| health: news index (return to Indigenous health page) |
| National Indigenous Health Equality Council will help close the gap 9 July 2008 - HREOC - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, TomCalma, today welcomed the establishment of the National Indigenous Health Equality Council and the appointment of its members by the Minister for Health and Ageing, |
| The lives sent down the drain 5 July 2008 - Remote Aboriginal communities are still suffering from the almost incomprehensible neglect and incompetence of government. |
| The Good Will to 'Close the Gap' 3 July 2008 - An Indigenous baby boy born in Australia today should not expect to see his 60th birthday. If he is lucky, he might make it to 64. On the other hand, a non-Indigenous baby boy born somewhere in Australia today can expect to live until he is 81, getting to know not only his grand-children but possibly his great grandchildren. |
| Life’s a black and white divide 25 June 2008 - IT IS one of our most troubling national issues: the gap between the health of indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. Now, after decades of debate on how to fix it, researchers have discovered a confronting reality — the gap is getting wider. |
| Aboriginal health 'litany of shame' 25 June 2008 - Indigenous Australians' health was a ''litany of shame'', former health minister Neal Blewett said yesterday. |
| NT intervention Indigenous health checks 'nothing new' 20 June 2008 - It is a year this weekend since former prime minister John Howard and his Indigenous affairs minister Mal Brough declared the sexual abuse of Indigenous children in the Northern Territory a national emergency. |
| Aboriginal kids' health worse in NT: research 17 May 2008 - New research shows that health services for Aboriginal children in remote areas of the Northern Territory are relatively good, but that they have worse health than in other regional areas. |
| $10 Billion Health Fund must be used to close Indigenous health gap 14 May 2008 - Media Release ANTaR - A significant portion of the $10 billion Nation Building Health Fund announced by the Treasurer last night should be earmarked for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health care, according to Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR). |
| Indigenous health budget 'a bit short': AMSANT 7 May 2008 - The Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance has described the Northern Territory budget for the next financial year as being 'light' on funding for health services in remote areas. |
| Statistics show little improvement in Indigenous life expectancy 29 April 2008 - New figures on Indigenous health and welfare indicate little improvement in mortality rates. |
| Indigenous Health Education Essential To Close The Gap, Australian Medical Students' Association 23 April 2008 - Indigenous health education in medical schools needs to be improved if we are to achieve the aims of "Close the Gap", the Australian Medical Students' Association warned. |
| The battle for Aboriginal rights 15 April 2008 - New Statesman UK - An apology from Kevin Rudd to Australia's aboriginals and a pledge about closing the life expectancy gap are steps in the right direction |
| Landmark housing project for NT Indigenous communities 12 April 2008 - A landmark joint housing program between the Australian and Northern Territory Governments will deliver vital construction, refurbishment and infrastructure developments, as well as jobs in 73 Northern Territory Indigenous communities and some urban areas. |
| Rudd pledges annual update on indigenous crusade 6 April 2008 - A Progress report by the Government on how it is closing the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians will be made on the first working day of every parliamentary year, Kevin Rudd has pledged. |
| Historic signing of Statement of Intent between Australian Government and Indigenous peoples on health equality 20 March 2008 - Media Release - Historic signing of Statement of Intent between Australian Government and Indigenous peoples on health equality (the first from HREOC and the second from the Close the Gap coalition). |
Reconciliation Australia applauds a new alliance to turn good intentions into measurable actions |
Utopia study outcome bucks trends |
Attacking the great digital divide |
| Financial services sector unites around reconciliation agenda 26 February 2008 - media release - In an industry where competition rules, Australia’s four big banks along with credit unions and building societies are working side by side to make their own unique contribution to reconciliation. |
| Prime Minister Rudd's Apology To The Stolen Generations An Important Step, Australia 4 February 2008 - Medical News Today UK - The Federal Government's plan for a formal apology to the stolen generations - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who were removed from their families and communities as part of the assimilation policies of the governments of the day, is a welcome and long overdue move, according to the Australian Psychological Society. |
