Month: April 2005

The following summary has been adapted from the ABC and Fred Hollows Foundation media releases, 1 March 2005

The Fred Hollows Foundation recently announced the appointment of Wes Miller as Manager of its Indigenous Health Program. The program works with local partners and has a specific focus on nutrition, child and maternal health, literacy, and remote community stores management in the Jawoyn communities east of Katherine in the Northern Territory (NT).

Brian Doolan, the Foundation’s Chief Executive Officer, commented that ‘Mr Miller’s extensive experience and knowledge places him in the perfect position to lead our Indigenous Health Program and continue the excellent work The Foundation and its partners are undertaking to help address the health crisis in remote Indigenous communities.’

Mr Miller‘s mother and grandmother are both from Jawoyn country and he has worked in the Katherine region for many years. He has held leadership positions at the Katherine Region Aboriginal Legal Aid Service (KRALAS), the Aboriginal medical service (Wurli-Wurlinjang Health Service) , the Northern Land Council’s office in Katherine and the NT Health Department. He was also one of the original ATSIC regional councillors for the region.

Most recently Mr Miller has worked as the Top End Primary Health Care Access Program officer for the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT), building the capacity of community health boards so that they can be managed by Indigenous people.

Mr Miller said he looked forward to the challenge of the role and the opportunity to increase the depth and scope of the programs in both the Katherine region and nationally. He said: ‘I am passionate about this area of work because I firmly believe that improvements in the health and well-being of Aboriginal people are governed by and large by the levels of control we have over our personal lives and over the organisations that we ourselves establish or are established for our benefit.’

Image has been reproduced with the kind permission of the Fred Hollows Foundation

The 8th National Rural Health Conference, 10 -13 March 2005, was the largest ever public meeting on remote and rural health. Held at Alice Springs Convention Centre, Northern Territory, it was attended by 1,100 delegates from around Australia including health service providers, students and consumers.

The conference was organised by the National Rural Health Alliance which is primarily funded by the Department of Health and Ageing and comprises 24 national organisations. The Alliance advises on rural and remote health policies and strategies. The principal conference sponsor was the National Health and Medical Research Council with additional conference support provided by the Northern Territory Government.

The conference involved presentations, papers, workshops, and posters, and also shared yarns in less formal settings. Contributors included health service managers, allied health professionals, Aboriginal health workers, nurses and GPs. Conference themes were:

• the demonstrated means of successfully strengthening the multidisciplinary remote and rural workforce;
• lessons to learn about improving the health of Indigenous people and other populations in remote areas;
• the connections between land and health for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in remote and rural Australia;
• the ways in which education, transport, the environment, economic development and communications intersect with each other and the people in remote and rural Australia; and
• the key emerging issues in clinical practice for remote and rural Australia.

Indigenous health and well-being were a major focus of the conference, highlighting the poor state of Indigenous health as a priority social issue. Of the 90 concurrent papers that won a place on the program (from 440 abstracts) 39 were associated with Aboriginal health. Topics discussed in relation to Indigenous health included: health conditions; health services; workforce issues; environment issues; and lessons learned.

Internet access for all conference delegates was provided at the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet exhibition stand, with Telstra Country Wide providing Internet connectivity. Diana Hay from the Aboriginal & Islander Health Worker Journal and Jane Burns from the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet also ran a joint display with information about the two organisations. Jane conducted a HealthInternet café on web-based Aboriginal health information, particularly related to rural and remote health, and other HealthInfoNet services such as training and website development. Delegates were encouraged to visit all the exhibition booths.

For further information including the full set of recommendations (PDF – 171KB) and conference media releases:

• Remote area health: not complaining but not complacent
• Global challenges for Australia’s remote health sector

view the 8th National Rural Health Conference website.

We would like to thank the conference participants who provided written permission for us to display their photos here