Category: Indigenous health
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‘Dispelling the smoke to reflect the mirror’: the time is now to eliminate tobacco related harms
Helen Tran, PHAA Intern A recently published commentary by Maddox et al in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health highlights the opportunity that has presented itself for a “smoke free future” and nicotine free generations. A future which is looking more possible with Australia’s recent Consultation Draft…
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High achievers honoured with 2022 PHAA Awards
From L-R: Corina Darkie, A/Prof Sophie Dwyer, Dr Joanne Flavel, A/Prof Brahm Marjadi, A/Prof Christina Pollard. Helen Tran and BF, PHAA Interns PHAA were pleased to announce the winners of five annual awards during the Annual General Meeting in Adelaide. We have briefly profiled these public health leaders, who…
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How housing affects health on remote Country
The housing crisis is currently a hot-button issue making headlines Australia-wide. But it’s been endemic in Central Australia for decades. A chronic shortage of available housing in remote Indigenous communities has significant consequences, with unintended household crowding ultimately contributing to the poor health of residents. University of Queensland anthropologist and…
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Rather than focusing on the negative, we need a strength-based way to approach First Nations childrens’ health
Jennifer Browne, Deakin University; Jill Gallagher, Indigenous Knowledge; Joleen Ryan, Deakin University; Mark Lock (Ngiyampaa), Deakin University, and Troy Walker, Deakin University First Nations children represent the future of the world’s oldest continuing culture. Of the 66,000 Victorians who identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander in the 2021 Census,…
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A Q&A with Dr Alana Gall on NAIDOC week, motivations, and public health career so far
Dr Alana Gall, a Pakana woman, PHAA member, and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Queensland, is conducting crucial research into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander wellbeing. A discerning paper led by Dr Gall, titled ‘Self-reported wellbeing and health-related quality of life of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people…
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Public health research highlighted during NAIDOC Week
Dr Michelle Kennedy and Dr Leanne Coombe PHAA celebrates this year’s NAIDOC Week theme, as outlined on the official NAIDOC site: “Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! with us to amplify our voices and narrow the gap between aspiration and reality, good intent and outcome. It’s also time to celebrate…
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Q&A: Indigenous Peoples’ Inclusion in Food Governance
This piece was first published by the Sydney Environment Institute, University of Sydney. Read the original article. For NAIDOC Week, Dr Mark Lock speaks to Dr Belinda Reeve about championing health equity for First Nations Australians and their meaningful inclusion in all dimensions of food governance. By Dr Mark J Lock, University of Technology Sydney & Deakin…
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More Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living longer
Malcolm Baalman, PHAA Senior Policy and Advocacy Adviser Australia’s population of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is 25% larger in the 2021 Census data than the result recorded five years ago. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals make up 3.2% of the national population recorded in the 5-yearly…
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Scholarship winners share reflections on Preventive Health Conference
Joe Carrello, PHAA NSW Earlier in 2022, the PHAA NSW branch awarded four scholarships for individuals to attend the 2022 PHAA Preventive Health Conference, held 11-13 May at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. The winners were: Belinda Belhatchet (Student scholarship) Nurhira Abdul Kadir (Student scholarship), Patricia Fleming (Aboriginal and Torres…
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First Nations mothers are more likely to die during childbirth. More First Nations midwives could close this gap
Pamela McCalman, La Trobe University; Catherine Chamberlain, The University of Melbourne, and Machellee Kosiak, Australian Catholic University While Australia is one of the safest places in the world to give birth, First Nations women are three times more likely to die in childbirth than other Australian women (17.5 vs 5.5…
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Long-serving MP Warren Snowdon retires
Malcolm Baalman, PHAA As happens at every federal election, several long-serving Members of Parliament have retired. Two in particular have influenced public health in Australia. Previously, we acknowledged the service of the Hon. Greg Hunt, former Minister for Health. Today we profile the Hon Warren Snowdon, former Member of the…
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55 years since the 1967 Referendum, what’s changed?
