shown that Indigenous adolescents sleep better when they feel connected to their culture which is why this program is important.”

A 10-week Sleep for Strong Souls program will connect with more than one hundred 12 to 18-year-olds through workshops in north and western Queensland communities. The UQ-led program promotes and reinforces healthy sleep behaviours by integrating traditional and western knowledges and was successfully piloted in Mt Isa  last year.

To view the First Nation s Telegraph article Improving Indigenous health with a good night’s sleep click here.

7 people stranding in group - Sleep for Strong Souls program team

Sleep for Strong Souls program team. Image source: National Indigenous 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.

27 March 2023

feature tile

The image in the feature tile is from an RACGP Twitter post on 27 March 2020 about racism being unacceptable and harmful, for patients, staff members in practices, health services and doctors in training.

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.

First Nations to guide health regulation process

First Nations representatives will be central to regulatory decisions about medical practitioners, nurses and midwives where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples are involved under a new process being rolled out. Details about a new culturally safe process being implemented to consider such matters are being released as part of the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) and the National Board’s commitment to eliminating racism from healthcare.

A minimum of two Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives, plus practitioners from each of the relevant profession and community members, will together make decisions about matters concerning culturally safe health care and racism in line with the legislation governing health practitioners in Australia. The Indigenous experts will make decisions with other Board representatives about any notification involving Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander Peoples. In the most serious matters, this will include the decisions about whether to refer a practitioner to an independent Tribunal.

A proud descendent of the Darumbal and Juru clans of the Birra Gubba Nation with South Sea Islander heritage, Associate Professor Carmen Parter, is an Ahpra Board member. As co-Founder and Director at the Learning Centre for Systemic Change and Research and the inaugural Co-chair of the Indigenous Working Group of the World Federation of Public Health Association, A/Prof Parter said elevating Indigenous involvement in the consideration of matters concerning race was “real and significant action. Racism is the biggest public health issue that Australia faces today and no-one wants to talk about it or do anything about it.”

To view the National Indigenous Times article Indigenous representatives to guide vital health regulation process in full click here.

Associate Professor Carmen Parter

Associate Professor Carmen Parter. Image source: National Indigenous Times.

ACCHO now home to life-changing equipment

The North Coast Aboriginal Corporation for Community Health (NCACCH) Gympie clinic is now home to a life-changing digital retina scanning (DRS) device. The machine, donated by St John Ambulance on Monday 20 March, will provide preventative treatment against glaucoma. Diabetes occurs in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people nearly five times more than non-Indigenous Australians, and diabetic retinopathy can increase the risk of an individual developing glaucoma.

NCACCH Gympie practice manager Katrina Johnston said this diagnostic tool is especially important, as it will aid in Closing the Gap in life expectancy. “We know that diabetes is probably one of the major chronic conditions that affect our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients,” Ms Johnston said. “If we can get on top of it early and be more proactive than reactive, it makes our lives a lot better.”

Ms Johnston also said the newest addition could potentially be added to the annual health check the clinic provides. “It’s not just about our diabetic patients, every Indigenous person is at risk,” she said.

To view the Gympie Today article NCACCH receives ‘life-saving’ equipment in full click here.

new DRS with St John Ambulance & NCACCH (Qld) staff

The new DRS with members of St John Ambulance and NCACCH staff. Image source: Gympie Today.

Mob urged to get vaccinated against measles

NT Health is issuing a warning about measles ahead of the upcoming Easter holidays following a rise in cases overseas and interstate. Measles outbreaks are occurring in the USA and Europe, while the virus remains common in countries across Asia, Africa and in the Middle East. Cases of measles have recently been diagnosed in returned overseas travellers in other Australian states and territories, as well as in NZ.

The most recent cases of measles in the NT were in 2019, when 31 were recorded. Vaccination is the best protection against measles and help to prevent outbreaks from occurring. Two doses of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine are required for immunity against measles and are given to children in Australia at 12 and 18 months of age.

To view the NT Government media release Public health alert: Territorians urged to get vaccinated against measles ahead of Easter holidays in full click here.

While this media release is for the NT the advice is applicable across Australia for anyone born after 1966 without two documented doses. Measles is highly infectious and while most don’t become seriously unwell, because of potentially large numbers of cases, there are likely to be some with more serious complications.

close up photo of vaccination being administered into arm

Photo: Beawiharta: Reuters – file photo. Image source: ABC News.

The Voice is Aunty Eunice’s ‘little ray of hope’

Ngarrindjeri elder Aunty Eunice Aston knows how important is is to have your voice heard, as she remembers living through the harsh government policies forced upon Indigenous people. Born in 1959 in Point McLeay Mission, now known as Raukkan, she was exiled from her birthplace as an infant, unable to legally return until she was about 15-years-old. At the time, Aboriginal people who received exemption certificates were promised access to the benefits of Australian citizenship that they were otherwise denied. This included access to education, health services, housing and employment, but to apply for and hold an exemption, individuals were required to relinquish their language, identity and ties to kin.

In her time growing up, she experienced all of what Australia had to offer Indigenous people at the time, which consisted of racism and forced assimilation. Under protection and assimilation policies, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were treated harshly, which has had an intergenerational effect that continues to this day.

Aunty Eunice says the effect has stunted the growth of Indigenous people which she hopes a Voice to parliament can start to rectify. “Sometimes I get really bewildered by the state that we‘re in and then I see a little ray of hope with the Voice … that’s a ray of hope for me,” she said.

This story featured in the Gold Coast Bulletin article The Voice is ‘my little ray of hope’, says Aunty Eunice Aston here.

Ngarridnjeri Elder, Aunty Eunice Aston at Murray Bridge, overlooking the Murray, with her son Gordon Rigney

Ngarridnjeri Elder, Aunty Eunice Aston at Murray Bridge, overlooking the Murray, with her son Gordon Rigney. Photo: Dean Martin. Image source: Gold Coast Bulletin.

Long fight for clean drinking water finally over

An Indigenous community that has fought for decades for basic utilities despite being just a five-minute drive from Alice Springs finally has access to clean drinking water. American company Source Global has installed its hydropanels in Irrkerlantye, with the innovative solar-powered technology capturing water vapour from the air, turning it into liquid and adding minerals to make it safe to drink.

Australian basketball legend Patty Mills has previously partnered with Source to bring drinking water to six other remote communities. Mills and Source founder Cody Friesen headlined an event in New York last week to spruik the technology during the first United Nations water conference held in almost half a century.

Children’s Ground chief Jane Vadiveloo agreed, saying it was “unacceptable that so many remote Indigenous communities in Australia still face significant challenges in accessing this essential resource”. Describing clean drinking water as a “basic human right”, she said: “There are real solutions that can work to solve these problems now.”

This story featured in the The Chronicle article Alice Springs community wins decades-long fight for access to clean drinking water here.

Irrkerlantye (White Gate) Traditional Owner Felicity Hayes standing with river in background

Irrkerlantye (White Gate) Traditional Owner Felicity Hayes teaches the younger generation at Trephina Gorge near Alice Springs. Photo: Riley Walter. IMage source: The Chronicle.

Seasonal respiratory and other challenges webinar

Benchmarque Group (TBG) is offering a FREE webinar Seasonal Respiratory & Other Challenges: Influenza, RSV & Meningococcal B. presented by TBG Trainer John Gullifer alongside a guest speaker from the Immunisation field.

Benchmarque Group’s first Webinar for 2023 focuses on the practical aspects of immunisation for our upcoming winter season, including a:

  1. brief review of the essentials of influenza vaccination
  2. an explanation of RSV, the clinical picture of the infant infected with RSV and treatments available to protect against infection
  3. when the long anticipated RSV vaccine coming

The webinar will be held from 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM AEST Monday 17 April 2023 – it will go for 1 hour with 45 mins of content and 15 minutes of Q&A. This webinar will not be recorded.

Make sure to put this date in your diary and register here to join the Seasonal Respiratory & Other Challenges: Influenza, RSV & Meningococcal B Webinar.

tile: woman with head on pillow blowing nose, text ' FREE Webinar'

Sector Jobs

Sector Jobs – you can see sector job listings on the NACCHO website here.

Advertising Jobs – to advertise a job vacancy click here to go to the NACCHO website Current job listings webpage. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find a Post A Job form. You can complete this form with your job vacancy details – it will then be approved for posting and go live on the NACCHO website.

27 February 2023

part of Aboriginal town camp on the outskirts of Alice Springs

The image in the feature tile is part of an Aboriginal town camp on the outskirts of Alice Springs. Photo: Helen Davidson. Image source: Guardian Australia article Australia’s Indigenous housing won’t cope with climate change, research finds, published on 4 November 2021.

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. The content included in these new stories are not necessarily NACCHO endorsed.

ACCHOs prioritise social determinant approach to health

Homes should be safe and secure spaces that support our health and wellbeing. Our homes should provide us with shelter, access to efficient and healthy energy sources, sufficient space, as well as a sense of belonging, security and privacy. Dr Ben Ewald from the University of Newscastle says recent consumer research by Asthma Australia revealed that there are many asthma triggers in Australian homes. Their nationally representative survey of over 5,000 people focused on indoor air pollution from cooking, gas or wood heating, mould and dampness and pests (including ants, spiders, mice, cockroaches and dust mites). They found that many people are exposed to these triggers in their homes and that some population groups are more likely to be exposed to certain triggers. Those most at risk include people with asthma, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people living in social housing and people with children in their homes.

Dr Benjamin Ewald, Conjoint Senior Lecturer at the School of Medicine and Public Health at The University of Newcastle previously worked for 10 years at Central Australian Aboriginal Congress Aboriginal Corporation in Alice Springs where ‘he saw for the first time a community health centre that could identify its community, and had a realistic involvement in their public health issues as well as the provision of sick care.’

