Tag Archives: Tom Calma

Nov 21 2013

NACCHO supports White Ribbon Day 25 November : Australia’s dark secret -one woman killed every week

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“It is certainly the case that violence against women is  very often a manifestation of wider social problems, but there is absolutely no  excuse for it, and I think it sends a powerful message when more and more men  are prepared to stand up and say they are against it on White Ribbon Day.”

TOM CALMA  AO White Ribbon Ambassador

Tom Calma

As an Aboriginal woman you are 45 times more likely to experience domestic  violence than a white woman.

Read more:

It is important to understand how every act of male violence against women can have serious effects on women, families and society as a whole.

Male violence against women can happen anywhere and can take many forms; including physical, sexual, emotional and financial violence and has a profound cost across the personal, social and economic sphere.

BIGCrowd1030910-85041

Picture above Stop the Violence march Congress Aboriginal Health Alice Springs 2010

White Ribbon Australia is uncovering the nation’s most shameful secret; the extent of male violence against women, which claims at least one woman’s life every week[1]. Australia, land of secrets is a new awareness raising campaign launched in the lead up to White Ribbon Day, Monday 25 November.

New Microsoft Publisher Document (2)

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Australia, land of secrets intends to give a voice to the everyday experiences of violence that occur all around Australia. These acts, from inappropriate behaviour or harassment to physical and emotional abuse, are part of a culture of violence in Australia.

Chairman of White Ribbon Australia, Lt. Gen Ken Gillespie (Rtd) says that while Australia is a proud nation and unrivalled for not only its physical beauty but its way of life, it has a dark secret.

“The high incidence of male violence against women in this country is very alarming,” said Ken. “Not only do one in three women over the age of 15 report having experienced physical or sexual violence at some time in their lives,[2] violence is a major cause of homelessness for women and children[3] and costs the economy US$14.7 billion annually in Australia.[4]”

“It is important to understand how every act of male violence against women can have serious effects on women, families and society as a whole. Male violence against women can happen anywhere and can take many forms; including physical, sexual, emotional and financial violence and has a profound cost across the personal, social and economic sphere.

“The issue of male violence against women is real, it’s worrying and, in many instances, remains hidden. Every woman, and man, can make a stand and speak up about the issue. Australia, land of secrets calls on men, women and the whole community to help uncover Australia’s secrets, raise awareness and stop violence against women.”

This White Ribbon Day, Monday 25 November, White Ribbon Australia is encouraging people to speak up and uncover stories of violence against women. Australia, land of secrets brings a new creative element to Australia’s only national male-led campaign to end men’s violence against women in its 10th Anniversary year.

White Ribbon Australia will be hosting awareness and fundraising events across the country throughout November. Australians are encouraged to participate in the many events happening in their local area, and to donate to show their support of the campaign.

male-health-summit-Inteyerrkwe-2008

History: 2008 Inteyerrkwe Statement Apology to women

Nearly 400 Aboriginal men took part in the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress Aboriginal Male Health gathering in the NT and issued the  Inteyerrkwe Statement, an apology from men to women for violence and abuse.

Inteyerrkwe Statement

“We the Aboriginal males from Central Australia and our visitor brothers from  around Australia gathered at Inteyerrkwe in July 2008 to develop strategies to  ensure our future roles as grandfathers, fathers, uncles, nephews, brothers,  grandsons, and sons in caring for our children in a safe family environment that  will lead to a happier, longer life that reflects opportunities experienced by  the wider community.

We acknowledge and say sorry for the hurt, pain and suffering caused by  Aboriginal males to our wives, to our children, to our mothers, to our  grandmothers, to our granddaughters, to our aunties, to our nieces and to our  sisters.

We also acknowledge that we need the love and support of our Aboriginal women  to help us move forward.”

NACCHO members such as ANYINGINYI are taking an active role in White Ribbon Day

NT

For more information visit www.whiteribbon.org.au.

Follow this link to view and share the new TVC: www.uncoversecrets.com.au

HOW THE COMMUNITY CAN SUPPORT WHITE RIBBON DAY

White Ribbon invites people to show their support for White Ribbon Day by hosting or attending one of the many White Ribbon events that take place across Australia (www.whiteribbon.org.au/events), sharing the campaign online (www.whiteribbon.org.au/secrets) or purchasing White Ribbon wristbands and ribbons at any Suzanne Grae, The Salvation Army (QLD, NSW, ACT) stores or the White Ribbon shop (www.whiteribbon.org.au/shop).

