Tag Archives: Don MacAskill

Jan 14 2014

NACCHO political alert: An open letter to the Prime Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Council from a NACCHO member

DON

“I believe passionately in the creation of relevant and workable policies that can bring real change into our communities, policies that have the ability to create better health, education and social outcomes for our people.

I am keenly aware of the many and far-reaching issues surrounding Aboriginal Affairs, as Chief Executive Officer of Awabakal Newcastle Aboriginal Co-Operative, I am faced with these challenges daily.

Don MacAskill  (pictured above in plain shirt with the Deadley Choices mob)

An open letter to the Prime Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Council:

Reasonable questions regarding the Terms of Reference

 To the members of the Prime Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Council, firstly, I thank you for your service and commitment to Aboriginal affairs and issues facing our communities today.

Like many Indigenous people, I was encouraged and hopeful after the announcement of an Indigenous Advisory Council, dedicated to representing the needs and concerns of Aboriginal people across the country. I hope that the Council’s opportunity to work closely with Prime Minister Abbott as he strives to improve the health and welfare of Aboriginal people is maximised, and that you will be courageous in your efforts to ensure he truly is the ‘Prime Minister for Indigenous Affairs’.

While I believe this has the potential to be a worthwhile initiative, I do have a few concerns regarding the transparency of the Council and what the reporting obligations will be to the community. I have listed a few of these concerns below, and look forward to receiving your thoughts on the following.

After some basic research, I have been unable to locate any information detailing the policies and frameworks around the Council. I, and many others in the community, are curious as to how members were elected, and what selection process was undertaken?

Will the frameworks around the Council, for example, code of conduct, reporting responsibilities, minutes of meetings, key performance indicators of both individual and whole of council performance, be made publicly available?

Another area I felt was unclear was relating to the scope of the Council, and the specific impacts it has on policy creation, the assessment of existing policies relating to the Indigenous community, or whether it is simply there to provide advice when requested by the Prime Minister?

Has a strategic plan, complete with objectives and evaluation models, been developed and will this be available for the public? What reports will be made available to the public? As I noted with some concern, stated within the Terms of Reference, ‘the deliberation of the Council will be confidential, but the Council may choose to issue a statement after its meetings.’ There appears to be a worrying lack of transparency, and I have concerns this may undermine the meaningful changes the Council has the opportunity to effect.

I believe passionately in the creation of relevant and workable policies that can bring real change into our communities, policies that have the ability to create better health, education and social outcomes for our people.

I am keenly aware of the many and far-reaching issues surrounding Aboriginal Affairs, as Chief Executive Officer of Awabakal Newcastle Aboriginal Co-Operative, I am faced with these challenges daily. I have been following with some interest, the debate which has been raging within mainstream media regarding the decision making process of not only the Council, but also of Government as a whole.

Pragmatism vs ideology, has dominated the conversation and I believe this is a conversation all Australians need to have.

Our social justice values and the policies and laws that govern wider Australia, are based on several ideologies, mateship, a fair go for all, and taking care of the less fortunate. This is what forms the basis, in my opinion, of what makes us Australian.

The Council itself has been founded on the bipartisan ideology of ‘Closing the Gap’ and all the critical work that needs to be done to achieve this now and into the future.

In order to achieve real outcomes for the Aboriginal community, I believe Ideology should form the basis of every policy developed by those elected to govern, for those they represent. Should it not be the structure, implementation and evaluation of these policies that is pragmatic? Pragmatic solutions solidly rooted in the fundamental ideals we, as a country, support and embody?

I for one do not agree that the decision-making process must be simply ideological, or pragmatic, surely the integration of these concepts has not been eroded from our public consciousness so completely that they are now mutually exclusive.

I do not want to imagine a country, where decisions that impact on our most vulnerable and disenfranchised groups are made purely on economic or political reasons, nor do I want to see policy created based on ideology that has not root in best practice or better outcomes for the community.

I hope through the creation of this Council, you can find a way to engage the broader Aboriginal community and marry these two fundamental concepts in a way that achieves socially just, financially responsible and transparent outcomes for the community.

I look forward to seeing the outcomes you achieve through this Council, on the ground in my community.

Kind regards, Don MacAskill Awabakal Newcastle Aboriginal Co-Operative 0249 408 103

NACCHO news

HAVE You checked out the NACCHO APP HERE ?

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DOWNLOAD links here

The NACCHO App contains a geo locator, which will help you find the nearest Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation in your area and automatically creates a number to call .

2014-01-13 07.27.37

Oct 25 2013

NACCHO Aboriginal women’s health:Deadly Choices goes pink for breast cancer and women’s health awareness

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Awabakal Newcastle Aboriginal Co-operative and the Hunter Breast Cancer Foundation have formed a partnership that aims to raise awareness of women’s health in the local Aboriginal community.