Dr Ewald said the ACCHO model has prioritised the social determinant approaches. We consider housing security, daily living expenses, and access to the range of social financial support to be as important, sometimes more important, than prescription of medicine or referral to diagnostic tests or specialist appointments. The call by Dr Ewald for GPs to consider engaging with landlords and social housing providers to advocate for improved housing conditions for those most vulnerable is potentially significant and realistic. We already regularly advocate for individual patients for improvements to their housing that impacts their health. Such improvements might now include installing or servicing appliances that are known to reduce risk and harm, like rangehoods, convection stoves, and overall ventilation. Having a diagnostic test or prescribing inhalers is ineffective if I am just sending people back to the conditions causing their problem in the first place.

To view The Medical Republic article Gas Hazards in Homes: What’s the GP’s Role? in full click here. The quote about Dr Ewald’s time spent at CAAC is from the Staff Directory on The University of Newcastle website.

Irene Williams standing next to the stove in her kitchen of her Yarralin house

Irene Williams has no bathroom or kitchen sink in her Yarralin house. Photo: Jane Bardon, ABC News – 18 May 2018.

Diphtheria spreading in the north

Cases of toxigenic diphtheria are rising in north Queensland and experts warn that other states should be on alert for the potential spread of the disease. Between 2020 and 2022 there were 29 reported cases of diphtheria in North Queensland – eight respiratory diphtheria and 38 cutaneous diphtheria – compared to 46 cases in the two decades prior.

In that preceding decade, C. diphtheriae accounted for 87% of cases, according to data from Queensland Health’s Notifiable Conditions Register. Since 2020, a genomically linked clone of tox gene-carrying diphtheria bacteria has spread across North Queensland. This diphtheria outbreak, almost exclusively in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, highlights the continuing impact of social determinants on disease in vulnerable populations.

Unvaccinated people were at highest risk of severe disease, including classic diphtheria, myocarditis and neuropathies. Vaccination remains imperative and timely vaccinations are essential.

To view The Medical Republic article Diphtheria spreading in the North in full click here. Below is July 2022 ABC News report about diptheria identified in two children in northern NSW – NSW’s first recorded cases of diptheria in 100 years.

Dementia – what it means for mob

The Dementia in Australian Summary report 2022 released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) last week, available here, shows that although dementia seems to occur in all socioeconomic groups relatively equally, how those different groups deal with dementia varies. The burden of disease is least in the highest socioeconomic group, hospitalisations are fewest for the rich, and those in the most affluent group are less likely to live in permanent residential aged care.

It will come as no surprise, given what we know about health inequities facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, that dementia deaths in the Indigenous population have skyrocketed by 70% between 2011–15 (296 deaths) and 2016–20 (503 deaths), according to the AIHW. Dementia was the fifth leading cause of death among Indigenous people aged 65 and over during 2018–2020.

Between 137,600 and 354,200 Australians are “informal” carers for someone with dementia. That is, they are not “providing care to those living in permanent residential aged care and paid workers or volunteers arranged by an organisation or formal service”. The AIHW says those numbers are likely to be an underestimate. Three in four of those carers are women. Half of them are caring for their partner. According to the AIHW report, by 2058, 850,000 of us will be living with dementia. And yet aged care in general, and dementia care in particular, continues to be underfunded, underresourced, underserviced and underappreciated by politicians and policymakers.

To read The Medical Republic article Let’s Fix Aged Care, if Only Out of Selfishness in full click here. You can find a range of resources, including the video below, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities on the Dementia Australia website here.

KAMS to support Kimberley flood victims

The Australian Government is providing $300,000 for social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) support for Aboriginal communities in the flood ravaged Kimberley region of WA. Cyclone Ellie struck last month leading to record flooding, leaving thousands of people displaced, isolated and experiencing trauma. Funding for a trusted local community organisation, the Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services (KAMS) will provide support to people affected by flooding over the coming months.

This will include air travel to communities that are inaccessible, enabling the social and emotional wellbeing workforce to meet people where they are and respond to the unique needs of isolated remote communities. KAMS will deliver this project in partnership with its member services – the Broome Regional Aboriginal Medical Service (BRAMS) and the Derby Aboriginal Health Service Council (DAHSC). They will ensure services are culturally safe and prioritise the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

KAMS CEO Vicki O’Donnell OAM said “The Kimberley Floods have had a significant impact for many people in our region. The immediate need to increase the scope and reach of our SEWB services is urgent. KAMS and our Member Services, DAHSC and BRAMS will be able to use this initial support from NIAA to increase our travel and direct support to those in immediate need. We endeavour to work alongside all agencies involved to make sure we effectively support our community members through this crisis and secure ongoing resources as we recover and rebuild our communities over the coming years.”

To view the Hon Linda Burney MP’s media release Support For Flood Ravaged Kimberley Communities in full click here.

Part of the Great Northern Highway bridge across the Fitzroy River at Fitzroy Crossing appears to have completely washed away

Part of the Great Northern Highway bridge across the Fitzroy River at Fitzroy Crossing appears to have completely washed away. Photo: Neville Ripp. Image source: ABC News, 9 January 2023.

Digital wound imaging for diabetic foot ulcers

A NZ-developed digital wound imaging platform to improve treatment of diabetic foot ulcers is being used in Perth hospitals and rural clinics, as well as health facilities across Australia, NZ and the world. The electronic wound assessment system monitors and manages wound healing, aiming to reduce diabetes-related foot complications and ultimately reduce amputations.

NZ healthcare informatics company ARANZ Medical developed its Silhouette suite of products for imaging, measuring and documenting soft tissue and skin lesions including wounds. Royal Perth Hospital vascular surgeon and medical co-director Olufemi Oshin pioneered the use of this technology in Broome in 2019 when Diabetes WA funded seven cameras and SilhouetteLite+ for Aboriginal health workers from Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services (KAMS) to use in Broome and remote communities.

Australia has the second highest rate of diabetic amputations in the developed world with diabetic foot disease being responsible for about 4,400 amputations nationwide every year or 12 a day. Dr Oshin said “We know that 85% of diabetes related amputations are preventable but only if wounds are detected early and managed appropriately. We have a lot of people who present very late, sadly where there is not much option but amputation.” KAMS medical director Lorraine Anderson said the system had been used in the Kimberley Foot Initiative for nearly four years to increase access to multidisciplinary care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders with or at risk of diabetic foot disease.

To read the Pulse+IT article Perth hospitals using NZ-developed digital wound imaging system for diabetic foot ulcers in full click here.

Aboriginal Health Workers and Diabetes WA staff using Silhouette at the Kimberley Foot Initiative kickoff

Aboriginal Health Workers and Diabetes WA staff using Silhouette at the Kimberley Foot Initiative kickoff. Photo: ARANZ Medical. Image source: Pulse+IT.

Health researcher to participate in talks program

Parrtjima – A Festival in Light returns to illuminate the Red Centre in April this year in more ways than one, with some of Australia’s most prominent Aboriginal identities set to participate in the In Conversation talks program, where a range of topics, from science and sport to literature and The Voice, will be discussed.

The theme for this year’s Parrtjima is Listening with Heart. Inspired by the artwork surrounding the Statement from the Heart, Listening with Heart embodies the concept of coming together, meeting and taking the time to contemplate, reflect and heal. The In Conversation program is just one part of this festival. Roxanne Ngarulya Highfold, an Aboriginal health researcher who has worked with numerous organisations, including Central Australian Aboriginal Congress (CAAC) and Central Land Council, will take part in a talk on Tuesday, 11 April on the topic of ‘The spirit of Alice’.

A mother of one, Roxanne Ngarulya Highfold has maternal ties with Central and Eastern Arrernte, and paternal ties with the Wirangu and Nurrunga peoples of SA. She works full time at the Central Land Council, supporting Aboriginal communities through economic growth and development. She is also studying a dual degree in Bachelor of Health Sciences/Masters in Nutrition. Roxanne is an experienced Aboriginal health researcher with a demonstrated history of working in the early childhood, child protection and primary healthcare industry.

To view the Global Travel Media article Parrtjima 2023 talks program filled with leading Indigenous voices in full click here. Details about Roxanne Ngarulya Highfold were sourced from the Parrtjima – A Festival of Light website here.

portrait shot of Roxanne Ngarulya Highfold

Roxanne Ngarulya Highfold. Image source: Parrtjima – A Festival of Light website.

Sector Jobs

Sector Jobs – you can see sector job listings on the NACCHO website here.

Advertising Jobs – to advertise a job vacancy click here to go to the NACCHO website Current job listings webpage. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find a Post A Job form. You can complete this form with your job vacancy details – it will then be approved for posting and go live on the NACCHO website.

7 July 2022

Keep mob safe this winter

With winter here, the best way you and your family can stay well and keep doing the things you love is to:

  • Wear a mask when out in crowded spaces
  • Stay home and get tested if you’re not feeling well
  • Get together outside or in well ventilated places
  • Stay up to date with your vaccinations, including COVID-19 and flu

The NSW Government have prepared a range of new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander winter and flu resources to promote help these messages. Your help in sharing these resources through your channels is appreciated to help protect the community this winter.

Even if you’ve had COVID-19, it is still important to stay up to date with your vaccinations to boost your immunity and protect yourself and others. The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) now recommends waiting 3 months to receive your vaccine after a confirmed COVID-19 infection.

There are antiviral treatments available for people at higher risk of getting really sick from COVID-19, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 35 years and over and those with underlying health conditions. You can access more information about antivirals here.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 50 years and over are also eligible for a winter COVID-19 vaccine (second booster) four months after your first booster dose to help keep your immunity strong. If you get COVID-19 before your winter booster dose, wait three months to receive it.

