4th National Indigenous Environmental Health Conference: ‘it’s in our hands, let’s take the lead’

The 4th National Indigenous Environmental Health Conference was held in Adelaide on November 6 and 7. The conference program included:

• a warm welcome from Kaurna Elder, Aunty Josie Agius;
• plenary presentations from a diverse range of people active in the area of Indigenous environmental health;and
• concurrent sessions that addressed a range of issues including:
  • housing;
  • state and territory initiatives;
  • community capacity building;
  • environmental health workers;
  • food supply and the community;
  • and environmental health services on communities.

Since 1998, national Indigenous environmental health workshops and conferences have been held regularly to:

• provide a forum for the discussion of Indigenous environmental health issues;
• raise the profile of Indigenous environmental health issues; and
• give Indigenous environmental health practitioners a voice.

These forums seek to identify at a national level the concerns and issues facing environmental health workers and their communities. They provide an opportunity to share information on projects and techniques, facilitate national networks, and highlight common issues.

Reflecting the conference’s emphasis on the development and sharing of information resources on Indigenous environmental health, staff from the HealthInfoNet and and the University of Western Sydney were given the opportunity to demonstrate their respective websites at a combined Internet café.

Staff introduced conference delegates to the online information services offered through the ‘Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet‘ and ‘Indigenous communities environmental health’ websites. The café also offered an informal setting for further exchange of information on creative and innovative programs and projects currently being implemented across the nation. HealthInfoNet staff used the digital camera to take photos of conference delegates, all of whom are working to improve environmental health conditions in Indigenous communities. Click here to view our conference slideshow.

The Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet would like to thank the conference organisers and delegates for their support of our initiative.