| Indigenous Health Education: Fostering A Fresh Approach, Australia 16 January 2008 - Medical News Today UK - The Australian Medical Students' Association (AMSA) released a report urging stakeholders in medical education to recognize the importance of Indigenous Health in medical school curricula. |
| Northern Territory Intervention - Help Or Hindrance? Australia 9 December 2007 - Medical News Today UK - The Government's Northern Territory Intervention, aimed at improving health and living conditions in Indigenous communities, has been met with mixed reviews in a collection of articles published in the latest Medical Journal of Australia. |
| Addressing extreme disadvantage through investment in capability developement 6 December 2007 - Ken Henry Secretary to the Treasury - Thank you to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), and to Dr Penny Allbon in particular, for organising this conference and inviting me to speak. The AIHW’s report ‘Australia’s welfare 2007’ is the eighth in a long standing biennial series published by the AIHW but is the first under the stewardship of Dr Allbon. |
| Northern Territory Indigenous Initiative Must Be Reviewed And Health Checks Extended Nationally 29 November 2007 - AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, urged the new Government to bring forward its promised review of the Northern Territory Indigenous initiative and look to extend the successful health programs nationally to benefit all Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders. |
| Indigenous Health Needs Significant National Solutions, Australia 15 Nov 2007 - Medical News Today UK - AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, said that the health of Indigenous Australians has been forgotten in this election campaign. |
| Closing the Space Between Us - The Rights of Aboriginal Children 2nd November 2007 - Today we begin by remembering all the journeys of the Awabakal Ancestors with their children across this land around us. I thank the Traditional Owners and I honour the strength and the value of Aboriginal Culture. This is not, as some Culture War warriors would say, romanticising the past. We cannot understand the scale of the crisis threatening Aboriginal children today unless we have a clear understanding of what has happened to these children in the longer timelines of history. |
| New Government, New Hope For Indigenous Australians? 2 Nov 2007 - The "symbolic infrastructure" of the Howard Government in Australia needs to change in order for Indigenous Health in Australia to progress, says a Special Report in this week's edition of The Lancet. |
| Alcoholism in Australia: The wives who said time, gentlemen... 31 October 2007 - The Independent UK - On the banks of the Fitzroy river, in the remote Kimberley region of north-west Australia, stands the century-old Crossing Inn, a squat brick building with a facade adorned with paintings by local schoolchildren. |
| International Indigenous health leaders call for Improvement in the health of Australia's Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders 19 October 2007 - NACCHO Media Release - Late yesterday at the close of the 4 day international conference of the International Network of Indigenous Health Knowledge Development (INIHKD) in Rotorua the Network issued the Aotearoa Declaration. |
| Howard's Backflip on Indigenous Recognition is NOT the Key to Reconciliation 19 October 2007 - AHCSA Media Release - John Howard's decision to overturn more than a decade of resisting the recognition of Australia's Indigenous people is welcome news for many Indigenous Australians but it is not an apology says Chief Executive Officer of the Aboriginal Health Council of SA Inc., Mary Buckskin. |
| National Close the Gap Day success 20 September 2007 - Media release Oxfam - National Close the Gap day on Tuesday 18 September was celebrated at more than 300 events across the nation – in all state capitals but also as far and wide as Cooper Pedy (SA), Mt Sheridan (the Gulf in Qld), Kununurra (WA), Wagga Wagga (NSW) and Launceston (Tas). |
| Surplus could help black health: Calma 6 September 2007 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Tom Calma has called for some of the record federal budget surplus announced by the federal Treasurer recently to be spent on improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. |
| Caritas applauds Indigenous communities doing it for themselves Caritas Australia congratulates its Indigenous development partner Unity of First Peoples Australia (UFPA), for the dramatic impact its diabetes program has had in addressing this important Indigenous health issue. |