For more information you can view the NSW Government’s Keep Our Mob Safe COVID-19 Newsletter here and access the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander winter and flu resources, including videos (screenshot of the Keep Our Mob Safe video below), posters, graphics and fact sheets here.

Lowitja Institute CEO reflects on NAIDOC Week

Lowitja Institute CEO, Adjunct Professor Janine Mohamed says that “NAIDOC Week can’t just be a tick box, where people invite us in for one week of the year, listen, take some notes, and then go back to business as usual. We need to celebrate and take pride in our First Nations peoples every day of the week and to examine our role in continuing injustice and inequity.”

“This year’s NAIDOC theme encapsulates this idea, it asks us all to: Get up! Stand up! Show up! My people already have a proud history of getting up, standing up, and showing up. From our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers who fight everyday for improved care, our Grannies fighting for our kids in out-of-home care, to our activists who scream for justice and remind us of the toll. Just to name a few.

We have been seeking to make change since the first days of colonisation. As an Elder at the NAIDOC flag-raising event on Naarm reminded us, our peoples have been long told ‘Sit down, and shut up, or be locked up!’ So I see this year’s NAIDOC theme as a call to action to non-Indigenous people, to the broader community and to the institutions and organisations that we work with and within. A call to create environments where racism is actively dealt with and prevented. Where governance at all levels privileges Indigenous leadership – and not just by putting an Indigenous person on a reference group. We need authentic involvement. True allyship. And a clear focus on those three NAIDOC Week calls to action.”

To view the Croakey Health Media article Get up, stand up, show up – and listen up in full click here.

Lowitja Institute CEO Adjunct Professor Janine Mohamed. Image source: Better Futures Australia.

RACGP slams QLD pharmacy pilot extension

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has slammed Queensland Health’s decision to extend the UTI pharmacy prescribing pilot despite concerns raised by leading health groups, including the RACGP. It follows reports of Queensland Health advising that the controversial pilot, which allows pharmacists to prescribe antibiotics for uncomplicated urinary tract infections or UTIs, will continue while work takes place “determining the future of the scheme”. They also pointed towards a 118-page evaluation report, which has been made public for the first time. Some of the contents of the report were previously reported on by The Australian several months ago.

To view the RACGP media release RACGP slams pharmacy prescribing pilot extension in full click here.

Photo: AAP. Image source: RACGP newsGP.

Improving kidney care for mob

The Adelaide-based Aboriginal Kidney Care Together – Improving Outcomes Now (AKction) project aims to transform Indigenous kidney health and healthcare. It is founded on long-term relationships, a shared determination for systemic change, and recognition of the need for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership, autonomy and governance.

Last week, the @AKction2 team took the reins of Croakey’s rotated Twitter account @WePublicHealth and shared knowledge, language and insights into the cultural determinants of health, plus photos from the recent Renal Society of Australasia conference.

To view the Croakey Health Media article Sharing vibrant, productive and creative journeys to improve kidney care for First Peoples in full click here as well as read more about AKction’s work here.

Support for VIC ACCHO frontline workers

The Andrews Labor Government is supporting more Aboriginal organisations across Victoria to provide vital health services in culturally safe ways with a landmark investment in new jobs across the state. Minister for Treaty and First Peoples Gabrielle Williams has announced $25 million is being shared across 26 Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations as part of the second tranche of the Aboriginal Workforce Fund.

The fund was established to support organisations to set their own workforce priorities, with a focus on new jobs, staff wellbeing and building organisations’ capacity to continue delivering vital services to their communities. Recipients include:

  • Aboriginal Community Elders Service, which received $1.6 million to deliver holistic mental health and alcohol and other drug services, and to enhance Elders’ connections with their culture and community
  • Victorian Aboriginal Health Services has also been allocated $1.4 million to strengthen the capacity and capability of its workforce to deliver a range of medical, dental and social services for Victoria’s Aboriginal community
  • Oonah Health and Community Services, which will expand its clinical arm and employ new staff to support the delivery of health, education, community and employment services, and
  • Kirrae Health Service, which will invest in skills training for its Aboriginal workers.

To read the Victorian Government’s media release Supporting Frontline Workers At Aboriginal Services in full click here.

Michael Graham, the CEO of Victoria Aboriginal Health Services, is pictured receiving his COVID-19 vaccination in Melbourne. Photo: Luis Ascui, NCA NewsWire. Image source: news.com.au

Coles raises funds for First Nations health

To raise funds for Indigenous health this NAIDOC week, Coles supermarkets and Express stores in the NT and select regional stores in WA have launched a ‘Purple House’ campaign. Purple House – also known as the Western Desert Nganampa Walytja Palyantjaku Tjutaku Aboriginal Corporation – is a First Nations-owned not-for-profit health service that provides dialysis services to people suffering from chronic kidney disease in 19 remote communities across NT, WA and SA.

Through the campaign, Coles will donate $1 to Purple House for every customer who wears the colour purple during their shopping trip or fuel stop at participating Coles supermarkets and Coles Express sites in WA and the NT until Sunday 10 July. “The money raised will help dialysis patients who are forced far from home for treatment, to get back on country for important cultural business and precious time with family,” said, Sarah Brown, Purple House CEO.

To view the Inside Retail article Coles NT, regional WA stores raise funds for Indigenous health in full click here.

Image4 source: Coles Group.

AMSA call for greater disability representation

The Australian Medical Students Association (AMSA) is calling for medical schools and healthcare systems across the nation to actively support students and professionals with disabilities. Considering almost 20% of Australians have reported to have a disability, the current healthcare systems are lacking the protocols and resources to adequately address the various challenges encountered by medical students and health professionals.

“The bottom line is our current approach is not good enough. We are leaving an important part of the population behind, which is unacceptable. We need to see the appropriate pathways for more students and professionals with disabilities in healthcare. We need more role models,” said Jasmine Davis, President of AMSA.

“Inclusion in medicine is important for so many reasons, including creating a better healthcare system for people with disability by embedding those with lived experience within it,” said Jimmy Jan, a current medical student and Ambassador for Wings for Life.

To view the AMSA media release ‘We need more role models’ – Medical students call for greater disability representation and support in the healthcare world click here.

New process for job advertising

NACCHO have introduced a new system for the advertising of job adverts via the NACCHO website and you can find the sector job listings here.

Click here to go to the NACCHO website where you can complete a form with job vacancy details – it will then be approved for posting and go live on the NACCHO website.

30 June 2022

Image is feature tile is of health staff working long hours to test residents in Bidyadanga. Photo: KAMS. Image source: ABC News 28 February 2022.

KAMS’ quick response to COVID-19

At last week’s Communicable Diseases and Immunisation Conference, Dr Lorraine Anderson shared some valuable insights from the Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Service’s (KAMS) response to COVID-19.

Medical director at KAMS, Anderson showcased their quick response to the pandemic, urging all conference delegates to consider the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (ACCHO) model of care to “help bring all people on board in the health space”.

In her presentation, Anderson said that communication, leadership, governance and the prioritisation of Aboriginal cultural and spiritual ways, self-determination and empowerment were critical.

To view the Croakey Health Media article Aboriginal leadership key to successful management of COVID-19 in the Kimberley region in full, including Anderson’s full presentation, as delivered at the conference on 21 June 2022 click here.

Vaughan Matsumoto, Senior Aboriginal Practitioner at the Beagle Bay clinic receives a coronavirus vaccine. Photo: KAMS, AAP. Image source: The Conversation.

Leading the way to improve RHD outcomes

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, between 5 and 15 years of age are 55 times more likely to die from rheumatic heart disease (RHD) than other Australian children. The broader Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population are 15 times more likely to be diagnosed with RHD than other Australians. The prevalence of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) is also significant. This was released in a report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) in April 2022.  

To address these alarming issues, NACCHO will develop a new service delivery model for the national Rheumatic Fever Strategy (RFS), for the prevention, treatment, and management of RHD and ARF. This model will be co-designed with the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health sector. 

A Joint Advisory Committee (JAC) will oversee the strategy and be co-chaired by NACCHO and the Australian Government Department of Health. The JAC has been established to create a nationally cohesive approach to ARF and RHD, with a focus on improving care pathways and RHD data and includes representatives from: 

  • State and Territory Government Health representatives – NT, QLD, SA, and WA 
  • NACCHO Affiliates – NT, QLD, SA, and WA 
  • Heart Foundation 
  • Australian Medical Association
  • Members of the NACCHO RHD Expert Working Group.

A NACCHO RHD Expert Working Group has also been established and comprises representatives from the ACCHO sector.   

The JAC will meet bi-monthly during the establishment phase of the program. A meeting communique will be publicly available and provided to relevant stakeholders.  

Click here to read the JAC February 2022 communique.  

If you would like to be kept informed about progress in this space, you can contact the NACCHO RHD team using this email link.

Dr Josh Francis, Shannon Brown and Trey Brown in Maningrida. Photo: Mike Hill, Take Heart Program. Image source: NRHA Partyline on-line magazine.

Decolonising healthcare – a call to action

In her final story from the 21st International Conference on Emergency Medicine, Dr Amy Coopes has written about the call to decolonise healthcare, and for health workers to challenge “inequity and injustice in their work”. Dr Coopes explains that structural inequities and injustices as a legacy of colonisation can only be dismantled by acknowledging that a script of subjugation continues to be played out in healthcare settings, perpetuating a cycle of prejudice and ill health for oppressed peoples.

