The Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council (AH&MRC) unveiled a new logo at their Annual General Meeting in October 2022, that aligns with the new vision and structure that the AH&MRC has embedded in the Strategic Plan for 2022 – 2025.
This logo will take effect 1st of January 2023.
The current logo represents twelve regions, whereas the new structure of the AH&MRC only has four regions. The shape has also changed, from being the state of New South Wales (NSW), to a circle, to reflect that some of our programs and partnerships have now expanded beyond NSW.
The new logo centres around AH&MRC as the middle unit and that represents a notion of gathering or meeting place. As the regions have all been divided into four, the logo shows that the AH&MRC reaches our eight sub-regions under the four regions which covers the state of NSW.
The artwork for the new AH&MRC logo was created by artist and Kamilaroi woman Rhonda Sampson.
The AHMRC Service Performance and Quality (SPQ) staff had the privilege of attending and being part of Western Sydney University (WSU) Innovative event. This event was a chance for the team to network with other service members as well as hear about the new informative talks and presentations from industry specialists.
The SPQ Team Kay and Richie attended and presented on behalf of the AH&MRC’s SPQ Team.
The SPQ presentation was informing and talking about the requirements for placement of medical students in an ACCHS, Cultural Awareness Training, Safety and Quality, Risk Management, Accreditation standards and Practice Incentive Teaching Payments.
The agenda included:
Day 1. WSU immersed us in full cultural day, cultural site visits including some dancing on the beach, a River Cruise and a visit to Werrin Aboriginal Medical Service.
AH&MRC in collaboration with Telstra Health delivered Communicare training in Kempsey from 25th to 27th October 2022.
Despite the rain and flooding in most parts of the NSW, 15 ACCHS staff attended the training, 11 were from Durri Aboriginal Corporation Medical Service, 2 from Orange Aboriginal Medical Service, and 2 from Riverina Medical and Dental Aboriginal Organisation.
Two trainers from Telstra Health conducted the training – Tamara Clarke (lead trainer) being a new trainer was accompanied by Steve White (Communicare IT developer) to support her. Both the trainers were friendly and provided a lot of opportunities to ask questions and talked about real-life examples from each AMS present in the training.
Overall, the attendees provided positive feedback and found the training to be valuable for their roles. Few constructive feedbacks have been taken into consideration to further improvise the future training.
The AH&MRC hosted its first Indigenous Health Summit on the 13th-14th September at Sydney’s CBD Mercure Hotel. The event was attended by over 200 guests and brought together Aboriginal Health experts from across the country to discuss issues facing the sector and solutions to address these as we progress the Closing the Gap agenda.
Over the two days, we heard from over twenty speakers, who covered topics ranging from funding and commissioning of Aboriginal health services, supporting and building the Aboriginal health workforce and addressing food security.
Some of the insights we heard included:
Transport issues continue to challenge Aboriginal communities. Participants noted the need for transit lounges, disability access, sensitivity to women and men’s business and that all transport services must be multi-faceted.
Service integration and the relationship between Aboriginal health services and mainstream hospitals must be addressed through a collective approach. The model of care used during the 2019 Pandemic gave mainstream services an opportunity to take responsibility for cultural learning – this same approach must be used as we move forward with our CTG agenda.
Sterile environments based on Western health models do not support Aboriginal communities, and that funding must be moved from legacy organisations to ACCHOs.
Housing impacts all aspects of Aboriginal life and health. Participants highlighted the need to move towards a “universal housing” approach, designing houses for Aboriginal legacy. There is a need for Indigenous-led architecture, where we move from designing “houses” to designing homes for Aboriginal communities.
The AH&MRC would like to thank all attendees who participated in the event and came along for the three days. The input we received will be critical in shaping the AH&MRC’s ongoing policy and advocacy work.
Check out what some of our guests had to say about the event below!
“Attending Closing the Gap on Indigenous Health in Sydney is a fantastic opportunity to learn from each other on what is working well and what requires changing”
“The open conversations, the ability to listen to everyone’s story, genuine collegiality and a deep respect and regard for our community and the work each of us do – what a fantastic day”
“The variety of speakers and the selection of topics was great! With such an expansive variety of people in the room.”
“The panel discussions were amazing- they gave us all an opportunity to discuss the ‘on the ground’ issues and hear about the enormous commitment of individuals and community lead organisations working to improve health and wellbeing outcomes”
“What an event! I got to network and build relationships with other Mobs, especially community controlled, and was able to discuss key issues around burnout, employment, and retention. I really enjoyed both days, and all speakers stood out to me”
The graphics were developed by Rachel Apelt, a graphic recorder and facilitator from Artbalm. They capture the key issues that were discussed over the two days.
This week, Treasurer Jim Chalmers delivered the 2022-23 Federal Budget.
The AH&MRC particularly welcomes the $314 million allocated towards Aboriginal Health, which fulfils the ALP’s election commitments. Notably, only $30 million will be spent in this financial year. The package includes:
$164.3million over 4 years to invest in modern health clinics in areas of large and growing Aboriginal communities;
$14.2 million over 3 years to tackle Rheumatic Heart Disease in high-risk Aboriginal communities;
$22.5 million over 3 years for a dedicated Birthing on Country Centre of Excellence at Waminda (an AH&MRC Member); and
$54.3 million over 4 years to deliver up to 500 First Nations traineeships, the lion share of which the AH&MRC would like to see diverted to New South Wales, which accounts for 34 per cent of the national Aboriginal population.