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Aug 3 2013

Ten great reasons why you should not miss the NACCHO Aboriginal health summit In Adelaide

5.Healthy Futures Great

Inaugural Aboriginal health summit: why Aboriginal community control works

The National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) will hold their first ever National Aboriginal Primary Health Care Summit in Adelaide later this month.

NACCHO Primary Health Care Summit

20th-22nd August 2013

Adelaide Convention Centre

The inaugural summit, which goes for three days, will bring health service professionals from around the country together to discuss national, state and local best practice in health management, and focus on three key themes: primary health care, governance, and workforce.

10 great reasons why you should not miss the NACCHO summit In Adelaide

  1. Inspiring speakers
  2. Opportunities to meet old friends and make new ones
  3. Practical take-home ideas
  4. Entertainment
  5. Resources to equip you
  6. What about ‘Three streams of break-out sessions each day’
  7. Social events
  8. Opportunities to partner with other organisations and people from inside and beyond the ACCH sector
  9. Delicious food (health of course)
  10. and Aboriginal community control according to Justin Mohamed

For more information and to register visit http://www.naccho.org.au

NACCHO Chair, Justin Mohamed (pictured above left with Megan Davis and Deputy Matthew Cooke)  said the Health Summit was a great opportunity to showcase the incredible contribution Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations are making in their communities.

“We have concrete evidence that Aboriginal health in Aboriginal hands is what is really making the difference in achieving health outcomes for our people,” Mr Mohamed said.

“We are seeing big improvements in child birth weights, maternal health and management of chronic diseases like diabetes, highlighted recently in a report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) Healthy for Life Report Card.

“The Aboriginal community controlled health model has been working well for 40 years, and it is important that we get together to share best practice and discuss issues and areas where we can make improvements.

“Over the three days, summit participants will hear from Aboriginal leaders who are making a real difference in their communities.

“Our culturally appropriate health providers with majority Aboriginal governance are not only providing comprehensive primary health care to just under half of Australia’s total Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, but are one of the largest employers of Aboriginal people as well.

“There is still a long way to go to Close the Gap and to build a healthy future for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations are part of this picture and achieving targets to deliver better health outcomes.

NACCHO Primary Health Care Summit

20th-22nd August 2013

Adelaide Convention Centre

For more information and to register visit http://www.naccho.org.au

 

 Media contact: Colin Cowell 0401 331 251, Anaya Latter 0432 121 636

Related articles
Jun 18 2013

NACCHO SEWB News: NACCHO CEO appointed to new Aboriginal Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Advisory Group

Lisa Final

Pictured above NACCHO CEO Ms Lisa Briggs appointed to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Advisory Group.

Please note: Official Goverment release is included below

NACCHO as a member The Close the Gap Campaign today welcomed a significant mental health milestone:  the establishment of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Advisory Group.

The new ministerial advisory body, co-chaired by Dr Tom Calma AO and Professor Pat Dudgeon, is the first of its kind in Australia.

The other members of the new Group are (alphabetically): Mr Tom Brideson, Ms Lisa Briggs, Mr Ashley Couzens, Ms Adele Cox, Ms Katherine Hams, Ms Victoria Hovane, Professor Ernest Hunter, Mr Rod Little, Associate Professor Peter O’Mara, Mr Charles Passi, Ms Valda Shannon and Dr Marshall Watson.

It will provide expert advice to government on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social and emotional wellbeing, mental health and suicide prevention.

Close the Gap co-chair and Social Justice Commissioner, Mick Gooda, said the group will help drive reform in mental health and suicide prevention for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

“Improving mental health and suicide prevention is fundamental to improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health overall, and to closing the health and life expectancy gap with other Australians,” Mr Gooda said.

Mr Gooda said the advisory body would help ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people benefit from national mental health reforms and the significant investment in mental health in recent years.

He said the advisory body would also improve strategic responses to suicide and mental health by enabling partnerships between government and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experts in social and emotional wellbeing, mental health and suicide prevention.

“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are experiencing mental health problems at almost double the rate of other Australians.

“Addressing difficult and entrenched challenges like this mental health gap requires long term and sustained commitment and a truly bipartisan approach.

“It is particularly important as we move into a Federal election that closing the gap remains a national project that is supported and sustained beyond electoral cycles,” Mr Gooda said.