Disrupting this narrative is urgent work for all healthcare professionals, and begins with reflexive action, interrogating the motivations, power imbalances and potential for oppression, violence and injustice in our practices and approaches in health. These were the central messages of a compelling call to action for emergency doctors at a recent global summit held in Melbourne centred on the themes of equity, sustainability and innovation.

To view the Croakey Health Media article Decolonising healthcare: a call for equity in action in full click here.

REFOCUS makes profound difference

This year’s NAIDOC Week theme is Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! and it calls on the community to rally for systemic change and continue to support and secure institutional, structural, collaborative and co-operative reforms.

On a local level, one organisation working day in, day out to make a difference is REFOCUS. The charity is making a profound difference in the wellbeing of Indigenous youth and their families across the region. REFOCUS has been delivering wellbeing support services to the Sunshine Coast, Moreton Bay and Gympie regions since 2010.

The charity stands for ‘Redirecting and Empowering Families through Culturally Unique Services’ and provides a range of programs to support children to reach their full potential. REFOCUS CEO Darcy Cavanagh first began working in the youth and child protection sector in 1998 and knows firsthand the need for this type of support in the local community. “My interest in this line of work comes from my brief experience of being placed in the foster care system with my two brothers and the life that followed being returned home,” he says.

Launching REFOCUS with six staff, and now with a team more than 60, the charity supports thousands of individuals through a variety of programs across its catchment area, with a specific focus on children under 18. Programs include family wellbeing services, family participation programs, NDIS support services, foster and kinship care as well as Aboriginal medical service Gunyah of Wellness.

To view the My Weekly article It’s time to come together in full click here and to access the REFOCUS website click here.

Calls for VIC Treaty Authority

Last week, Co-chairs of the First People’s Assembly of Victoria called on Victorian parliamentarians to pass legislation enabling the establishment of the Treaty Authority in Victoria. In what Bangerang and Wiradjuri Elder Aunty Geraldine Atkinson described as an “umpire” independent from government, a Treaty Authority would “support Treaty-making in Victoria between the First Peoples of Victoria and the state government.”

Marcus Stewart, a proud Nira illim bulluk man of the Taungurung Nation, said “the Treaty Authority agreement is decolonisation in action”. Although an agreement has been signed between the First People’s Assembly and the Victorian Government, legislation is required to facilitate the operation of Authority. The Treaty Authority bill passed the Victorian Parliament’s lower house last week.

To view the Croakey Health Media article Lore, law and cultural authority at the heart of Victorian Treaty Authority in full click here.

Image source: Croakey Health Media.

Census lacks detail about people’s lives

The census counted 812,728 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on census night, making up 3.2% of the total people counted. That’s up from 649,171 in the 2016 census, an increase of over 25%. Many have estimated the population prior to the arrival of the British was between 750,000 and 1 million. So the exciting news is in only 234 years we are nearing pre-colonial numbers.

Whenever there is an increase in the numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, there is always speculation as to why. Of course the politics of identity is always at play. There will be the usual commentary that targets the way people look in those old arguments that refer to skin colour as the measure of who counts as Aboriginal and the idea that lighter skin signifies less Indigenous or no Indigenous identity at all.

These worn out tropes never take into consideration that colonial policies and practices such as those that led to the Stolen Generations directly targeted people with mixed heritage. These targeted people suffered unimaginable violence in the nation’s mission to breed the colour out of us.

But unfortunately, given the lack of information in the census about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ lives, we can’t be sure if overall health among Indigenous people is improving and why lifespans seem to be improving. And the census has failed to investigate other ways Indigenous people may choose to identify, and how we live as families.

To view the SBS NITV article OPINION: First Nations population has increased, but census lacks details about Indigenous lives in full click here.

Three generation Aboriginal family. Image source: CHF Journal Health Voices – June 2022 edition.

Preparation for work in communities

Charles Sturt University paramedicine students and First Nations mental health students recently participated in training scenarios as part of their preparation for work in communities throughout Australia.

Associate Head of School – Paramedicine Dr Sonja Maria in the Charles Sturt School of Nursing, Paramedicine and Healthcare Sciences in Bathurst said the scenarios were designed to give both groups of students insights into the possible needs of First Nations patients and how the paramedics in particular operate when on-call. Dr Maria said the interdisciplinary training day was created with the assistance of Dr Jola Stewart-Bugg, the Discipline Leader for First Nations at Charles Sturt.

To read the Charles Sturt University article ‘Together we are stronger’; health students strive for better First Nations patient outcomes in full click here.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) paramedicine students and First Nations mental health students in training. Image source: CSU website.

New process for job advertising

NACCHO have introduced a new system for the advertising of job adverts via the NACCHO website and you can find the sector job listings here.

Click here to go to the NACCHO website where you can complete a form with job vacancy details – it will then be approved for posting and go live on the NACCHO website.

8 June 2022

Note: image in the feature tile is of Sharana Turner and her daughter Collette seeking treatment for influenza at Maningrida. Image source: ABC News.

Maningrida flu outbreak worsens

Maningrida. a remote NT Indigenous community is medically evacuating two residents a day as the Top End deals with a “tsunami” of flu cases during its worst outbreak in years. For the past week, one or two people have been flown out of Maningrida — 370 kms from Darwin on the north coast of Arnhem Land — each day due to a severe outbreak of influenza. “These are unprecedented numbers in volumes per day,” local health clinic manager Jessica Gatti said. “The flu season definitely has come a lot earlier and a lot harder than was anticipated, so we didn’t have the opportunity to do a mass vaccination,” she said.

She said management of the flu outbreak was much different to COVID-19. “With COVID-19, there had been so much pre-preparation going into it and we had so many policies and procedures and workflows around how we were going to internally manage an outbreak,” Ms Gatti said. “The flu outbreak is definitely worse in the sense that it’s a huge strain on the staffing and on the patients in that [we’re] trying to see them all in a timely manner.

AMSANT CEO John Paterson said Maningrida was not the only community struggling to contain outbreaks of influenza. He said the flu season normally peaked in August or September in the NT. “For some unknown reason, it’s arrived early and it’s caught our clinicians a little bit off guard,” Mr Paterson said.

To view the ABC News article Two patients a day evacuated from Maningrida as flu outbreak worsens in Northern Territory in full click here.

Maningrida on Arnhem Land’s north coast is experiencing a severe influenza outbreak. Photo: Hamish Harty, ABC News.

Galambila receives health and wellbeing funding

Galambila Aboriginal Health Service, which works in and around Coffs Harbour and Bellingen, is one organisation on the Mid North Coast receiving a share of $834,000 that has been granted to eleven regional charities and community groups by the Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation for projects improving health and social wellbeing for those most in need, and initiatives supporting disadvantaged and at-risk young people.

Tracy Singleton, CEO at Galambila Aboriginal Health Service said “It’s about improving health and closing the gap. We are looking at ten families every term, so 60 families over twelve months, which is a fair goal. Our footprint takes in Coffs Harbour and Bellingen shires across Gumbaynggirr country – though Gumbaynggirr country is much bigger than that. We have a population of over 5,000 Aboriginal people in our area and I think that if we can reach 60 families that’s a really good start.”

The program will be based around early childhood development. “We may start with something like hearing and bring in speakers and have playgroups where we bring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families together, that live on Gumbaynggirr country, and they’ll be able to talk through issues that they actually deal with that may not be issues the broader community deal with, so they’re not going to be isolated in what they bring to the table.”

To read the News Of The Area article Galambila Aboriginal Health Service Granted Funding For Health And Wellbeing Program in full click here.

Image source: Galambila Aboriginal Health Service website.

Jail now rehab for First Nations women

A drug and rehabilitation facility to be established in remote Australia is finally offering women battling addiction the chance to seek treatment with their family and on country. Yetta Dhinnikkal Centre, a former prison, sits on more than 10,000 hectares in Brewarrina in north-west NSW and has been vacant since its closure in 2020. The property is now being handed back to the First Nations community for two vital purposes; to become a women’s rehab facility and to be used by the Ngemba Traditional Owners for cultural and agricultural purposes.

The Orana Haven Aboriginal Corporation has taken on the role of turning the former prison into a rehab exclusively for women and will allow them to remain with their children while receiving residential care. Acting CEO Tracy Gordon said there was a serious shortage of services for women struggling with addiction. “We’ve had numerous phone calls for a women’s rehab as well calls to see whether we take all of the family as well,” Ms Gordon said. “It’s just hard when you have to say no, we don’t have the services available. We have eight beds in this area for women to get help with drug or alcohol dependency,” Ms Gordon said. “We provide detox for females but from there, they have to go away.”

To view the ABC News article Jail turned rehab facility in remote NSW offers new hope for First Nations women battling addiction in full click here.

The former prison’s infrastructure will be repurposed into a rehabilitation facility. Image source: ABC News.

Tasmania to raise age of detention

The Tasmanian Minister for Education, Children and Youth, Roger Jaensch, has announced that Tasmania’s minimum age of detention will be raised from 10 to 14 years. This will be one key element in our plan to build a nation-leading, best practice approach to young people in conflict with the law. We know that detention does not support rehabilitation or reduce the likelihood of re-offending for younger children. Early exposure to a detention environment can also further traumatise young people, expose them to problem behaviours of older detainees and increase criminal networks.

You can view Minister Jaensch’s media release in full here.

Amnesty International Australia welcomed the announcement with their Indigenous Rights Advisor, Rodney Dillon, saying: “although we don’t have a lot of detail on the plans at this stage, Amnesty welcomes this significant step in a smarter approach to justice. Putting children in prisons causes irreparable harm, governments know this, but continue to allow children to be subject to this treatment. That the Tasmanian Government has recognised that children don’t belong in prison, and there are alternatives to dealing with crime, is a huge step forward.”