| A human rights based approach is vital to address the challenges in Indigenous communities 26 June 2007 - Media Release - The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) has welcomed the Australian Government’s announcements to act to protect the rights of Indigenous women and children in the Northern Territory and urges it to adopt an approach that is consistent with Australia’s international human rights obligations. |
| The Children of the Sunrise 25 June 2007 - Speech - As my television program ended one night and the debate on the future of Aboriginal Australians was moving to another phase of tension and uncertainty, Patrick Dodson leant across the panel desk and said in a quiet, measured tone to Mal Brough : “Minister, it is not fundamentally about policy it is about how you value Aboriginal people as human beings.” |
A Statement from the Stolen Generations Alliance Malcolm Fraser, Lowitja O'Donoghue, Brian Butler |
| Holistic health approach 22 June 2007 - Anyinginyi Health Aboriginal Corporation welcomes the holistic health approach of the Commonwealth’s response to addressing Child Abuse in the Northern Territory, however does hold serious concerns on any draconian measures in land control and policing and implores the Prime Minister to be culturally sensitive in any approaches, forceful measures will not result in sustain positive change or participation by Aboriginal people. |
| Howard's plan is another 'Children overboard' 22 June 2007 - Media Release - The Northern Territory's peak Aboriginal health body has called the Prime Minister's plan to give sexual health checks to all Aboriginal children in the NT a racist, divisive and illegal act that would alienate people throughout the Territory and cause great social resistance. |
| The Awful Truth 14 June 2007 - It is widely known that before the 1967 referendum, Indigenous Australians were under the Flora and Fauna act. |
| Just what the doctor ordered: Federal AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua 3 June 2007 - Well, she's been described as feisty and outspoken, a Perth GP said to have both the personality and the political nous to put health back on the agenda in the lead up to the federal election. |
| Aboriginal health 'a hundred years behind whites' 2 May 2007 - The Independent UK - Health standards among Australia's Aborigines are as poor as those among the white population before the advent of penicillin nearly a century ago, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). |
| Aboriginal health '100 years behind' other Australians 2 May 2007 - The Guardian UK - The standard of health of Aborigines lags almost 100 years behind that of other Australians, with some indigenous people still suffering from leprosy, rheumatic heart disease and tuberculosis, according to a report for the World Health Organisation. |
| Worst in the world for indigenous health 1 May 2007 - THE health of Aborigines lags almost 100 years behind other Australians and they are the sickest indigenous people of all the wealthy nations, a report by the World Health Organisation says. |
| WHO slams Aboriginal health 30 April 2007 - The health of Aborigines lags a century behind other Australians, according to a new World Health Organisation report which condemns the Government's failure to apologise for the past. |
| British Lancet medical journal calls for defeat of Australian government 26 April 2007 - One of the world’s most respected medical journals, the British-based Lancet, has published an editorial calling for the defeat of Australia’s Howard government in this year’s federal election because of the damage it is inflicting on public health and medical research. |
| Fighting for a few more years 14 April 2007 - One man is ahead of the pack when it comes to improving the lives of his people, writes Margaret Smith. |
| Lift the death sentence on indigenous lives 9 April 2007 - In the past week, intense media attention has focused on the challenge Australia faces to close the gap in life expectancy between Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders and other Australians. It's hard to believe, but impossible to deny, that indigenous Australians live nearly 20 years less than the rest of us. |
| Australians overseas can help ‘Close the Gap’ in Indigenous health 5 April 2007 - Australian Olympic gold medallists Ian Thorpe and Cathy Freeman have launched an Indigenous health campaign that aims to ‘Close the Gap’ in life expectancy between Indigenous Australians and the broader community. |
| A sickening lack of progress 4 April 2007 - If progress, albeit slow progress, is being made in Aboriginal health, as the federal Health Minister, Tony Abbott claims, it owes more to panic decisions made 35 years ago than to anything that has happened under the Howard or Hawke or Keating governments. |
Olympians call to Close the Gap between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Health |