 Commonwealth Coat of Arms

THE HON MARK BUTLER MP ,THE HON WARREN SNOWDON MP, JOINT MEDIA RELEASE

NEW HIGH-LEVEL GROUP ADVISE ON TACKLING INDIGENOUS SUICIDE

A new expert group has been set up to advise the Federal Government on improving mental health and suicide prevention programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Advisory Group will be chaired by two eminent Aboriginal experts in the field, Prof Pat Dudgeon, recognised as Australia’s first Indigenous psychologist, and human rights campaigner Dr Tom Calma AO, the new chancellor of the University of Canberra.

The new Group will advise on practical and strategic ways to improve Indigenous mental health and social and emotional wellbeing.

The Group met for the first time in Canberra today to discuss its priorities, including implementation of the recently released National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Strategy.

Also on the agenda for the inaugural meeting are the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan and the renewed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social and Emotional Wellbeing Framework.

Professor Dudgeon is from the Bardi people of the Kimberley and is known for her passionate work in psychology and Indigenous issues, including her leadership in higher education.  Currently she is a research fellow and an associate professor at the University of Western Australia.

Dr Calma is an elder of the Kungarakan tribal group and a member of the Iwaidja tribal group in the Northern Territory. He was appointed National Coordinator of Tackling Indigenous Smoking three years ago.

Previously, he was Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission from 2004 to 2010 and served as Race Discrimination Commissioner from 2004 until 2009.

The other members of the new Group are (alphabetically): Mr Tom Brideson, Ms Lisa Briggs, Mr Ashley Couzens, Ms Adele Cox, Ms Katherine Hams, Ms Victoria Hovane, Professor Ernest Hunter, Mr Rod Little, Associate Professor Peter O’Mara, Mr Charles Passi, Ms Valda Shannon and Dr Marshall Watson.

The Federal Labor Government’s commitment to reducing high levels of suicide within Indigenous communities was highlighted by its development and recent release of Australia’s first National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Strategy.

The Strategy is supported by $17.8 million over four years in new funding to reduce the incidence of suicidal and self-harming behaviour among Indigenous people.

This builds on the Labor Government’s broad strategic investment in suicide prevention, as outlined in the Taking Action to Tackle Suicide package and the National Suicide Prevention Program which, together, include $304.2 million in vital programs and services across Australia.

Funding already allocated to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programs under these two national suicide programs, includes:

  • $4.6 million for community-led suicide prevention initiatives.
  • $150,000 for enhanced psychological services for Indigenous communities in the Kimberley Region, through the Access to Allied Psychological Services program.
  • $6 million for targeted suicide prevention interventions.

Media contact: Tim O’Halloran (Butler) – 0409 059 617/Marcus Butler (Snowdon) – 0417 917 796

Apr 26 2013

NACCHO congratulates:Tom Calma appointed University of Canberra chancellor

   Tom Calma

Greater numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders should reach senior  leadership positions in Australian universities and be involved in leading  academic research, incoming University of Canberra chancellor Tom Calma said  this week.

From CANBERRA TIMES

The indigenous social justice and health campaigner and 2013 ACT Australian  of the Year was appointed on Friday to succeed  chancellor Dr John  Mackay  on  January 1, 2014.

Dr Calma said Canberra’s university sector remained concerned about the  impact of $2.8billion in federal government cuts to tertiary education and that  students could suffer because  of the decision.

‘‘It would be denying a fact if I said we were not worried or that the cuts  did not mean a challenge,’’ he said.

‘‘What we need to do is protect the teaching of students and make sure they  get the full quality of teaching that they deserve.

‘‘If we want to see Australia develop as a knowledge nation, then it is going  to develop out of the higher education institutions.’’

At the start of an eight-month leadership handover, Dr Calma said, the  University of Canberra was  considering how to appropriately deal with the  impact of new efficiency dividends of 2 per cent and 1.25 per cent in the coming  two years, announced this month by the Gillard government to save about  $900million.

The money will  fund the  Gonski school education reforms, along  with commitments from state governments.

An elder of the Kungarakan tribal group and now  the university’s deputy  chancellor, Dr Calma said he felt privileged to lead the University of Canberra  during a time of infrastructure development that will include  new health  and sports hubs. Involved in tertiary education since 1980, Dr Calma has served  as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

Commissioner and as Race Discrimination Commissioner from 2004 until  2009.

His 2005 Social Justice Report led to the creation of the Close the Gap  campaign, a collaboration of more than 40 health and human rights groups working  with indigenous Australians.

In March 2010, he was appointed national co-ordinator of the Tackling  Indigenous Smoking effort.

Dr Calma said indigenous university enrolment rates had increased in recent  years, with notable improvements at the University of Canberra.