You can view Amnesty International Australia’s media release Tasmania’s commitment to raise the age of detention to 14 welcome, Time to raise the age of criminal responsibility here.

Ashley Youth Detention Centre, Tasmania. Image source: The Examiner.

NT on alert for Japanese encephalitis

NT residents and visitors are being reminded to protect themselves from mosquito bites following an increase in the number of feral pigs that have tested positive for Japanese encephalitis (JE) in the Top End region. Since March 2022, 44 feral pigs infected with JE have been detected in the Victoria Daly, Litchfield, Marrakai-Douglas Daly and Cox-Daly region, as well as the Tiwi Islands.

Nina Kurucz, Director of the Medical Entomology Unit, NT Health, said JE is a serious disease spread by mosquitoes that can infect humans and animals, such as pigs, horses and some birds. “The highest risk period for being bitten by an infected mosquito is after sundown within five kilometres of wetlands where feral pigs and water birds potentially infected with JE are present,” Ms Kurucz said.

To view the NT Government NT Health media release NT on alert for Japanese encephalitis click here and for further information about the Japanese encephalitis virus you can access the Australian Government Department of Health Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) webpage here.

Launch of national standard of sepsis care

You are invited to the online launch of the first national Sepsis Clinical Care Standard, hosted by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that is difficult to recognise. Early action saves lives and reduces the risk of serious complications and death. The after-effects of sepsis extend beyond the acute crisis, posing challenges for coordinated follow-up in hospital and post-discharge.

Join the webcast from 12:00PM – 1:00PM AEST Thursday 20 June 2022 to hear the experts discuss timely recognition of sepsis, systems to support time-critical management, the ongoing effects of sepsis, and the importance of multidisciplinary, coordinated sepsis care.

This event, The event will be hosted by broadcaster and commentator Julie McCrossin AM, is relevant to all healthcare professionals who may need to recognise and respond to sepsis on the ward, in the emergency department or in pre-hospital and community settings.

To register for the webinar click here.

New Health Professional Education Resource

Health Professional Online Services (HPOS) HPOS is an internet based portal, providing a simple and secure way for health professionals and organisations to do business with government online. HPOS enables online self-service access to government programs, payments and services. You need a Provider Digital Access (PRODA) account to access HPOS. The Health Professional Education Resources Gateway contains an a vast and growing range of customised educational resources for health professionals.

A new education resource that examines HPOS in now available. This new simulation, HPOS Fundamentals, gives providers and their delegates,

  • An insight on setting up HPOS,
  • Overview of the key HPOS features, and
  • Closer analysis of some specific HPOS features.

To view and learn more about the new simulation click here and for further information about the new HPOS education resource click here.

New process for job advertising

NACCHO have introduced a new system for the advertising of job adverts via the NACCHO website and you can find the sector job listings here.

Click here to go to the NACCHO website where you can complete a form with job vacancy details – it will then be approved for posting and go live on the NACCHO website.

18 May 2022

NT mob 80%+ less Medicare funding

Medicare, Australia’s universal health insurance scheme, provides financial protection against the cost of medical bills, and makes public hospital care available without any charge to the patient. For the large majority of Australians in urban settings, it is a brilliant system – providing subsidised access to care. But subsidised access is only useful for those who have access. If there is no doctor nearby, there is nothing to subsidise. This creates a huge inequity – most of Australia has good access to doctors, but the NT does not.

NT residents receive roughly 30% less Medicare funding per capita than the national average (A$648 compared with A$969). The gap is worse for First Nations Australians in the NT, who attract only 16% of the Medicare funding of the average Australian. The inequitable funding is even worse when the poorer health status of First Nations Australians and the additional costs associated with geographical remoteness are taken into account. Despite Medicare’s intended universality, the NT is systematically disadvantaged.

People in the Territory have poorer access to primary health care, which includes GP services and those provided by Aboriginal community-controlled health services. Aboriginal health services receive some special additional funding separate from the Medicare-billing funding. However, even with that extra funding, there is still a shortfall  to NT residents of about A$80 million each year.

To view The Conversation article First Nations people in the NT receive just 16% of the Medicare funding of an average Australian click here.

Photo: Shutterstock. Image source: The Conversation.

Comprehensive truth-telling project

The most comprehensive truth-telling project in Australian history is documenting every law and policy that has targeted or had a disproportionate impact – deliberate and accidental – on Indigenous people since 1788 commencing with NSW. “Towards Truth” is the first attempt to chronicle in forensic, legal detail the story of how Australian governments and institutions have touched every aspect of the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The interactive database The interactive database has drawn on the pro-bono skills of legal researchers from some of Australia’s top law firms to document the story of colonisation in NSW. Pioneered by Professors Megan Davis and Gabrielle Appleby, two constitutional lawyers from UNSW Law involved in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the University of NSW’s Indigenous Law Centre are creating the database and website to tell the story of how dispossession has occurred methodically under the rule of law.

Towards Truth’s project coordinator is 30-year-old lawyer Corey Smith, a Ngemba man whose work on the database helped him understand in vivid detail the pressures on his own great grandmother May Biles not to be proud of her Aboriginality. May lived in Brewarrina at a time when the NSW government exempted Aboriginal people from the draconian restrictions of the Aborigines Protection Act if they could prove they did not speak their language or associate with other Aboriginal people. “It meant access to publicly-funded health, education and housing,” Mr Smith said.

To view The Australian article Facing the truth about Indigenous Australians in full click here.

Indigenous lawyer Corey Smith. Photo: John Feder. Image source: The Australian.

AMA election health report card

The AMA’s election health report card released yesterday, gives Australians an overview of each of the major parties’ health commitments made during the campaign so far. AMA President Dr Omar Khorshid said healthcare, for good reason, had been one of the major concerns of the public during the election campaign, but despite this neither major party had committed to a public hospital funding model which would help alleviate the enormous stress on the hospital system.

“The AMA’s logjam campaign has called on Government and Opposition to commit to a new hospital funding agreement with State Governments, aimed at addressing the crisis of ambulance ramping, overloaded emergency departments and delayed essential surgery,” he said. “But the lack of commitment to the necessary $20.5 billion investment is disappointing as the incoming PM, whoever it may be, will be forced to negotiate a new agreement with States regardless.

To view the AMA’s media release AMA releases its election report card in full click here.

Lifting of alcohol bans “disgraceful”

Booze will be allowed back into hundreds of NT remote Indigenous communities under “disgraceful” new laws replacing Intervention-era alcohol bans. The NT government says its amended liquor laws, which were passed by parliament late on Tuesday this week, will give communities “greater power” to choose if they want alcohol restrictions when a commonwealth law expires in July.

But social service groups say the legislation is disappointing, disgraceful, and lacks integrity. “The passing of this legislation before any consultation has been done with Aboriginal communities and against the advice of Aboriginal community controlled organisations in the NT is disgraceful,” NT Council of Social Service chief executive Deborah Di Natale says. “At best the government’s process around these significant liquor changes, lacks integrity.”

Under the law, communities must choose to remain alcohol free. If they don’t there will be no alcohol restrictions or bans when the commonwealth law expires on 17 July this year. The Northern Land Council called on the NT government to withdraw the legislation and consult with health experts and Indigenous groups. “For us this is about our lives and our people,” chair Samuel Bush-Blanasi said. “The government has to take time to listen to the concerns of our health professionals and community leaders when they are making these important decisions that affect our mob out bush.”

To view the The West Australian article NT laws replacing remote booze ban slammed click here.

Image source: news.com.au.

Optimising health checks research

UNSW Sydney researchers will receive $4.7 million in funding from the NSW government for prevention research in infectious diseases, drug and alcohol use and primary health care.

The funding, announced as part of NSW Health’s Prevention Research Support Program (PRSP), is designed to support NSW research organisations conducting prevention and early intervention research that aligns with NSW Health priorities. The program supports research infrastructure and strategies to build research capability and translate evidence from research into policy and practice.

A team of researchers at The Kirby Institute at UNSW have been awarded $1.8 million to undertake research aimed at preventing people acquiring a range of infectious diseases, including:

  • Developing capacity for the evaluation of HIV prevention interventions implemented within clinics and community settings
  • Monitoring and evaluation of hepatitis C elimination
  • Organising and co-designing HPV immunisation services with students with disabilities
  • Community led models to optimise the uptake of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health checks and embed syphilis testing.

“The Kirby Institute has a strong track record of impactful prevention and early intervention research, including scale-up of HIV prevention programs, research to prevent STIs among young Aboriginal people and studies to prevent the spread of hepatitis C in prisons,” the Kirby Institute’s Director, Professor Anthony Kelleher, said.

To view UNSW Sydney Newsroom article UNSW receives $4.7m to pursue health prevention research click here.

Image: Shutterstock, UNSW Sydney website.

Protecting mob this winter

The NSW Government has produced a range of COVID-19 and flu information resources specifically for Aboriginal communities

You can access the resources, including the video below here.

Concerns over lack of gender-affirming care

The Australian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA) is extremely disappointed with recent comments made by members of the federal government regarding the trans and gender diverse community. AMSA expresses deep concern over the stigmatising representations of the trans community in the political debate, a lack of gender-affirming care in political statements and the disregard for the mental health of trans and gender diverse communities.

“Gender affirming care is not a matter of personal belief or subjective concern – it is a matter of access to evidence-based, patient-centred healthcare,” said Flynn Halliwell today, Chair of AMSA Queer. “Not only is the ‘concern’ purported by our politicians regarding children’s access to gender affirming surgery stigmatising, but it is also factually incorrect,” continued Mr Halliwell. In Australia, genital surgery is only available to adults over the age of 18 years old [1].