| Catherine Freeman and Ian Thorpe urge Australia to close the gap on Indigenous health 4 April 2007 - Olympic champions Catherine Freeman and Ian Thorpe returned to Sydney's Telstra Stadium today to launch Australia's largest ever campaign to improve Indigenous health. |
| Australia ranked bottom of wealthy nations on Indigenous health 2 April 2007 - Oxfam Australia - Australia is ranked bottom of a league table of wealthy nations working to improve the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal peoples, according to a new report published today (April 2) by National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) and Oxfam Australia. |
| Organisations combine to achieve Indigenous health equality 19 March 2007 - A number of health organisations have gathered in Alice Springs ahead of a new Aboriginal health campaign to be launched next month. |
Federal AMA passes vote of ‘no confidence’ in Northern Territory Government’s ability to run health |
| Gaps Identified In Understanding Aboriginal Children's Health 8 February 2007 - (Medical News Today, UK) - Deakin University-Flinders University research team who reviewed all research on Aboriginal child health, development and wellbeing in Australia has found major gaps in knowledge, with significant implications for health service policy and delivery. |
| Govts accused of ignoring Indigenous health crisis 11 December 2006 - More than 30 of Australia's key medical and social welfare groups say Indigenous Australians are dying because of a lack of political will and action. |
| Beazley
will stake his reputation on indigenous health care 4 August 2006 - Kim Beazley has promised to make Aboriginal disadvantage his personal responsibility if he is elected prime minister. |
| Bring
the fever down 3 August 2006 - A health scourge among indigenous Australians demands a national response |
| Indigenous
cancer patients in Australia fare worse than their non- Indigenous counterparts 2 June 2006 - (Medical News Today UK) - Indigenous cancer patients in Australia have a 30% higher chance of death from cancer than their non-Indigenous counterparts, according to a paper in this week's issue of The Lancet. |
| The many faces of violence committed against and within Aboriginal communities must be addressed 19 May 2006 - (Media release AIDA) - As a group of professional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander doctors we categorically defend our children’s right to be safe and protected. We urge our fellow Australians and Government to be constructive, careful and considered in responding to issues of violence against and within our communities. |
| Indigenous doctors' have positive impact on Indigenous health 18 May 2006 - The Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association (AIDA) congratulates the Australian Medical Association (AMA) on endorsing the AIDA Healthy Futures: Defining best practice in the recruitment and retention of Indigenous medical students Framework. |
| Aborigine
health 'a scandal' 12 March 2006 - The Observer (UK) - Australia is lagging behind such nations as Canada and New Zealand in caring for the health of its indigenous people, says an Oxfam report. 'It's a national scandal,' the director Andrew Hewett said. Aboriginal people's life expectancy is still almost 20 years less than than other Australians. |
| Indigenous
Health And Social Justice - HREOC Reports Valuable Contributions To The
Debate, Australia 17 February 2006 - AMA (Australian Medical Association) President, Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, today welcomed the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) reports - Social Justice Report 2005 and Native Title Report 2005 - as valuable contributions in the ongoing debate to improve Indigenous health in Australia. |
| Inside
Australia's third world 15 September 2005 - Children begging for food, chronic health problems, overcrowded houses - this is not some basket-case nation but the reality of Aboriginal communities in northern Australia. As world leaders gather in New York to discuss poverty, Lindsay Murdoch looks at the distress in our own backyard. |
| Aborigines
dying faster than white Australians 26 August 2005 - Aborigines are dying at almost three times the rate of other Australians and have a life expectancy 17 years lower than the rest of the population, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said in a report on Friday. |
| Australian
Medical Association Indigenous Health Report Card focuses on low birth weight
babies 22 May 2005 - Australian Medical Association (AMA) President, Dr Bill Glasson, has launched Lifting the Weight, the AMA's fourth report card on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. |
| Poor
Aboriginal health traced back to birth 20 May 2005 - Rueters (UK) - Chronic health problems suffered by Australia's Aborigines can be traced to birth, a new report found on Friday, saying indigenous babies were twice as likely as others to be born underweight. |
