Category: Article type

Indigenous child index launched in Western Australia

Issue: Vol 8 No 1 January 2008 - March 2008

The following information has been adapted from information provided by ABC news and the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research website.

The Indigenous Australian Early Development Index was launched in Perth on 20 January 2008 by Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. The index is an attempt to address inequalities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children when they begin formal schooling.

It involves a checklist questionnaire which contains over 100 questions measuring physical health and wellbeing, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive skills, communication skills, and general knowledge.

The launch of the index follows successful trials with over 30,000 children in 414 communities. The project is expected to extend to other states next year.

The Australian Early Development Index: Building Better Communities for Children project is conducted by the Centre for Community Child Health at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, in partnership with the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Perth. The Federal Government will provide nearly $16 million to the project.

Budgeri Booroody: excellence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health conference

Issue: Vol 8 No 1 January 2008 - March 2008

Des Jones and Richard Weston Lenease Cooper and Mabrey Fogarty Christine Connors and Sally Goold

Budgeri Booroody, which means ‘good and getting better’ in the language of the Eora people of coastal Sydney, was the name of a two-day conference focusing on quality and best practice within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community controlled health sector. The conference, held 21 – 23 November, 2007 in Sydney, New South Wales, provided OATSIH-funded community controlled health services with the opportunity to come together at a national forum to share information about best practice and to hear about current research in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healthcare.

The welcome to country was provided by Allen Madden from the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council. The conference welcome and overview was presented by Lesley Podesta, First Assistant Secretary, OATSIH, Department of Health and Ageing.

Keynote presentations included:

  • Stephanie Bell, Central Australian Aboriginal Congress: Having quality at the top of your organisation’s agenda
  • Putting research into practice successfully for quality outcomes
  • Allen Benson, Native Counselling Services Alberta, Canada: Managing for quality
  • Mark Wenitong, Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association: Quality models that work
  • Julie Tongs and Karen Flick, Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Services, together with Aunty Rose Fernando, Gamilaroi Elder: Circle of life and wellbeing

The conference included breakout sessions focussing on the following topics:

  • Quality at the top of your agenda
  • Research into practice
  • Managing for quality
Olive Bennet, Paula Wootton and Lorraine Harvey David Monkland and Matthew Cooke Karen Salam and Ineke Krom

The centrepiece of the conference was the inaugural National Excellence Awards in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health ceremony, which was held on 22 November, 2007. A total of 77 individuals and organisations submitted nominations for the awards. The nominations were judged by an eight member expert panel.

The winners in the six award categories were:

  • Mary Martin: Lifetime achievement in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health
  • Matthew Cooke: Young leader in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health
  • Bernadette Shields: Individual contribution to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health
  • Broome Regional Aboriginal Medical Service (Kimberley Satellite Dialysis Service): Excellence and innovation in service delivery
  • Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Service (Youth Diversion Program): Excellence and innovation in community health outcomes
  • Maari Ma (Lower Western Sector Agreement): Working together – partnering for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health

Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet staff, Neil Thomson and Ineke Krom, ran a HealthInternet café at the conference.

We’d like to thank the conference participants who provided written permission for us to display their photos here (click on the photos to enlarge).

Western Australian Aboriginal Health Promotion Conference – Strong Communities, Our Stories

Issue: Vol 7 No 4 October 2007 - December 2007

The Western Australian Aboriginal Health Promotion Conference – Strong Communities, Our Stories, was held at the Burswood Convention Centre, Perth, on 29 October. A precursor to The WA Health Conference 2007 – Getting it right, the conference focused on key areas of Healthy Indigenous Partnerships, Leadership and Communities. The interactive style of the workshops provided an opportunity to share ideas and visions for the future. Keynote speakers were Kenneth George Wyatt and Kerrie Tim. Sponsors included the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, the Office of Aboriginal Health – Health Department of Western Australia and Healthway.

View conference website

Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet staff, Neil Thomson and Amy Hardy, ran a HealthInternet café at the conference.

We’d like to thank the conference participants who provided permission for us to display their photos here (click on the photos to enlarge).

Deadly Award for outstanding achievement in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health: Gracelyn Smallwood

Issue: Vol 7 No 4 October 2007 - December 2007

The following information has been adapted from the Deadlys website.

Gracelyn Smallwood has won a major award at the 13th annual Deadlys, announced 27 September, 2007 at the Sydney Opera House. The Deadly Awards have become an important event on the Indigenous music and lifestyle calendar, celebrating the achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in music and the arts, sport, education and health.