“Trans and gender diverse people are continually being framed as talking points for political attention, without consideration of subsequent effects on the mental health and wellbeing of these communities. Publicly debating the validity of gender-affirming healthcare is not the solution. It is part of the problem.”

To view the AMSA media release in full click here.

Image source: University of Florida website.

New process for job advertising

NACCHO have introduced a new system for the advertising of job adverts via the NACCHO website and you can find the sector job listings here.

Click here to go to the NACCHO website where you can complete a form with job vacancy details – it will then be approved for posting and go live on the NACCHO website.

17 May 2022

Image in feature tile, NACCHO CEO Pat Turner AM. Image source: The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 May 2022.

NACCHO joins pre-election health discussion

Yesterday Dr Norman Swan, who hosts the ABC Radio National Health Report, said as it has been a long election campaign with not much on health it had been decided for last Health Report before the election to try and cover health issues that have not been covered in the campaign by the major parties. Dr Norman Swan has hosted the pre-election health discussion with four experts talking about the pressing issues: what are the most pronounced problems, what type of care is the most effective, how should rebates work, and what health questions have not been raised at all.

The discussion begins with Dr Swan asking NACCHO CEO Pat Turner AM about the recent study done of the economics of health care in Aboriginal communities. Ms Turner said that NACCHO commissioned Equity Economics to look at the gap in health expenditure in terms of what is paid by the government for all Australians and for Aboriginal people. It was found that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people require an additional $5,042 per head of population which equates to a $4.4 billion shortfall in funding Aboriginal health in this country – $2.6 billion from the Commonwealth and $1.8 billion from the states and territories in terms of what they should be inputting.

Ms Turner said the figures had been adjusted for the health status of Aboriginal people, who have, on average, over two times the burden of disease that other Australians with a life expectancy still 8–9 years below that of other Australians. Ms Turner then outlined some horrific statistics: Aboriginal people are 3.7 times more likely to have kidney disease, 3.3 times more likely to have diabetes, 3.2 times more likely to suicide as youth, 2.1 times more likely to die in infancy and youth are 55 times more likely to die from RHD. What is driving this is, Ms Turner said, is the overall lack of equal funding to make up for the health gap, “we can’t close the gap between the life outcomes of our people until we get at least equal funding as other Australians do, on basis of need.”

You can listen to the ABC Radio National episode Considering health issues ahead of an election of the Health Report with Dr Norman Swan here.

Nigel Morton and half of the 500 residents of his town, Ampilatwatja, NT have diabetes. Image source: ABC News website.

Remote communities pay 39% more for food

Residents in remote Aboriginal communities pay the highest average price for food in Australia. Advocates say the next PM must act to ensure affordable, healthy food is available for all Australians. The local supermarket is the heart of Wirrimanu, a remote Aboriginal community on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert in WA’s Kimberley region. It’s the only shop of its size for 300 kms and it’s only open limited hours each day, supplying fresh and dry food, as well as clothing, basic furniture and some white goods.

Plastic curtains hang over the front door to keep dust and flies out, as residents enter to pick up their goods and use the ATM. But what’s really surprising about the store are the prices on the shelves. When SBS News visited the Wirrimanu Community Store, a 380g jar of Vegemite was selling for $13.25; a plain loaf of white bread for $4.99 and a two litre bottle of orange juice was priced at $7.20. A 500g bag of San Remo pasta cost $4.40 while a 250g packet of Arnott’s biscuits cost $5.85.

The National Indigenous Australians Agency estimates that residents of remote communities pay 39 per cent more for supermarket supplies than consumers in capital cities, and the gap could be widening. Wirrimanu resident Ronald Mosquito was browsing the aisles, and told SBS News the community has little option but to pay the prices. “If people are desperate and hungry, they will buy whatever they must,” he said. Ronald has diabetes and said he’s trying to improve his diet, but the availability of fresh, affordable food is a major problem.

To view the SBS News article Remote communities pay 39 per cent more at the supermarket checkout than city shoppers. Here’s why that’s a problem. in full click here.

Wirrimanu resident Ronald Mosquito says the community has few other options but to pay the prices. Image source: SBS News website.

Opportunity to transform Australia’s eye health

One of the most important presentations at this year’s 52nd RANZCO Congress was the launch of the college’s Vision 2030 and Beyond plan to overcome Australia’s long-standing and complex eye health equity issues. One of the presenters Dr Kristen Bell called for an Atlas of healthcare delivery to help address healthcare variance, depending on where people live. In her presentation on service delivery issues, Dr Bell – the Vision 2030 and Beyond clinical lead – said ophthalmology differs from other specialties, with 80% being outpatient care-based and 20% surgical. Chronic sight threatening conditions such as diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration make up the bulk of ophthalmic service delivery, with acute care often bypassing surgery and emergency to the outpatient setting.

Dr Bell presented maps of Australia showing very few public care areas outside of urban areas. NT and WA fund outreach from Darwin, Alice Springs and Broome, respectively, while Tasmania has recently started funding an additional service in the NW of the state, giving these three jurisdictions the best regional coverage. But across Australia, 30% of entire population and 65% of Indigenous patients have no or limited access to a publicly funded local outpatient service.

To view the Insight article A pivotal opportunity to transform Australia’s eye health in full click here.

Auntie Emily at the Danila Dilba Aboriginal Health Service, Darwin Photo: Brien Holden Vision Institute. Image source: Optometry Australia.

TIS National Coordinator on new vaping laws

In the below video, National Coordinator for Tackling Indigenous Smoking, Professor Tom Calma AO answers questions including:

    • What is vaping?
    • What are the current laws around nicotine vapes?
    • Can nicotine vaping help me stop smoking?

This video forms part of a campaign created by the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the National Best Practice Unit for Tackling Indigenous Smoking. You can view other resources, including a brochure and posters, developed for the campaign here.

NPS MedicineWise low literacy consumer resource

NPS MedicineWise has developed a number of low literacy consumer resources, which aims to support conversations between a Health Care provider and patient (or patient representative) regarding medicine choice for treatment of mild COVID illness in people who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and are at higher risk of disease progression.

The medicines mentioned in the resources are the two oral antivirals and the monoclonal antibody Sotrovimab. There are also FAQs for prescribers and dispensers working in ACCHOs for these same three medicines. The links below to the low literacy factsheets for use in ACCHOs and remote communities can be found on the NPS MedicinesWise website.

Paxlovid, Lagevrio (Molnupiravir), Sotrovimab (Xevudy). Image sources: FirstWord Pharma+, Medical Update Online, The Guardian, GSK UK Products.

Health services need to cater for the whole person

The University of Melbourne on-line Pursuit magazine has published an article Embracing Queer Indigenous Australia – Health services need to cater to the whole person as a human right, and that includes Indigenous LGBTIQ+ Australians by Todd Fernando, Victorian Commissioner for LGBTIQ+ Communities and University of Melbourne.  In the article, Todd Fernando says: I’ve been fortunate in my life to build a strong sense of pride in my identity as a queer Wiradjuri man. Despite this, my intersectionality – the way different identities can marginalise people or expose them to discrimination – is sometimes misunderstood, particularly in health settings.

This experience rings true for many queer Indigenous people, as evidenced in my recently submitted doctoral thesis exploring health equity for queer Indigenous people. The findings of my own and previous research highlight the need for services to understand the importance of catering to the full person. Because as humans, we don’t divide easily. Without further data that truly captures the lived experience of queer Indigenous people, no effective changes to systems can be lobbied for. The belief that heterosexuality is the preferred or ‘normal’ sexual orientation is as much a direct threat to the survival and advancement of queer Indigenous people as racism is.

To view Todd Fernando’s article in full click here.

Image source: 2SER Breakfast radio.

Keep mob healthy this winter with flu vax

The Lung Foundation of Australia are conducting a campaign from mid-May to June to encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to be vaccinated against respiratory diseases this flu season. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged over six months are eligible for a free flue vaccination. You can access the Lung Foundation Australia website for more information here.

New process for job advertising

NACCHO have introduced a new system for the advertising of job adverts via the NACCHO website and you can find the sector job listings here.

Click here to go to the NACCHO website where you can complete a form with job vacancy details – it will then be approved for posting and go live on the NACCHO website.

Arthritis Australia National Grants Program

Arthritis Australia has long been a leader in funding nationally and internationally based research programs to find solutions in the management of Arthritis. In the past three years Arthritis Australia has awarded many research projects, fellowships, scholarships, project grants and grant-in-aid projects from an annual donation sum of $7m.  Arthritis Australia’s National Grants Program is currently accepting applications for 2023. This year we are welcoming applications for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Fellowship sponsored by Janssen.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Fellowship is for research to be undertaken in 2023 for a duration of 12 months, in the field of Arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The Fellowship will be awarded to a researcher who identifies as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, or who has a team member who identifies as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. The researcher must be currently undertaking post-doctoral work or following a recently completed Rheumatology Advanced training.

Applications are open until Friday 8 July 2022.

The can access further information about the National Research program here and the Fellowship Application form here. Applications should be forwarded to Arthritis Australia using this email link. If you have any further queries, please email Arthritis Australia using the email address here or call the Arthritis Australia office on 02 9518 4441.

Image source: Merri Health.

13 May 2022

The image in the feature tile is of a house in the remote Aboriginal community of Mulan, WA with water leakage. Image source: NITV.

Lack of safe housing a health concern

Access to safe, secure housing is a key determinant of health and life expectancy. Across Australia, residents in remote Aboriginal communities are often left waiting for urgent repairs, while their homes deteriorate to unliveable conditions. A SBS World News report describes how 57-year-old Mulan (WA) resident Veronica Lulu has difficulty walking around her community unassisted. Making it even harder for Veronica is the pool of water surrounding her house that appears to be coming from a broken underground pipe.