‘‘Around the nation we are seeing a lot more indigenous people complete year  12, but they’ve got to also see university as an option,’’ he said.

‘‘One of the biggest challenges within the university sector is to get people  to do higher degrees, particularly in research, so they can become academics in  the future.’’

Dr Calma said he was proud to be one of a small number of indigenous  Australians in senior governance positions in higher education.

University of Canberra vice-chancellor  Stephen Parker said Dr Calma had  already made a significant contribution to the university.

‘‘Tom Calma has been an insightful and enthusiastic member of our governing  council since 2008,’’ Professor Parker said.

‘‘It is great for the university to have an Australian of Tom Calma’s stature  as chancellor, and I’m particularly proud that we have appointed one of the  nation’s first indigenous chancellors.’’

Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/incoming-chancellor-fears-effect-of-cuts-20130425-2ihqt.html#ixzz2RWbdgvic         

         

     

Aug 15 2012

Rates of Aboriginal suicide “a national tragedy” Tom Calma

 

The advisory group

The Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin is working with the advisory group headed by Dr Calma and the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) to ensure the strategy is coherent and comprehensive, and backed by a strong evidence base.

Reporter: Kirstie Parker and photograph KOORI MAIL

Reproduced from the Guardian 15 August 2012

Indigenous wellbeing champion Tom Calma has called on the Australian government to properly resource and implement the nation’s first Indigenous suicide prevention strategy once it is finalised.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s suicide rates revealed in a new Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) report were “a national tragedy” that must be addressed, Dr Calma said.

The ABS report covers the period 2001 to 2010 and actually found that the suicide rate in Australia had decreased by 17 percent over that period, from 12.7 to 10.5 deaths per 100,000 people.

But it also revealed the overall rate of suicide for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to be twice that of non-Indigenous people. Nearly 1,000 Indigenous suicide deaths throughout Australia between 2001 and 2010 represented about five percent of all suicide deaths registered in this period.

Dr Calma, who chairs the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Advisory Group, said the gap in rates of suicide in young people was particularly disturbing.

“Suicide rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females aged 15-19 years were 5.9 times higher than those for non-Indigenous females in this age group, while for males the corresponding rate ratio was 4.4,” he said.

“This is an appalling national tragedy that is not only depriving too many of our young people of a full life, but is wreaking havoc among our families and communities.

“As anyone who has experienced a friend or family member committing suicide will know, the effects are widespread and devastating and healing can be elusive for those left behind.

“… It is time that we draw a line under this tragic situation that is impacting so significantly on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals, families and communities in this nation.”

In June, the Gillard government appointed the Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin to help develop the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Strategy.

Advisory group

Dr Calma said the ABS report highlighted the timeliness of the developing strategy and commended the government “for taking the issue seriously”. “However, I also call on the Australian government to properly resource and implement the strategy once it is finished,” he said. “Australian governments must support, and work in partnership with, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to develop these community based solutions.

“As the example of programs in the Kimberleys demonstrates, just as disempowerment is part of the problem, so empowerment of our communities must be part of the solution to suicide among our young people.”

Dr Calma said it was also vital that mainstream mental health services were properly equipped and staffed to work with young Indigenous people at risk of suicide.

The ABS report said the exact scale of difference between the suicide rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous people was difficult to establish conclusively.

National Mental Health Commission (NMHC) chairman Allan Fels said as much when he addressed the National Press Club (NPC) last week on the commission’s progress in developing Australia’s First National Report Card on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.

“Scandalously, we don’t know the true rates in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities but it is at least 2.5 times higher,” Professor Fels said. “And for every completed suicide, there are up to 50 attempts.”

He said mental health and Indigenous health – of which mental health was a very significant component – were the two profound weaknesses of a health system that was good by international standards.

The NMHC will meet in Alice Springs next week, giving Professor Fels and commissioners, including Aboriginal psychologist Pat Dudgeon, their first opportunity to dedicate a whole meeting to Indigenous mental health, social emotional wellbeing and suicide prevention.

In his NPC address, Professor Fels expressed concern that the mentally ill could be excluded from Labor’s national disability insurance scheme (NDIS) as the federal government negotiates with the states and territories on the costs of trial sites.

He said it was “critical” the scheme covered people with serious psychiatric conditions as well as the physically disabled.

“It is a key need for the mental illness agenda,” he told journalists.

* If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, call Lifeline (13 11 14), Suicide Call Back Service (1300 659 467) or Kids Helpline (for young people aged 5 to 25 years) (1800 551 800).