MEDIA RELEASE

Koori challenges Murri as the AHMRC Mindaribba Warriors play their Queensland rivals to see who will be Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rugby league champions
30 January 2012 – Sydney:
The Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council of New South Wales (AH&MRC) and the Mindaribba Warriors, winners of the 2011 NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout, are teaming up to raise awareness about Aboriginal Health as part of the 2012 Indigenous All Stars Festival.
To be held on the eve of the 2012 Harvey Norman Rugby League All Stars match at Skilled Park, the 2012 Indigenous All Stars Festival will celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in Rugby League with an all-day event held at Miami, Gold Coast on February 3, culminating in the best Indigenous Club players coming together for the inaugural National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation -NACCHO Deadly Choices Interstate Challenge.
The NACCHO Deadly Choices Interstate Challenge will see the AH&MRC-sponsored Mindaribba Warriors play their counterparts from Queensland, the Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council (QAIHC) Southern Dingoes at 7.30pm on February 3 at Burleigh Bears’ Bob Singh Oval, with the winning team to be crowned Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander champions.
The festival commences at 10am and will feature family entertainment including stage-led activities, performances and storytelling, music, street theatre, local Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander art, and junior league clinics. A number of health organisations, including the AH&MRC, will also be on hand to provide health awareness information.
“Sports like rugby league have an important role to play in promoting positive messages about Aboriginal health, leading to a better quality of life and longer life expectancy for Aboriginal people,” said Rodger Williams, Chief Operations Officer of the AH&MRC.
This is a view shared by Ronald Griffiths, coach of the AHMRC Mindaribba Warriors.
“The life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and non Aboriginal people will not decrease if we don’t take matters into our own hands, regular health checks through your local AMS in conjunction with a healthy lifestyle can help increase our life expectancy. The health checks also set a good example for our elders and children and raise awareness amongst the wider Aboriginal community to be healthy be deadly”.
The NACCHO Deadly Choices Interstate Challenge brings together the two winning teams from the New South Wales (Koori) and Queensland (Murri) Indigenous Knockout carnivals held in October and September 2011 respectively. Eighty-two teams from around NSW played in the competition, which was held over days in October 2011 at Carrington Park in Bathurst, with the Maitland-based AHMRC Mindaribba Warriors emerging as the victors.
This year’s Indigenous All Stars team consists of local and national Rugby League stars voted by over 15,000 fans who cast their ballots online. Captain Johnathan Thurston from the Queensland Cowboys will be joined by NRL superstars including Greg Inglis (Rabbitohs) and Justin Hodges (Broncos), as well as young guns Chris Sandow (Eels), Nathan Peats (Rabbitohs) and Andrew Fifita (Sharks), who will be making their debut in an exciting Indigenous All Stars line-up that features 10 players with Test experience.
The NACCHO Deadly Choices Interstate Challenge will be televised nationally on NITV at 7:30pm on February 3.
Tickets for the game are available through Ticketek.
For more information about the AH&MRC please visit our website at www.ahmrc.org.au or contact Matthew Rodgers, Media and Communications Officer, at mrodgers@ahmrc.org.au or (02) 9212 4777
For more information on the AHMRC Mindaribba Warriors please contact Ronald Griffiths (Coach) on (02) 4015 1134

The purpose of the workshop was to:

• update the Bila Muuji oral health plan
• discuss the challenges and solutions in delivering oral health promotion in the region
• provide updated general oral health knowledge
• provide relevant information for those who are interested in advancing their career in oral health activities
• to discuss how to develop appropriate oral health promotion resources for Bila Muuji.

Bila Muuji is made up of ten Aboriginal Health Services and of these Orange, Wellington, Bourke, Coonamble, Walgett, Brewarrina, Dareton and Dubbo attended.

Representatives from various organizations who addressed the meeting were:

• Marie Wilson Centre for Oral Health Strategy
• Terry Smith AH&MRC Aboriginal Health College
• Lenore Tuckerman Colgate
• Albert Ryan Western NSW LHD
• Dr Sandra Meihubers Bila Muuji
• Jenni Floyd Western NSW LHD

Definitive actions to result from the workshop:

• Health workers to take the lead in conducting oral health promotion
• Support for Bila Muuji to develop a fluoride varnish training program with training from the AHC
• Development of protocols for the school brushing program
• Bila Muuji newsletter – every three months
• Collaborating with other staff and program coordinators – home visits with midwives and other staff
• Educating the parents
• Staff training in Lift the Lip program.