Veronica reported the issue to the WA state government which is responsible for maintenance in the remote Aboriginal community of Mulun, but she says that after nearly two years and repeated requests the problem still hasn’t been fixed and the leak has become so bad that the entire house is now encircled by water. Afraid she might fall, Veronica has moved in with a relative next door where the water is slightly less of a problem.

You can view the video of this SBS News segment, which includes footage of NACCHO CEO Pat Turner reiterating that “housing for health is so important to our people” here and a related SBS NITV News article A third of remote Aboriginal houses at ‘unacceptable’ standard published today here.

Veronica Lulu sitting on her walker outside her house, Mulan WA

Veronica Lulu outside the home she cannot get into. Photo: Aaron Fernandes, SBS NITV.

ACCHO assists votes with candidate information

To assist our ocals understand who the candidates are in the upcoming federal election, and what those candidates believe in,  Gurriny Yealamucka Health Service Aboriginal Corporation (GYHSAC) has  asked every candidate key questions of importance to Yarrabah. Visitors to the GYHSAC have been invited to read through the candidates responses and “make your decision as to who you wish to vote for after you understand what is on offer.”

GYHSAC posed the following questions to the ALP, United Australia Party, Green, Independent and Katter’s Australian Party candidates:

  • How do you plan to improve the telecommunication services in Yarrabah?
  • Overcrowding in housing is an issue in Yarrabah, how do you propose to address this issue?
  • What do you propose to do about the funds lost by Indigenous Australians after the collapse of the ACBF?
  • How do you propose to increase community services in Yarrabah – e.g.: Meals on Wheels?
  • NAPLAN scores were not strong in Yarrabah. How do you propose lifting literacy and numeracy skills in Yarrabah?
  • RHD is a disease of disadvantage and poverty. What do you propose to do about tackling RHD in Yarrabah?
  • Training and employment opportunities are lacking in Yarrabah. What are your plans to address this?

You can access the responses to the above key questions on the GYHSAC website here.

Gurriny Yealamuck Health and Wellbeing Centre & GYHSAC logo

Gurriny Yealamuck Health and Wellbeing Centre (Gurriny).

Independents with First Nations issues focus 

Long-time human rights advocates Megan Krakouer and Gerry Georgatos are fighting to put First Nations issues on the agenda at this Federal election. With more than 500 Indigenous deaths in custody since the end of the Royal Commission into Deaths in Custody in 1991, and a huge gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in health, education, housing, employment and other areas, the “social justice independents” are running to represent Western Australia in the Senate.

Ms Krakouer said they have experience working with the most vulnerable and marginalised people across the nation. “We have seen too many brothers and sisters left behind because of racist policies and legislation. We come across a lot of people who are silenced, who are voiceless. We have been failed by one government after another. They make the same promises and they don’t deliver, and that’s reflected in the incarceration rate, in child removals, deaths in custody, homelessness and suicides.

Ms Krakouer said the fact First Nations people make up a small percent of the national population was one factor driving political inaction. “There is no political will to address the suffering and mistreatment of people, particularly when they are in prisons. That is something I can’t accept.” She said she and Mr Georgatos were running as independents so they would be free to “say what needs to be said”.

To view the National Indigenous Times article Meet the independents determined to put First Nations issues front and centre in full click here.

WA Independents Gerry Georgatos & Megan Krakouer.

Gerry Georgatos and Megan Krakouer. Image source: National Indigenous Times.

Flu vax questions answered 

Yesterday the Australian Government Department of Health First Assistant Secretary COVID-19 Primary Care Response, Dr Lucas De Toca, who leads the vaccine rollout for COVID-19 for GPs, pharmacies and Aboriginal health services, spoke about flu, “I had my flu shot yesterday, and more and more people are getting their flu shot every day. So, it’s really important that we answer some of your questions about flu vaccination as we approach winter.”

Dr De Tocas continued, “How do we decide what virus strains we put in them, also what the ingredients are. And if you look at a list of ingredients of pretty much anything, it can sound pretty scary, but it doesn’t have to be. And we’re also going to talk about whether the vaccines are safe. So, first of all, virus, and the flu virus is no exception, mutates. And when viruses mutate, new strains, variants, versions come up. And we all know that too well with all the talk about variants with COVID.”

“But flu is a virus that generally mutates on a seasonal basis, and there’s several strains of influenza A and influenza B, the viruses that cause the flu, that cause a flu season in one hemisphere, generally during winter. And then once people who could get infected, get infected and the epidemic stops, then they cause a flu season on the other hemisphere, normally in time for their winter. And when that happens, the virus can mutate, which means that by the time it comes back for the following flu season, it could be different.”

You can view Dr De Toca’s presentation in full below and access a transcript of the presentation on the Australian Government Department of Health website here.

$600m for initiatives aimed at Closing the Gap

The WA Government has committed more than $600 million to strengthen services that deliver positive outcomes for Aboriginal people and communities. The significant State Budget investment supports the WA government’s Aboriginal Empowerment Strategy and Closing the Gap Implementation Plan, targeting initiatives that will improve economic and social opportunities for Aboriginal people.

The funding has been targeted at priority reform areas, which align with the Closing the Gap Implementation Plan; formal partnerships and shared decision making; building the community-controlled sector and transforming government organisations. Initiatives of particular relevance to the health sector include:

  • $7 million to implement an Aboriginal Midwifery Group Practice and Stronglinks to improve the uptake of antenatal care and improve maternity health outcomes for Aboriginal women
  • $3.7 million of additional funding for a pilot program to establish and commence the Aboriginal Health Practitioners (AHP) profession in WA
  • $1.6 million for tympanometers to improve Aboriginal children’s ear health

To read the WA Government’s media statement in full click here.

newborn, AHW & young Aboriginal boy getting hearing checked

Clockwise: Baby Coming You Ready? website; Wirraka Maya Health Service, Port Hedland website; Earbus Foundation of WA website.

NHMRC Indigenous intern program

Sara Lai found her first Indigenous intern experience with NHMRC in 2017–18 so rewarding that she applied again for the 2021–22 program. Sara was in her first year of university in 2017 and is now in her final year. The project that she undertook this time around involved interviewing childcare centres in rural and regional Australia as well as Indigenous communities to determine how the ‘Staying Healthy’ resource is used in remote settings.

Reflecting on her intern experience Ms Lai said, “My research and communication skills have exponentially increased, and I have thoroughly enjoyed being part of a team. I am also now considering pursuing a Master of Public Health in the future as I have seen first-hand how very important primary health promotion is at the community level.” Ms Lai said “I thoroughly believe that to solve the healthcare gaps in Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities we need Indigenous problem solvers and I hope to be able to contribute to this.”

To view the NHMRC article To solve the healthcare gaps in Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, we need Indigenous problem solvers click here.

Sara Lai, NHMRC Indigenous intern

Sara Lai, 2022–22 NHMRC Indigenous intern. Image source: NHMRC website.

Mum’s experience of racism impacts kids

A University of Adelaide student has submitted a Master thesis: A longitudinal mediation analysis of the effect of Aboriginal Australian mothers’ experiences of racism on children’s socio-emotional well-being. Although it is known that parental experiences of racism are associated with poorer mental health in children, little is known about how racism is intergenerationally transmitted in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons. The thesis explores the effect of Aboriginal mothers’ experiences of racism on children’s socio-emotional well-being mediated by parenting sense of competence.

The conclusion of the thesis is that mothers who experienced racism were at a 28% increased odds of their five-year-old child experiencing socio-emotional problems and this effect was not mediated by sense of parenting competence, despite an effect between parenting competence and children’s socio-emotional well-being. The findings suggest that maternal experiences of racism have a longitudinal effect on their children’s socio-emotional well-being, and this effect is not mediated through the mothers’ sense of parenting competence. These findings highlight the importance of reducing experiences of racism as these have far-reaching effects across generations on socioemotional well-being.

You can view the thesis in full here.

Sasha Houthuysen and her two children. Photo: Amnesty International. Image source: NITV website.

Regional roles led Glenice home

Glenice Smith is a Perth-based Aboriginal Practice Leader for the Department of Communities. She says her regional roles led her home to her Mother’s Country and her Father’s Country. Her trip to Kununurra and current deployment in the Midwest, working in Emergency Services for the Department, provided her with unexpected and amazing opportunities. Glenice was removed from my family on her first birthday in Port Hedland and flown to Perth where she was placed with her foster family in the late 1960s. During her time with the Tropical Cyclone Seroja recovery team in 2021, she was able to work in the Midwest and strengthen her connections with her Mother’s Country and family. Glenice said that being able to reconnect with her biological family this year, has been due to the places her work has taken her.

To view the story published today on the WA Government website in full click here.

Perth-based Aboriginal Practice Leader for the Department of Communities. Image source: WA Government website.

New process for job advertising

NACCHO have introduced a new system for the advertising of job adverts via the NACCHO website and you can find the sector job listings here.

Click here to go to the NACCHO website where you can complete a form with job vacancy details – it will then be approved for posting and go live on the NACCHO website.

6 May 2022

Image if the feature tile is by Aboriginal photographer Bobbi-lee Hille, Daily Mail.

Midwife program closing infant mortality gap

When Kelsey Muhl’s midwife caught her new baby in a hospital shower it was a shared moment between two women who had built a relationship over months. “Gravity helped,”  The mother of three described her latest birth as poles apart from her earlier experiences. Ms Muhl and her midwife, Storm Henry, are part of a midwifery program pairing First Nations mothers with midwives for the duration of their pregnancy, delivery and the first days of the baby’s life. About one in 10 Australian mothers opt to have a single midwife, or caseload midwife, throughout their pregnancy, but for mothers of First Nations babies that rate has historically been much lower. “We know when women have a main midwife or continuity-of-care model there’s reduced childbirth complications,” La Trobe University professor Helen McLachlan said. “Babies are less likely to get sick, mothers are less likely to need caesarean sections.”