Gracelyn Smallwood is a Birrigubba-Kalkadoon South Sea Islander woman from Townsville whose career as grassroots nurse and midwife, and Indigenous health and human rights advocate spans 35 years. Gracelyn’s achievements include being a Director of Nursing, Associate Professor in Education and Health and a consultant to the World Health Organization and state and federal governments. Gracelyn was also the first Indigenous Australian to graduate with a Master of Science degree in Public Health HIV/AIDS at James Cook University in 1995. Gracelyn is currently completing her PhD and continues to work as a registered nurse and midwife as part of the Townsville and Aboriginal Islander Health Service’s Mums and Babies Program, which has seen a great reduction in low birth weights and perinatal deaths. In 2007, Gracelyn also successfully brought the issue of Indigenous deaths in custody to the attention of the media and repeatedly called for the implementation of the 339 recommendations of the Royal Commission into Deaths in Custody.

Working Out What Works: 16th Western Australian Drug and Alcohol Symposium

Issue: Vol 7 No 4 October 2007 - December 2007

Mary Ford and Sandra Harris at the 16th Western Australian Drug and Alcohol Symposium Noel Robert Wallam and Paul Parfitt at the 16th Western Australian Drug and Alcohol Symposium Lynette Jetta at the 16th Western Australian Drug and Alcohol Symposium Amy Hardy at the 16th Western Australian Drug and Alcohol Symposium

The Working Out What Works: 16th Western Australian Drug and Alcohol Symposium was held in Perth, Western Australia, 18 -19 September 2007. The symposium focused on clinical research, policy & practice and drug regulations & practice, and while not Indigenous specific, many presentations detailed Indigenous issues.

Keynote speakers included:

  • Professor David Nutt
  • Dr Dan Lubman
  • Gningala Yarran-Clanton
  • Professor Robin Room
  • Dr Don Weatherburn

View symposium website

Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet staff, Jane Burns and Amy Hardy, ran a HealthInternet café at the symposium.

The event was sponsored by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, Reckitt Benckiser and St John of God Healthcare. Collaborating organisations included the WA Drug and Alcohol Office, the National Drug Research Institute, Murdoch University, Curtin University of Technology, University of Western Australia, Edith Cowan University and the Western Australian Network for Alcohol and Drug Agencies (WANADA).

  • For further information regarding the symposium contact:
    • EECW Pty Ltd, PO Box 749, Wembley WA 6913, ph: (08) 9389 1488, fax: (08) 9389 1499, email:

We’d like to thank the symposium participants who provided permission for us to display their photos here (click on the photos to enlarge).

Success stories in Indigenous health

Issue: Vol 7 No 3 July 2007 - September 2007

The following information has been adapted from information provided by ANTaR

Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR) have published a booklet of success stories in Indigenous health. The aim of the booklet is to highlight Indigenous led health care initiatives across Australia that are successful through the engagement of Indigenous communities, adequate funding and support. A map is provided on the ANTaR website to depict where the success stories have occurred. The Rio Tinto Aboriginal Foundation and the Mercy Foundation provide financial support to ANTaR for the Success Stories in Indigenous Health.

ANTaR invites you to contact them with information on your success stories in Indigenous health.
View information and map

Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (2007)
Success stories in Indigenous health: a showcase of successful Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health projects.
Sydney: Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation
View booklet (PDF – 1.2MB – large file warning)
View website: Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation

View individual stories:

One million dollars to fight chronic disease in Torres Strait

Issue: Vol 7 No 3 July 2007 - September 2007

The following information has been adapted from information provided by the Queensland Government

The Queensland Health Minister, Stephen Robertson announced in late June that Queensland Health will invest more than $1 million this year to improve on the prevention and management of chronic disease in the Torres Strait. The announcement was made at a two day health summit on Thursday Island.

Since 1999, the number of people with diabetes has almost doubled to 1047 in the Torres Strait. Indigenous Australians in Queensland are five times more likely to suffer from chronic disease and have three times the rate of heart disease.

The funding will include:

  • $818, 528 for nine chronic disease positions, which include five additional child health workers, two health prevention officers and two clinical workers;
  • $120, 000 to establish programs to address frequent and avoidable hospital admissions;
  • $110, 000 for the Connecting Healthcare in Communities (CHIC) initiative in the Torres Strait.

Mr Robertson said the funding for the CHIC initiative will be used to set up a partnership council to improve access to preventative and primary health care services in the Torres Strait.

Responses to the report: Ampe akelyernemane meke mekarle: little children are sacred

Issue: Vol 7 No 3 July 2007 - September 2007

The report Ampe akelyernemane meke mekarle: little children are sacred, released in April 2007, has been the trigger for Australian Government action addressing a number of issues in Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. There have been widespread political and community responses to both the report and the methods that are being put into place to address ongoing Indigenous disadvantage.

