Aboriginal Health Conference 2004 – Partnerships for Better Health

The Aboriginal Health 2004 Conference – the third in a series of biennial conferences held in Perth, Western Australia – was conducted 1 – 2 July. The 2004 conference theme – Partnerships for Better Health – recognises the importance of various groups working together to improve the health of Aboriginal people. Conference delegates from across the state included community workers, general practitioners and Aboriginal health workers. The conference program (view program) included a range of Indigenous presentations addressing the health of Indigenous people in community and hospital settings. Issues discussed included:

• social wellbeing;
• communicable diseases;
• renal disease;
• diabetes;
• cardiovascular disease; and
• community projects

The keynote speaker, Dr Sue Gordon, described her life journey and discussed the Inquiry into response by Government Agencies to complaints of family violence and child abuse in Aboriginal Communities.

A pre-conference Aboriginal health promotion workshop, held on 30 June, supported the conference theme and provided a forum to strengthen participants’ responses to key health issues within their local communities. Discussion focused on the priority areas of smoking, nutrition and physical activity and issues identified by participants during the recent Aboriginal Health Promotion Videoconference Series (AHPVCS) including men’s, maternal and child health.

A HealthInternet café was held at the conference by staff from the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet: Bronwyn Gee; Neil Thomson; Natalie Weissofner; Ellie Kirov and Jane Burns. Delegates were provided with an opportunity to learn about the online information resources available on the HealthInfoNet website and other HealthInfoNetservices, such as Internet training.

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