More than 18,000 First Nations babies are born across the country each year. Those babies are at a higher risk of arriving early, being born underweight or needing special care. “Outcomes for [First Nations] mothers and babies are pretty much twice as bad as non-Aboriginal mothers and babies — double the rate of preterm birth, almost triple the rate of maternal mortality,” Professor McLachlan said. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 13% of Indigenous babies were born underweight in 2019. Reducing that number is a key target of the Closing the Gap agreement.

The culturally safe Baggarrook midwifery care program, being led by Latrobe University and the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, has now matched more than 700 women giving birth to Indigenous babies with either a First Nations midwife or one who has been through cultural awareness training. “We’ve gone from 5% of Aboriginal women receiving access to this gold-standard model of care to over 90% of Aboriginal women presenting at one of the three hospitals participating,” Professor McLachlan said.

To view the ABC News article Aboriginal midwife program works to close the gap in infant mortality and birth complications in full click here.

Kelsey Muhl enlisted a midwife from a First Nations program to help deliver her daughter Emilia. Photo: Nicole Asher, ABC News.

Helping older Australians avoid ED

Improving the care of older Australians in a bid to help them avoid hospital emergency departments will be the focus of a new project that federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says has been awarded funding from the Medical Research Future Fund. Led by Flinders University in partnership with SA Health’s Southern Adelaide Local Health Network (SALHN) and the SA Ambulance Service, the research will engage patients and the medical community to find the best way forward for treating older Australians, who make up almost a quarter of all ED visits. “Emergency departments across Australia are often overwhelmed by the high demand from our growing ageing population but nearly half of the visits are potentially preventable,” says Flinders University’s Associate Professor Craig Whitehead, Director of Rehabilitation, Aged, and Palliative Care at SAHLN and the project’s Chief Investigator.

The project will also explore what Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consumers look for in emergency care, as well as seek to understand the barriers they face, with the team including two Aboriginal researchers – Associate Professor Tamara Mackean and Shane D’Angelo – from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Public Health group in Flinders University’s College of Medicine and Public Health. They bring both public health and Indigenous health research experience and will engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through yarning circles. “This is an opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander worldviews and experiences to be incorporated into the conduct of the research from the beginning,” said Associate Professor Mackean.

To view the Flinders University article Helping older Australians avoid ED click here.

Image source: Flinders University News webpage.

Lower healthcare costs, but no PHC reform

The Consumers Health Forum (CHF) welcomes recent announcements from both major parties that the cost of prescriptions will be eased by reducing the PBS co-payment. In addition, both parties have committed to raising the threshold for access to the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC). CHF CEO, Leanne Wells, said that these two measures will help to bring down costs for people on fixed incomes in the face of rising inflation pressures. “Commitments to lower the cost of prescriptions if either side wins the election will be a much needed saving for health care consumers. When medicines become unaffordable, the costs to the nation’s healthcare system becomes more burdensome, as people are missing essential treatment,” said Ms Wells.

“However, we remind both parties that there are many others in the community such as young people, those who have had their NDIS packages cut, and people living in poverty on Jobseeker for whom access to affordable healthcare is dire.  Measures to support their capacity to access healthcare are sorely needed. CHF would like see more health care affordability measures directed to people on low incomes, who need it most,” she said. “We are acutely aware that many families in Australia will be forgoing items in the household budget to make ends meet,” said Ms Wells, “but affordability and access to healthcare goes beyond the cost of medicines.”

To view the CHF media release Parties promise to reduce costs but what about health care reform? in full click here.

Image source: The Conversation.

Inquiry highlights rural NSW’s health crisis

The NSW government has been handed a scathing report finding the rural health system is “in crisis and is failing residents of rural, regional and remote areas”. A cross-party committee has made 44 recommendations, following hundreds of hours of evidence held across NSW, to try to overhaul the system. What was found was people living outside of the city have “significantly poorer health outcomes, greater incidents of chronic disease, and greater premature deaths”.

To address “historic failures” by both levels of government to fix workforce shortages, particularly in relation to doctors and nurses, it put forward a range of sweeping changes. They include the state government collaborating with the Commonwealth on a 10-year workforce strategy, a single employer model for GPs, and for the committee to hold another inquiry in two years’ time to see if the changes have been implemented.

You can view the ABC News article Inquiry into rural, regional and remote healthcare hands down findings to NSW government in full here.

The AMA (NSW) has welcomed the final report from the NSW parliamentary inquiry into health outcomes and access to health and hospital services in rural, regional, and remote New South Wales, but says achieving the report’s recommendations will not be feasible unless Governments make a meaningful funding commitment to improving health. “The report underscores the paucity of investment made into rural health to date and the absolute necessity to rethink current funding arrangements,” said AMA (NSW) President, Dr Danielle McMullen. “The

To view the AMA’s media release Rural health inquiry highlights desperate need for more funding, AMA (NSW) says in full click here.

Image source: Careers Connections.

80% + Aboriginal people speak Kriol

Sylvia Tkac was born to be an Aboriginal interpreter but fell into the profession quite by accident. “My grandmother was an interpreter,” Ms Tkac said. “She said to me, ‘I need another interpreter, are you interested in interpreting?’ “I did it for the first time and I thought, ‘Gee I’m fluent’, because I spoke it as a child.” Kriol interpreter services are still used regularly across Australia. Interpreters hold an important role in communities for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. “A Kriol interpreter is needed in the local courts,” Ms Tkac said. “Darwin use them, (as well as) Katherine and Alice Springs — they’re also used in the Supreme Court and in hospitals as well.”

Ms Tkac is an Anindilyakwa Interpreter from the Groote Eylandt archipelago and is based in Darwin with the Aboriginal Interpreter Service. She interprets for a wide range of service providers in topics such as health, education, and law at the Local, Supreme and Children’s courts. The service collaborates on recordings with other agencies and mining companies, and produces a range of aids and resources, including DVDs, animations, driving apps and video interpreting. The service is vital to the 80% of Aboriginal people in Australia who speak Aboriginal English or Kriol, which has been recognised as a language since the 1970s.

To view the ABC News article More than 80% of Aboriginal people speak Kriol — why is it still widely misunderstood? in full click here.

Research Institute to tackle health inequities

Charles Sturt University’s new Rural and Regional Health Research Institute will work with communities to address the local burden of disease in lower socio-economic communities within rural, regional, and remote areas. Professor of Medicine and Executive Director of the Institute, Professor Allen Ross is applying his extensive international experience in rural and remote health to establish an organisation that delivers regional, national, and international impact. The Institute received $18 million over five years from the Australian Government to develop a world-class rural health and medical research facility that will support the needs of rural communities in Australia and beyond.

The Institute will focus on conducting research that:

  • addresses First Nations people’s health inequities
  • improves the experience of ageing and aged care in rural communities
  • improves child development health outcomes
  • promotes consumer-driven rural health research
  • boosts clinical research capability and
  • enables research to improve health and medical service delivery in regional cities, rural towns, and remote communities.

Professor Ross said “We will work with community leaders, such as the local Aboriginal Medical Services, to identify chronic health issues of the highest priority.”

To view the Charles Sturt University article Rural and Regional Health Research Institute, a world-class facility to tackle health inequalities in full click here.

Image source: Charles Sturt University.

People urged to get vax as flu cases rise

Acting Chief Medical Officer, Dr Sonya Bennett, and Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, Professor Alison McMillan, say with the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, this year’s winter season will likely see both an increase in transmission of the coronavirus and, for the first time since 2019, a resurgence in influenza. Given this, it is important that people, particularly those in at-risk population groups, maximise their protection against both viruses by being vaccinated – and continue to practise all of the safe hygiene measures we have become accustomed to throughout the pandemic. Both influenza and COVID-19 are highly contagious viral infections that can lead to serious illness, hospitalisation or even death. Everyone 6 months and older is recommended to get a flu vaccine each year.

To read the Dr Bennett and Professor McMillan’s media release in full click here.

In a related media release NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said flu is circulating widely in the community for the first time in two years, coinciding with ongoing high levels of transmission of COVID-19. “It is crucial everyone gets vaccinated against flu to not only protect themselves, but their colleagues and loved ones against serious illness or worse,” Mr Hazzard said. “Whilst we know there is vaccination fatigue, I urge the more vulnerable members of our community to book in for a flu jab with their GP or pharmacist as soon as possible. The elderly, pregnant women, children aged under five years, Aboriginal people and those with serious health conditions can get a free flu shot now, so please book in.”

To read Minister Hazzard’s media release in full click here.

Image source: The Department of Health website.

New process for job advertising

NACCHO have introduced a new system for the advertising of job adverts via the NACCHO website and you can find the sector job listings here.

Click here to go to the NACCHO website where you can complete a form with job vacancy details – it will then be approved for posting and go live on the NACCHO website.

World Ovarian Cancer Day

World Ovarian Cancer Day was stablished in 2013 by a group of leaders from ovarian cancer advocacy organisations around the world. May 8 – World Ovarian Cancer Day, is the one day of the year we globally raise our voices in solidarity in the fight against ovarian cancer.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are 1.4 times as likely to be diagnosed with ovarian cancer as non-Indigenous Australians, are 0.9 times as likely to die and have only a 45% change of surviving for five years. You can access the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) report containing these figures about ovarian cancer in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people here.

For more information about World Ovarian Cancer Day click here.