Download PDF Pictorial

Drug Action week was held the week commencing 20 June 2011 and the theme chosen for this year was “Looking after our Minds”.

On Thursday 23 June, the Walgett Aboriginal Medical Service Co-operative Limited visited Collarenebri to bring awareness to the community about drug and alcohol abuse. The venue was Lion’s Park and approximately forty local people attended with a further ten who were just passing through town stopping in to have a look .

The aim of the exercise was to inform the general community on the effects of alcohol by making them aware of safe drinking guidelines . A variety of pamphlets were given out and health checks were performed for those who wished to have one. WAMS supplied a BBQ lunch with fresh fruit afterwards.

WAMS personnel were
Reg Rutene – Murdi Paaki Drug & Alcohol Co-ordinator
Rebecca Alcock – Healthy for Life RN
Jamie Bellword – Murdi Paaki Drug & Alcohol Outreach Worker

Download PDF Pictorial

Hellen has to travel often to attend meetings which means being away from her husband and five children.
Living out of town on a dirt road, she frequently has to travel to work in muddy conditions and at one time had to „boat it? to work when flood waters cut her off. Hellen was nominated as a finalist and received her award from Ms Ita Buttrose who was the guest speaker of the evening.

Ita Buttrose held the audience captive describing both the struggles and high points through her life in reaching the goals she has
attained. She also spoke of how it is possible to be a good mother and still be successful in your chosen career.
Ms Buttrose presented each finalist and winner with their award and congratulated them all for the hard work and dedication that has given them this recognition and the pride they should feel for reaching this achievement.

The overall winner on the night was Lee Judd who is the District Leader and many believe the “guiding hand? of the Girl Guide movement in Dubbo. She has a belief that the movement is helping girls and young woman succeed and it is her enthusiasm that has been a driving force in coaxing them into joining what had been a declining membership.

The entertainment had been kept under wraps until the night of the event but the audience was delighted when Dale Burridge and Daniella Everett appeared on stage. Mr Burridge and Miss Everett have starred in numerous musicals including Cats, Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables. Their magnificent voices kept everyone spellbound, leaving them disappointed when the duo came to the end of their performance.

WAMS personnel who helped Hellen celebrate the evening were Christine Corby, CEO; Reg Humphreys, Deputy CEO; Jessie Richardson, Clinic Manager and Diana Dalley, consultant to both WAMS and BAHSL.

Download Pictorial (PDF)

Dear friend

I am very proud to announce the launch our new website at www.alsnswact.org.au.

Last year the ALS Board and staff agreed our website required a makeover. It needed to be more user friendly, easier to navigate, and with more information that is relevant and current. The result is a brand new website which now meets the needs of ALS staff and our community.
Some of the features on the new website include:
there is a news panel on the front page for up-to-date information on the ALS and our community;
we now have a job vacancy page;
we have a page inviting the broader community to donate to the ALS as a Public Benevolent Institution;
our office details are easily located;
our ALS history is on the site;
we have Community Legal Education resources and films on our site for viewing;
plus many more features!
The website displays photos of our wonderful staff and volunteers as we feel it is important for people using our service to know who will be assisting them.

The new website reflects who we are, our strength and our survival. I am pleased with the new website as I hope you will be when visiting www.alsnswact.org.au.

If you have any comments or suggestions about the new website, have some news you want to put on the site, or have seen something that should really not be there, please don’t hesitate to contact Kate Finlayson on 8303 6699 or 0418 254 237. All of your comments are invited and welcome!

Regards,

Gerry Moore
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
ABORIGINAL LEGAL SERVICE
(NSW/ACT) LIMITED

Where’s the Shame, Love Your Liver! Shame exists around Hep C but we need to talk about it.

The Last Kinection will be coming to deliver one of the first arts based Hep C awareness campaign, of its kind in NSW.

The Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council (AH&MRC) was commissioned by NSW Health to implement a state-wide Hep C Campaign involving ‘THE LAST KINECTION’.

