Month: May 2004

Federal Treasurer Peter Costello delivered his ninth Commonwealth Budget on Tuesday evening, 11 May 2004. The following links provide information on the Budget and its implications for Indigenous health.

Full Budget details
Full Commonwealth Budget details are available at the official Budget website.

Health and Ageing Portfolio Budget 2004 – 2005
2004-05 Portfolio Budget Statements for the Health and Ageing Portfolio are available on the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing website. Part C discusses the performance of individual outcomes within the Department, and includes Outcome 7: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (PDF – 116 KB).

Information on Indigenous funding is included in the media statement More funds for Indigenous primary care from the Hon Tony Abbott, Minister for Health and Ageing.

Further general details regarding the Health and Ageing Portfolio Budget are available in Health and Ageing Budget at a glance and on the following web pages:

Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs
2004-05 Portfolio Budget Statements (PDF – 2.9 MB – large file warning!) are available on the Department’s website.

Part C of the document includes sections on the following (view links to various sections)

• Aboriginal Hostels Limited;
• Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies;
• Indigenous Business Australia;
• Indigenous Land Corporation; and
• Torres Strait Regional Authority.

Indigenous Affairs statements (released 11 May)

Australian Government announces new initiatives in Indigenous affairs – Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs.
View media release

Other media releases

$20 million for the Indigenous community volunteers – Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations
View media release (released 11 May)

$13 million for Indigenous youth employment consultants – Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations
View media release (released 11 May)

Continuing our commitment to Indigenous learning – Minister for Education Science and Training (released 11 May)
View media release

$2.1 billion to accelerate Indigenous education outcomes – Minister for Education Science and Training (released 11 May)
View media release

$14 million to improve Indigenous student literacy – Minister for Education Science and Training (released 11 May)
View media release

$ 179 million boost for school-based Indigenous tutoring – Minister for Education Science and Training (released 11 May)
View media release

Indigenous education strategic initiatives programme – Minister for Education Science and Training (released 11 May)
View media release

Indigenous Australians Are Costello’s Forgotten People – Shadow Minister for Reconciliation and Indigenous Affairs (released 12 May)
View media release

Indigenous Health Budget is $290 million short – Democrats Senator for New South Wales, Australian Democrats spokesperson for Indigenous Affairs (released 12 May)
View media release

2004 Budget – real issues in Aboriginal Health forgotten – NACCHO (released 12 May)
View media release

Opportunity and Responsibility for Indigenous Australians – Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Reconciliation and Indigenous Affairs (released 15 May)
View media release

ABC News articles

Govt shifts ATSIC funding to communities
View article (11 May)

Budget a mixed result for Indigenous people: ATSIC
View article (12 May)

Health2004: the 18th World Conference on Health Promotion and Health Education was held on the land of the Kulin nation of peoples in Melbourne from April 26-30. The conference theme – Valuing diversity, reshaping power: exploring pathways for health and wellbeing – included an explicit focus on Indigenous health. It offered a unique opportunity to showcase the work of Indigenous peoples – from Australia and around the world – to an international audience.

Shane Hearn, Chair of the Indigenous Organising Committee, highlighted that:

Health2004 is an opportunity to expand and build the partnerships that are needed in Australia and internationally to put Indigenous health on regional and global agendas, and an opportunity to value and learn from the experience, wisdom and critical perspectives Indigenous peoples and societies bring to our understanding of how to make healthy societies.

The conference program encompassed Indigenous presentations and activities, including:

• 34 Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander presenters (view details regarding conference abstracts and papers);
• an Indigenous caucus for the discussion of Indigenous peoples’ own priorities and preferences;
• a series of Indigenous cultural and social events; and
• a range of exhibitors from Indigenous organisations.

In the exhibition area, a joint booth comprised of staff from the HealthInfoNet, Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (OATSIH), Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal, and University of Queensland, was co-located with the National Aboriginal and Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) booth. The unique synergy formed by the collaborative work of these organisations led to the creation of a natural meeting place for delegates with an interest in the health of Indigenous Australians and facilitated information sharing. A selection of publications from the Journal was enthusiastically received by conference delegates.

Nicole Tye from OATSIH (Perth), Shannon Smith from the Health Worker Journal, and Helen Travers from the University of Queensland, joined Bronwyn Gee and Sam Burrow from the HealthInfoNet to conduct a HealthInternet café at the conference. The café provided an opportunity to introduce conference delegates to the online information resources and services offered through the:

• Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet website; and
• University of Queensland’s touch screen project – an information technology initiative to enhance health literacy in remote Indigenous communities.

The café offered an informal setting for sharing lessons learned from innovative health promotion initiatives currently being implemented in Indigenous communities across the nation and around the world.

We’d like to thank conference delegates who provided written permission for us to display the photos included in the following gallery:

View photo gallery

We’d also like to thank OATSIH (Canberra and Perth), the Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal and the University of Queensland for their support, participation and great company during the conference.