For a limited time an exclusive Deadly Choices Breast Cancer jersey will be available for Aboriginal women who visit the Awabakal Aboriginal Primary Health Care Centre (AAPHCC) for a women’s health check.

The initiative is part of Awabakal’s Deadly Choices program which was introduced to the Hunter in August this year and aims to improve Aboriginal health by educating and empowering local Aboriginal people to make healthy choices.

Since the program was introduced the organisation has seen a 630% increase in the number of Aboriginal people undergoing health checks. The success of this program can be placed, in part, on the highly-prized and very exclusive Awabakal Deadly Choices jerseys, which can only be claimed following a health check at the AAPHCC.

Awabakal Chief Executive Officer, Don MacAskill, said that the partnership with the Hunter Breast Cancer Foundation would bring breast cancer and women’s health awareness to the forefront of Aboriginal health.

‘Breast cancer is a serious disease with one in eight women diagnosed nation-wide. It doesn’t discriminate between the indigenous and non-indigenous populations, which is why partnerships like this are so important in our attempts to tackle chronic disease in the local Aboriginal community,’ Mr MacAskill said.

Hunter Breast Cancer Foundation President, Rosalie Taggart, said the region would benefit from the additional support of Awabakal and its community to promote health awareness.

‘The Awabakal Deadly Choices program is an excellent model that really encourages people to think about their health and take proactive steps. This is an exciting partnership that we hope will encourage all levels of breast cancer support to work with Awabakal to improve local Aboriginal health,” she said.

The Hunter Breast Cancer Foundation provides grass root support for people undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Since January of this year the Foundation has provided more than 600 post-operative comfort cushions, 178 professional cleaning services and 69 lawn care services. Volunteer drivers have undertaken 338 trips travelling 26,683 kms taking patients to and from treatment appointments.

For information: Awabakal Chief Executive Officer, Don MacAskill, 0408 617 116

Hunter Breast Cancer Foundation President, Rosalie Taggart, 0423 222 059

Need help about breast cancer or the location of your nearest ACCHO on your SMARTPHONE or IPAD

Info Download the new NACCHO Health APP HERE

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Jun 26 2013

NACCHO political alert: One size does not fit all with Aboriginal policy

Don MacAskill (3)

“Unfortunately much of the public debate around Aboriginal policy is far too often concentrated in the northern parts of Australia. While there is no denying that there are some common health and education issues in indigenous communities across the whole of the country, policy cannot be set based on just that experience.”

Don MacAskill is the CEO of Awabakal Newcastle Aboriginal Co-operative

Rather than setting Aboriginal policy to suit political cycles, our leaders should take the time to understand how differences can set long term outcomes writes Don MacAskill.

Since the Federal Budget in May there has been much said from all sides of the political spectrum about the fact that one size does not fit all when it comes to Aboriginal Affairs.

The Federal Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, recently wrote in an editorial submission to National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) that there was ‘no one size fits all approach’. But what is still missing in this broad political debate is the detail.

The Indigenous communities living along the eastern seaboard of Australia have experienced some of the most significant impacts from colonisation. Yet for unknown reasons our political leaders choose to focus and set policy based on the experiences of our brothers and sisters in northern communities.

The approach needs to be applied in communities that are relevant to the needs of that community.

Part of the problem has been the paternalistic way that policy has been implemented in Aboriginal communities. That is why the broad policy initiatives can only be applied on common issues of disadvantage and then a different strategy applied to other issues of disadvantage.

This is not about throwing dollars at Aboriginal affairs. Funding is important but it is not the issue. To be effective Aboriginal policy development requires innovation from both Government and Aboriginal communities.

Importantly, Aboriginal communities need to take greater control and pursue a course that is less motivated by self-interest or family interest and make decisions based on the long-term needs of the whole community.

Equally important is for all levels of government to understand the issues that affect their communities. For example in the Hunter region of NSW, the Indigenous community compromises approximately 18,000 people – the majority of this population is under the age of 25.

For Awabakal it is about helping our leaders understand what the needs of this community are now and in the future. For the Hunter we must find better ways to help Aboriginal young people access education and career pathways now, but in the future these people will need assistance with family services including child care and health services.

The challenge is that our community is quite different to other communities only a few kilometres up or down the Pacific Highway.

As Mr Abbott said no ‘government can swiftly overcome two centuries of comparative failure’. But if any government is to make real advances in meaningful policy development and implementation then it must think about Aboriginal affairs beyond a political term.

For us, the voting public, we must see that this area of Australian policy is not up to governments and their bureaucrats.

In this great country of ours, communities are unique but they are varied. We must first understand the differences to appreciate what size is needed for each.

Don MacAskill is the CEO of Awabakal Newcastle Aboriginal Co-operative and can be contacted on 02 4940 8103.

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