| Aborigines
miss out on heart surgery 16 May 2005 - Aborigines are much less likely than other Australians to undergo artery surgery after a heart attack, despite being at higher risk of dying early from heart disease, a study has found. |
| Indigenous
Australians miss out 11 May 2005 - Once in a generation opportunity missed for Indigenous health The Federal Government's budget has failed to take advantage of a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reform the Third World health standards of Indigenous Australians, according to Australian aid agency Oxfam Australia. |
| Expert says Aboriginal infant mortality can be reduced with government help? 31 January 2005 - China Post (Taiwan) - The government must do more to combat infant mortality among Aborigines, whose babies die of unexplained causes at a rate six times higher than other Australian children, an expert on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) said Monday. |
| Call for election focus on Indigenous health 28 January 2005 - A peak body representing Aboriginal medical services (AMSs) across Western Australia has called for Indigenous health to be made a priority in the election campaign. |
| Parties urged to pledge more to Aboriginal health 4 October 2004 - TONY JONES: Economists have described this election campaign as the biggest orgy of promises and spending ever. |
| Aboriginal health needs $300m: AMA May 26 2004 - The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has used the annual Sorry Day to renew its call for increased indigenous funding. |
| 2004 Budget - real issues in Aboriginal Health forgotten 12 May 2004 - While welcoming the additional $40 million to continue the vital Primary Health Care Access Program (PHCAP), the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) the peak body of 128 Aboriginal Health Services across the country, said the Federal Government’s 2004-2005 budget failed to address the real health issues facing Aboriginal Australians. |
| An 'intolerable' sickness February 21 2004 - A new indigenous health initiative might have been more appropriately launched this week in Redfern than at Government House but the Governor, Marie Bashir, pointed out that Aborigines were among the healthiest people in the world when the first governor stepped ashore down the hill. |
| Institutional racism in Australian healthcare: a plea for decency 5 April 2004 - There is no dispute that Aboriginal health in Australia is both poor and very much worse than that of non-Aboriginal people, and their life expectancy at birth is about 21 years less for men and 19 years less for women. Among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males, 6.8% die in infancy, compared with 1% for the rest of the population. For females the figures are 6.7% and 0.8%. A large array of diseases are much more prevalent among Aborigines.1 |
| Study: Australian Aborigines die younger than other indigenous populations April 27 2004 - MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - Australian Aborigines are dying much younger than indigenous people in the United States, Canada and New Zealand, a study by Canada's University of Western Ontario revealed Tuesday. |
| We can cut black death rate: expert 26 March 2003 - The death rate among indigenous Australians could be cut by as much as 30 per cent in 10 years with an adequate level of investment in health services, ANU Professor Ian Ring said yesterday. |
| Aboriginal treatment is racism: Professor Stanley 22 March 2003 - The appalling health and living conditions endured by many indigenous Australians was a denial of their human rights, says Australian of the Year Fiona Stanley. |
| Public Report Card 2003 - Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Health Time for Action Australian Medical Association 6 March 2003 - One Year after the release of the AMA's first report card on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health not much has changed. |
| Fears for health of Aborigine children 26 December 2002 - Doctors in Australia's rugged Northern Territory say the number of malnourished Aboriginal children is rising sharply. |
| Aboriginal health ills still bleak 9 December 2002 - There was little or no improvement in Aboriginals' health between 1990 and 2000, according to a report in today's Medical Journal of Australia. |
| Aboriginal health 'scandalous' 24 May 2002 - A new report by the main doctors' group in Australia says the country has failed to improve the health of its 400,000 Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. |
| 500 more doctors and 650 more nurses needed June 25 2002 - Australia needs another 500 doctors and 650 nurses to tackle the woeful ill-health among indigenous people, according to a draft report to the federal Department of Health. |
| health: news index (return to Indigenous health page) |