Category: Indigenous health
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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…
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2021 NAIDOC Week: Vital new research will help ‘Heal Country’
Public Health Association of Australia In this NAIDOC Week 2021, the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) embraces First Nations Peoples’ cultural knowledge and understanding of Country as part of Australia’s national heritage. This year’s NAIDOC theme, ‘Heal Country!’ resonates strongly with the PHAA team, as it calls for stronger…
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National Reconciliation Week: Supporting Indigenous-led public health responses
National Reconciliation Week 2021 ‘We’ve been successful because we’ve had a seat at the table, where we’ve had respect for our knowledge and community connection, and it’s been a true partnership, not just a brown face at the table.’ – Dr Lorraine Anderson, Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services Our Reconciliation journey…
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Indigenous families face soaring costs in treating burn injuries
When it comes to Closing the Gap on health inequities experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people there are many areas deserving urgent attention, and injury prevention is just one. But where injury has already occurred, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people face yet another obstacle in then accessing…
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Indigenous Australians’ incarceration Gap widens during the pandemic
Introduction: Today on national Close the Gap day, the Public Health Association of Australia released a statement about the rising rate of incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, detailing how it is a serious public health issue and human rights violation linked to ongoing systemic racism and discrimination…
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March 4 Justice – ending the silence on gender-based violence
Karina Martin, Public Health Association of Australia “We are all here today, not because we want to be here, because we have to be here. We are here because it’s unfathomable that we are still having to fight the same stale, tired fight”, said Brittany Higgins at the Women’s March…
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National Preventive Health Strategy: realising the opportunity to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health outcomes by addressing tobacco use
With the Commonwealth Government’s National Preventive Health Strategy due for finalisation in the coming months, Dr Raglan Maddox, Professor Tom Calma AO, Dr Katherine Thurber and Associate Professor Raymond Lovett consider the opportunity to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health outcomes through a renewed urgent focus on tobacco use.…
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National Cervical Screening Program isn’t meeting the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, survey reveals
Cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates have halved in Australia since the introduction in 1991 of the National Cervical Screening Program (NCSP). Although Australia could be one of the first countries in the world to eliminate cervical cancer, incidence rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women remain more than…
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A minimum price for alcohol helped curb problem drinking in the Northern Territory — is it time for a national rollout?
Nicholas Patrick Taylor, Deakin University and Peter Miller, Deakin University The “floor price” for alcohol introduced by the Northern Territory in 2018 reduced the consumption of cask wine by half, without significantly impacting sales of other types of alcohol, according to our new analysis of the policy’s effectiveness. On October…
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New report calls for action to confront our nation’s collective racism
Dr Summer May Finlay For reconciliation to be effective, it must involve truth-telling, and actively address issues of inequality, systemic racism and instances where the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are ignored, denied or reduced, according to Karen Mundine, Chief Executive Officer of Reconciliation Australia, in a new…
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Preventive approaches needed to improve child and youth health and wellbeing
Tracey Oorschot and Jane Frawley Child, youth, Indigenous and social policy advocates have campaigned for improved health and wellbeing of Australian children and young people for years. Despite these efforts, Australia continues to underperform in a range of key benchmarks. Statistics reveal that 1 in 6 Australian children and young…
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Food security during COVID a critical challenge for remote Indigenous communities
NAIDOC Week 2020 – ‘Always was, always will be’ To celebrate NAIDOC Week 2020, the Public Health Association of Australia is publishing a series of articles, capturing the learnings and lessons from presentations at our recent Australian Public Health Conference. Given the year we have had, not surprisingly, the response…
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Ensuring COVID-19 information is culturally appropriate
NAIDOC Week 2020 ‘Always was, always will be’ To celebrate NAIDOC Week 2020, the Public Health Association of Australia is publishing a series of articles, capturing the learnings and lessons from presentations at our recent virtual Australian Public Health Conference. Given the year we have had, not surprisingly, the response…
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WellMob portal provides a one-stop-shop for COVID-safe information
NAIDOC Week 2020 ‘Always was, always will be’ To celebrate NAIDOC Week 2020, the Public Health Association of Australia is publishing a series of articles, capturing the learnings and lessons from presentations at our recent virtual Australian Public Health Conference. Given the year we have had, not surprisingly, the response…
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COVID-19 results in new ways of working with Indigenous young people in remote communities
NAIDOC Week 2020 – ‘Always was, always will be’ To celebrate NAIDOC Week 2020, the Public Health Association of Australia is publishing a series of articles, capturing the learnings and lessons from presentations at our recent Australian Public Health Conference. Given the year we have had, not surprisingly, the response…
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander allies start with the basics; correct terminology.
Dr Summer May Finlay If you can’t get the simple things right, how can we trust you to get the big stuff right? That has always been my attitude when it comes to using the correct terminology when referring to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It should be…
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More Deadly News: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tobacco use continues to go down
NAIDOC Week 2020 Raglan Maddox, Katherine A. Thurber, Tom Calma, Glen Benton, Emily Banks, Raymond Lovett Smoking is a leading contributor to many illnesses and the single biggest contributor to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths. An article published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, Deadly…
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Self-determination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders is working during COVID-19 crisis
Australian Public Health Conference 2020 Plenary 1 – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Facilitator – Summer May Finlay, Vice President Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, PHAA The CEO of Indigenous Allied Health Australia, Donna Murray, spoke on the opening day of the conference about the importance of self-determination…
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Smoking rates falling among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students
Christina Heris and David Thomas Following a history of being paid or provided with rations of tobacco, smoking is the leading preventable cause of illness and death amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Historically, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people start smoking at a young age, and a…
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It’s time to stop locking up 10 year olds
Many Australians would no doubt be shocked to learn that our current laws in every State and Territory allow children as young as 10 years old to be arrested by Police and sentenced to prison by Courts. That’s a primary school child, removed from their family, school and everything familiar…
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Black Lives Matter protests should proceed – safely
Two hugely important public health objectives – Black Lives Matter and COVID-19 have been framed as competing imperatives. They are not. The Black Lives Matter movement in Australia seeks to highlight the deplorable circumstances of disadvantage and discrimination experienced by Australia’s First people.
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Where do you fit? Tokenistic, ally – or accomplice?
This National Reconciliation Week is a good time to decide where you fit – how can you support the future of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Just three per cent of the Australian population, are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We need the other 97 per cent of…