‘Reflect. Unite. Take Action.’

4th AH&MRC - Tobacco Resistance

and Control (A-TRAC) Symposium

Sydney, 3-4 September 2014

Evaluation Report: Executive Summary

This is the fourth annual A-TRAC Symposium and this year’s theme- “Reflect. Unite. Take Action” mirrored the activities of the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health sector and their partners in tackling tobacco in the community. Whilst the AH&MRC was proud to host the Symposium in 2014 to highlight success in tackling tobacco, it did so saddened by the knowledge of the loss of livelihood caused by tobacco in Aboriginal communities. The Symposium brought together ACCHS staff and other stakeholders working and interested in tobacco resistance and control in Aboriginal communities to reflect upon the broad range of initiatives in NSW with interstate representation from Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia. The Symposium contributed to strengthening relationships between different health sectors, communities and programs, and provided an opportunity to reflect on achievements and challenges and ways that action can be taken together.

Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council of NSW 2014

Objectives:

The two key objectives of the Symposium were to:

Increase workforce capacity for ACCHS staff and partners working in NSW to support tobacco resistance and control in Aboriginal communities.

Increase networking opportunities between ACCHSs, LHD’s, and other service providers in NSW in Aboriginal tobacco resistance and control.

A pre-symposium workshop on evaluation was held the day before for ACCHS staff and is reported on separately. The Symposium was attended by 105 delegates, 53 from 14 NSW ACCHSs plus delegates from interstate ACCHS, government and non-government organisations. The largest proportion of delegate position tittles were; Tobacco Action and Healthy Lifestyle workers, Aboriginal Health Workers and Regional Tobacco Coordinators. Based off recommendations from the 2013 Symposium and knowledge and direction from the A-TRAC Advisory Group members, the design of the Symposium and evaluations show the 2014 Symposium was well received.

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