Details of the report and and links to a variety of responses are provided below:

Northern Territory Board of Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse (2007)
Ampe akelyernemane meke mekarle: little children are sacred.
Darwin: Northern Territory Government
View abstract: HealthBulletin
View summary (PDF – 900KB)
View report (PDF – 6.3MB – large file warning!)
View website: Northern Territory Government

Enhancing Indigenous Capacity: Building a Sustainable Future: a national symposium on workforce development in Indigenous maternal and child health

Issue: Vol 7 No 2, April 2007 - June 2007

Kulunga Conference 2007 Kulunga Conference 2007 Kulunga Conference 2007

The national symposium Enhancing Indigenous Capacity: Building a Sustainable Future was held in Perth , Western Australia , 8-9 May 2007. The symposium was hosted and supported by the Rio Tinto Child Health Partnership and sponsored by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.

The major aims of the symposium were to:

  • enable a range of stakeholders from across Australia to share their expertise, experiences, research and resources;
  • identify clear directions and strategies at both a practical and policy level for enhancing the skills of the Indigenous health workforce, increasing the number of health workers in Indigenous communities and improving the coordination and delivery of primary health care services to Indigenous people; and
  • provide health workers with resources to assist them to address maternal alcohol and tobacco use in Indigenous communities.

The symposium examined issues central to the development of the maternal and child health workforce in Indigenous communities, including how to:

  • build the child and maternal health skills of health workers in Indigenous communities;
  • increase the number of Indigenous health workers and enhance training and accreditation so they can deliver comprehensive and holistic primary health care; and
  • coordinate service delivery across government agencies and the community controlled sector to improve Indigenous peoples access to and utilisation of services.

The proceedings started with a welcome to country by Noongar Elder, Vivienne Hansen. The opening address was by Professor Fiona Stanley, Director of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research and Chair of the National Advisory Committee, Rio Tinto Child Health Partnership.

The International Keynote address was presented by:

  • Dr Janet Smylie, Associate Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Toronto and research scientist at St Michael’s Hospital at the Centre for Research on Inner City Health – Kokum, what makes baby well?

Other keynote addresses were presented by:

  • Dr Kathryn Panaretto, Medical Director at the Townsville Aboriginal and Islander Health Services – The Mums and Babies Program
  • Donna Ah Chee, Deputy Director Central Australian Aboriginal Congress – The development of the maternal and child health program
  • Sandra Collard, Workforce Issues Project, Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia – The workforce issues project at the Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia
  • Associate Professor Ted Wilkes, Rio Tinto Child Health Partnership Leader – Aboriginal health: the male perspective
  • Dr Kathryn Panaretto, Medical Director at the Townsville Aboriginal and Islander Health Services – The development and implementation of a randomised controlled trial of a culturally specific intervention for pregnant women who smoke

The forum included four workshops:

  • Empowerment, Indigenous men’s groups and social and emotional wellbeing: implications for workforce development
  • Enhancing the capacity to reduce smoking in Aboriginal communities
  • Alcohol and pregnancy: health professionals making a difference
  • A community controlled approach to reducing the risk of SIDS in Aboriginal communities

Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet staff Sam Burrow, Sharon Clews, Ineke Krom and Annemarie Paddick ran a HealthInternet café at the symposium.

  • For further information regarding the symposium contact:

We’d like to thank the symposium participants who provided written permission for us to display their photos here (click on the photos to enlarge).

Links to Australian Government Budget 2007-08: information of relevance to Indigenous health

Issue: Vol 7 No 2, April 2007 - June 2007

Federal Treasurer Peter Costello delivered his twelfth Australian Government Budget on Tuesday evening, 8 May 2007. The following links provide information on the Budget and its implications for Indigenous health.

Indigenous Affairs Budget 2007-08

The Australian Government Indigenous Affairs Budget 2007-08 provides information on Indigenous spending across all Government portfolios.
View Indigenous Budget 2007-08 contents web page
View document (PDF – 2.28MB – large file warning!) – includes media releases and fact sheets on individual measures
View summary of Indigenous measures (PDF – 266KB)

Portfolio Budget Statements 2007-08

More detailed information on various components of Indigenous expenditure is available in the respective Portfolio Budget Statements 2007-08, including the:

Health and Ageing Portfolio

Portfolio Budget Statements 2007-08
View document (PDF – 2.67MB – large file warning!)
Outcome 8 – Indigenous health is downloadable separately.
View document (PDF – 72KB)
View document (RTF – 328KB)

Health and Ageing Budget at a glance provides a statistical summary of expenditure
View information (HTML)

Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs Portfolio

Portfolio Budget Statements 2007-08
View document (HTML)

Full Budget details

Full Australian Government Budget details are available at the official Australian Government Budget website.
View website

Other media releases