The Government also announced a $143.3 million investment (over 4 years) in rural and regional health. The package includes measures to support primary care services, training, workforce incentives and trials for innovative models of care. The AH&MRC hopes that this funding will have real, on-the ground impacts, for our members in regional New South Wales who have faced persistent workforce shortages, on top of the many challenges of delivering healthcare in remote communities.
An additional $13.0 million (over 4 years) was allocated towards mental health supports for communities impacted by major flooding in New South Wales. This includes $8.5 million for youth mental health services in Ballina and Hawkesbury and $4.4 million for urgent mental health supports for impacted communities. This funding is much needed for the AH&MRC’s members in the Northern Rivers, who have been calling for mental health and infrastructure funding to support their communities to address the ongoing trauma and rebuild.
These are just a few in a large suite of Aboriginal health initiatives. The AH&MRC commends the Federal government for its commitment, however, acknowledges that there is still a long way to go in closing the health gap for our communities.
On the 24th of November, the AH&MRC will be hosting the Deadly Doctors Forum at the Crowne Plaza at Coogee Beach. The Deadly Doctors Forum is being held in conjunction with the Rural Doctors Network, who will be holding the 2022 Rural GP’s Conference from the 24th-27th of November at the same location.
The Deadly Doctors Forum will be a great opportunity for current General Practitioners and General Practitioners who are considering working in the sector to meet and discuss the critical issues that affect their work and the sector.
On the agenda we have the following people presenting, with more to be confirmed:
Dr. Kathryn Hutt
Dr. Hutt will talk about the importance of self-care and peer support for GP’s.
Dr. Joseph Lawler
Dr. Lawler will discuss Hepatitis B and C and bowel cancer screening in Aboriginal communities.
Dr. Megan Elliott-Rudder
Dr. Elliot-Rudder will talk about the newly released maternity booklet on maternal models of care.
If you would like to register for the conference, please click this LINK
The National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032 (National Plan) has launched on Monday, 17 October 2022.
The National Plan is the policy framework that will guide all parts of society, including governments, businesses and workplaces, media, schools and educational institutions, the family, domestic and sexual violence sector, communities and all individuals and the actions towards ending violence against women and children over the next 10 years.
Robert Skeen, AH&MRC Chief Executive Officer, and Co-Deputy Chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Council on family, domestic and sexual violence states “This is amongst some of the initiatives that are being implemented as we start to prioritise key issues throughout the community by implementing steps starting from prevention to healing”.
The National Plan sets out actions across four domains:
Prevention – working to change the underlying social drivers of violence by addressing the attitudes and systems that drive violence against women and children to stop it before it starts.
Early intervention – identifying and supporting individuals who are at high risk of experiencing or perpetrating violence and prevent it from reoccurring.
Response – providing services and supports to address existing violence and support victim-survivors experiencing violence, such as crisis support and police intervention, and a trauma-informed justice system that will hold people who use violence to account.
Recovery and healing – helping to reduce the risk of re-traumatisation, and supporting victim-survivors to be safe and healthy to be able to recover from trauma and the physical, mental, emotional, and economic impacts of violence.
This week, Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council (AH&MRC) CEO Robert Skeen was appointed Co-Deputy Chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Council on family, domestic and sexual violence.
This honour was recognised by the Honourable Amanda Rishworth Minster of Social Services, where she congratulated and thanked Mr. Skeen for his work to date as a member of Advisory Council for past year of involvement.
Mr. Skeen is already part of 18 committees including co-chair of the NSW Coalition of Aboriginal Peak Organisations (CAPO) and is also the NSW representative on the Joint Council of National CAPO.
Mr. Skeen is a strong leader and advocate for the Aboriginal community who has a proven track record of high-level leadership through showing his passion for Innovation and Change Management. He has worked in the Government and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (ACCHO) sector for almost 25 years, including in organisational leadership roles in the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales.
Mr. Skeen states “I am honoured to have been appointed Co-Deputy Chair as I want to see as many initiatives delivered for our Aboriginal communities where we’re strategically making an impact for future generations:”.
Monday 17 October 2022 National Convention Centre, Canberra
The National Youth Conference will bring together up to 100 youth from around Australia to gain experience and exposure to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sector on a national level. During the conference the youth will engage in discussion, share their experience and learn from other peers from across the country. The conference will allow the youth to learn about informing policy, influencing change and provide a pathway so their voices are heard and represented by NACCHO throughout the sector.
The AH&MRC is supporting member services to attend NACCHO’s Youth Conference. This will include support with travel, accommodation and travel allowance.
If you are one of our Member Services, you can register here.
To register for the event or for any non-members, please follow register here.
The second Jurisdictional Implementation Plan on Closing the Gap was released on Wednesday the 31st of August. As a member of NSW CAPO, the AH&MRC has played a central role in the development of this plan, using it as an opportunity to progress reform within and expand support for the Aboriginal Health sector.
Many of the initiatives outlined in the Plan will directly impact your services and communities and it is important for the AH&MRC that we bring our members along on this journey. As such, we will be hosting an online information session to go through the 2022-24 Implementation Plan on Tuesday the 11th of October from 10am- 11:30am and Thursday the 13th of October 1pm-2:30pm.
The online presentation will go over the key initiatives in the new implementation plan and how they will affect member services and their communities, including upcoming funding opportunities.
The information session will also give member services a chance to clarify any questions they may have around the new initiatives and give AH&MRC feedback on how they want to be engaged in the reform process.
Please respond to the SmartSheet link below by COB 7th October 2022.