Malcolm Baalman, PHAA Senior Policy and Advocacy Adviser Today is the 55th anniversary since Australians voted in the 1967 Referendum on ‘Aboriginal people’. Widely regarded as a turning point in the nation’s relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the 1967 vote changed our national Constitution. It meant that…
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So now the real work begins
PHAA CEO, Adj Prof Terry Slevin I suspect a lot of us will have had a pretty good weekend. The truth is, by any objective analysis a change of government will be good for public health in Australia. Our own scorecard based on the responses of the three major political…
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Rural Health Mythbusters
Author’s note [1] Kristen Glenister, Claire Quilliam, Olivia Mitchell, Lucinda Aberdeen, Carol Reid, Brahmaputra Marjadi. In Australia, approximately one third of people live outside of major cities, that is, in rural or remote locations. ‘Rural health’ emerged as a recognized field in the 1990s and focusses on inequities in health…
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Reclaiming health and wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
Dr Michelle Kennedy – PHAA Vice-President Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health This continent’s First Peoples were healthy enough to live here for tens of thousands of years, creating the world’s longest-lasting cultures. Then, colonisation. In a few generations the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ populations declined dramatically, and…
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“Uncomfortable, important and compelling”: Food Sovereignty presentations at Food Futures 2022
Christina Pollard, Melanie Parker, and Food Futures Conference Advisory Committee Over 170 delegates attended the Food Futures Conference 2022, held Wednesday 16 to Thursday 17 March. Expert speakers presented on a range of topics, on the Conference theme of transforming food systems for the planetary and public good. The third…
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Flinders University adjusts to attract and train next generation of public health leaders
Professor Billie Bonevski – Flinders University Recognising the central role public health plays in the most wicked of the global problems we face, Flinders University is reshaping and expanding its Public Health Discipline Group. I’ve been appointed this group’s new Lead, and my responsibilities include an emphasis on increasing Aboriginal…
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Hundreds join the rally cry for greater investment in Australia’s public health workforce
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA In one of the biggest demonstrations of support for significant new investment in Australia’s over-stretched public health workforce, well over 500 people registered for an online symposium on 7 December 2021. The symposium brought together many of Australia’s leading public health experts in the field. Victoria’s…
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On World AIDS Day, peak body says elimination can be achieved in Australia by 2025
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA Today, 1 December, is World AIDS Day. After 40 years of trying to control the spread of HIV in Australia, the peak national organisation for Australia’s community HIV response, says 100% elimination should now be our goal, and is achievable. Every year 900 Australians are diagnosed…
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Prisons still failing First Nations people, Justice Health conference told
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA Three decades after the landmark Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, a leading expert on the impact of incarceration on First Nations people told the PHAA Justice Health Conference, things have worsened, not improved. Professor Thalia Anthony, Professor of Law at University of Technology Sydney,…
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Government promises action and money to counter Indigenous incarceration, Minister tells Justice Health 2021 conference
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA More action at a local level. More partnerships. More targeted funding. Greater research. And real targets to reduce the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in custody in the next decade. Opening the 2021 PHAA Justice Health Conference, Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians, the Hon…
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Is the Australian Government doing enough to counter the impacts of climate change on Torres Strait Islander communities?
Anna Alex – PHAA intern Back in May 2019, a group of Torres Strait Islanders lodged a landmark climate and human rights case with the United Nations Human Rights Committee. Submitted by a group dubbed the Torres Strait 8, the claimants say the Australian Government breached their human rights by…
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PHAA celebrates Michelle Dickson’s teaching contribution and shares her COVID-19 ‘silver linings’
‘For over 30 years, she has made a catalytic contribution to strengthening Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, their communities and their health, through education, research and service.’ So said the nominators of Associate Professor Michelle Dickson, a very worthy winner of the PHAA’s 2021 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander…
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Henrietta Lacks’ iconic story of inequity, injustice, and disparities in health holds Australian relevance
Dr Mary-Anne Land (PHAA) & Associate Professor Lisa Whop (ANU) As a young mother, Henrietta Lacks and her husband were raising five children near Baltimore when she fell ill. She went to Johns Hopkins – one of the few hospitals at the time which would treat black people – after…
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An update on the public health vaccination campaign tackling COVID wave in Illawarra
TOBY DAWSON – Vax the Illawarra Campaign Volunteer Background: In September we shared stories about the Vax The Illawarra campaign featuring former PHAA Board member, Dr Summer May Finlay, and two men living with long COVID who support the immunisation project. Here’s an update from the NSW region. The COVID-19…
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10 ways we can better respond to the pandemic in a trauma-informed way
By Christina Heris, Australian National University; Catherine Chamberlain, The University of Melbourne; Cindy Woods, The University of Melbourne; Helen Herrman, The University of Melbourne; Janine Mohamed; Michelle Kennedy, University of Newcastle; Shannon Bennetts, La Trobe University, and Simon Graham, The University of Melbourne Fear is one of the central emotional responses…
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Dr Kim O’Donnell’s public health message: ‘if they get it right for blakfullas, they’ll get it right for all fullas’
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA Introduction In recent weeks, we’ve loved blogging and sharing the rich and diverse stories of a number of our passionate and dedicated public health professionals. A quick shout out to those who’ve put up their hand so far, and, to everyone else, please don’t be shy. …
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PHAA and SBS-TV recognise the work of ‘Too Deadly for Diabetes’ creator, Ray Kelly
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA One of the great strengths of the PHAA’s annual awards is to uncover great stories of public health best practice at work and making a big difference to people’s lives. Ray Kelly was Highly Commended in the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Public Health Award for…
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Dr Dawn Casey PSM wins Sidney Sax Medal for her COVID leadership
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA Introduction After a long and distinguished career of public service, Dr Dawn Casey PSM, while a relatively late arrival on the public health scene, is now recognised as a national leader and inspiration for her active and passionate protection and promotion of public health within Australia.…
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PHAA President ‘honoured’ to be leading western NSW COVID-19 crisis team
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA A team of public health experts from five states and territories is currently on the ground in one of the nation’s COVID-19 hot spots, providing surge capacity to help address the growing crisis in the west and far west of NSW. Headed up on…