HealthInfoNet at the 2003 National Rural Health Conference

The 7th National Rural Health Conference was held in Hobart, Tasmania on 1-4 March, and addressed the theme ‘The art of science and community – sharing country know-how’.

The National Aboriginal Community Control Health Organisation (NACCHO), the Australian Indigenous Doctor’s Association (AIDA), and the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses (CATSIN) organised the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Symposium held on 1 April. The symposium was chaired by Florence Williams and included presentations by key Aboriginal health authorities that focussed on a wide range of health and social issues, including:

• workforce issues associated with Aboriginal health workers, nurses, doctors and training;
• social and emotional wellbeing specifically Indigenous community health issues, suicide prevention and health promotion (a very positive initiative ‘Community life’ was outlined by Elaine Lomas from NACCHO); and
• partnerships for Aboriginal controlled organisations and the value of developing alliances.

The National Rural Health Conference adopted ‘weaving’ as one of its main themes. The conference was seen as a strengthening tool for the rural health community – threads of the past, aspirations for the future, and the common interests of different groups were brought together with the focus of improving health in country areas. The conference thematically highlighted the value of the performing and visual arts as mediums for communication on health issues, and as tools for therapy and community development.

Neil Thomson and Bronwyn Gee, conducted a symposium titled the ‘Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet – a model of knowledge sharing for the health sector’. This allowed participants to understand how the HealthInfoNet’s work focuses on the generation and sharing of knowledge to assist decision-making in Indigenous health.

In addition, the HealthInfoNet staff conducted a HealthInternet café that provided an opportunity for participants to become more familiar with the HealthInfoNet’s online services, and with our role in empowering Indigenous people by providing them with access to relevant, high-quality knowledge and information on Indigenous health.

The appointment of Henry Councillor as new Chairperson for the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) was announced at the conference (view further information).

The conference has received extensive coverage on the ABC website. A number of papers are now available online. The conference communiqué and recommendations are available on the NRHA website (view conference links). This set of outcomes represents a collation of the views of those who attended the conference. One of the priority recommendations from the conference concerns Indigenous health outcomes.

The Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet would like to thank the National Rural Health Conference organisers and delegates for their support of our HealthInternet café, and looks forward to contributing to future conferences and symposia