Black Chili Productions also known as The Last Kinection will be running three day workshops in nine communities across NSW. Participants at the workshop will have the opportunity to take part in a number of activities to raise awareness about the Hep C Virus in order to learn about the Hep C virus, challenge shame and stigma around the Hep C virus as well as learning about prevention, access to services, treatment options and support pathways for Aboriginal people across NSW.

Some activities the workshops will involve include – developing a health promotion poster, writing and recording a song, producing a video clip and/or taking part in making an animation. There will also be a free community showcase, featuring the participants’ productions concluding with a performance by The Last Kinection.

AH&MRC believes this is a great opportunity to open a dialogue with Aboriginal communities about Hep C and to explore and gain knowledge, challenge shame and stigma and improve Aboriginal  peoples access to appropriate services and information.

The Campaign is part of a state-wide effort to better support Aboriginal people’s access to Hep C treatment and care services, the AH&MRC encourages Aboriginal people to take part in this important and unique event.

The Campaign will be coming to Nowra, Tamworth, Nambucca Heads, Griffith,  Western Sydney, Sydney Metro, Dubbo, Walgett, Newcastle and surrounds between May 2011 and March 2012.

For further information visit the Campaign website at: http://www.loveyourliver.net.au/ and Campaigns Coordinator Harp Kalsi hkalsi@ahmrc.org.au (02) 9212 4777 or 0402 249 058.

This program would not have developed without the advice, support, encouragement and commitment from our AMS’s Community partners and staff during the year.  Through our time travelling around NSW visiting your service, establishing and developing our relationship with you and your community, has allowed us to develop a program that will enrich our student’s medical education, now and into the future, as they learn about, and continue to contribute to the work for Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations and the communities they serve.

We would also like to thank you for your input into the end of year workshop as our teaching partners from Aboriginal Medical Services, that has given us a wonderful opportunity to discuss the evolution of the 5^th year attachment and other fields of collaborative endeavour.

On behalf of Jenny and I, we would like to wish you and your staff a Merry Christmas and safe and happy New Year and we look forward to working with you in 2012.

Kind Regards
Cris Carriage - Indigenous Program Officer, University of Western Sydney

Download the Newspaper Articles (PDF)

15-11-2011

Mr Justin Mohamed has been re-elected Chair for a three year term of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO), the national peak body for over 150 Aboriginal community controlled medical services across Australia.

Over two hundred delegates from community controlled Aboriginal health services across urban, regional and remote Australia are attending the NACCHO AGM. It is the largest annual gathering of Aboriginal people involved in community health.

This year’s meeting is in Sydney in recognition of the 40 anniversary of the founding of the first Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service in Redfern in 1971. This morning delegates paid tribute to the Aboriginal Medical Service Redfern and the inspiration and support it lent to the community based services that followed over the last 40 years.

Mr Mohamed said, “Redfern was the spark that began the movement of Aboriginal communities creating and running their own health services providing comprehensive primary health care. In forty years we have grown from one Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service to over 150 services run by communities. Our services across the country are the solution to closing the gap in Aboriginal health.

“We carry the torch for other Aboriginal communities who want their own health services and to set their own priorities according to their community’s needs. Aboriginal people taking control of their health at all levels is the most effective way to overcome the barriers to better health.” Mr Mohamed said.

Mr Mohamed welcomed the newly elected Deputy Chair of NACCHO Mr Matthew Cooke (25). He is the Deputy Chair of the Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council and CEO of the Nhulundu Wooribah Indigenous Health Organisation Inc in Gladstone. Mr Cooke was elected to the NACCHO Board in 2010. In 2008 he was named the Deadly Vibe Young Australian of the Year award and in 2007 he was named Young Leader in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health.

Mr Mohamed also thanked the out going Deputy Chair of NACCHO Ms Glenda Humes for her support in the role over the last two years.

The three day NACCHO Annual General and Members Meeting continues on Wednesday and Thursday.

Members will set directions for the future of the sector in discussions covering core primary health services, quality improvement, the Congress of the First Australians and Aboriginal health in the national health reform agenda. Other sessions will look at Medicare Locals, men’s and women’s health, and the eye health program.

On Thursday night delegates will attend the Aboriginal Medical Service Redfern’s 40 th anniversary celebrations at the Sydney Town Hall.

NACCHO Media Contact: Chris Hallett 04 0770 4788

www.naccho.org.au