Bureaucrats and bleeding hearts: Indigenous health in Northern Australia

Book Review

Social Identities, 2009

In remote Australian Aboriginal communities, medical interactions between non-Aboriginal nurses and Aboriginal patients often use health narratives to enact and contest social identities. Nursing staff complain that Aboriginal patients do not comply with their prescribed medication nor attend the clinic appropriately. Nurses often blame these behaviours on irresponsibility and laziness. Conversely, Aboriginal people complain that nursing staff are racist and state that foods and medicines from the bush are more efficacious than biomedical treatment. Through medical interactions and discourse, non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal residents seek to circumscribe and challenge notions of Aboriginality.

Australian Health Review, 2008

Thirty-five interviews were conducted in a case study on the implementation of the Northern Territory Preventable Chronic Disease Strategy (PCDS) to explore the role of the health workforce in the implementation of Aboriginal health policy. There was a tendency for the workforce to implement those aspects of the policy that drew on existing skills in treatment and management and to avoid or delay implementation that required the acquisition of new skills in primary prevention. Factors that facilitated the implementation of the PCDS included the addition of new resources, employment of additional staff, training, increased commitment from managers, and the creation of dedicated chronic disease positions. Factors impeding implementation included insufficient numbers of service providers, too little support for current Aboriginal Health Workers, and high staff Aust Health Rev 2008: 32(1): 174-185 turnover.

2007

This thesis presents an ethnography of white researchers who work at the Darwin Institute

2011

This report was made possible by contributions from many people. Firstly and most importantly, we thank the participants for taking part in the focus group discussions, attending community forums and providing feedback in later phases of consultation, without which this research would not have been possible. Participation was confidential, so we are not naming all of the participants here, but to everyone who took part we say: Thank you. Your ideas, stories and suggestions were sincerely appreciated and highly valued. We hope you like the final report. The research was funded by the VicHealth Discovery grant program (Grant Number 2008-0077), and we thank them for funding research into Aboriginal health in Victoria. The research was carried out by: Co-investigators Aunty Shirley Firebrace, community Elder and co-investigator. Aunty Shirley conceptualised the original idea for the project and facilitated the first round of community consultation, as well as providing editorial insight for the report. Uncle Reg Blow, community Elder and co-investigator. Uncle Reg facilitated the second round of consultation and provided vital editorial input for the report.

1999

The thesis examines the history of Central Australia and specifically the development of health services in the Northern Territory. The continuing colonial realtionships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australia are explored as a reason for the peristence of poor Aboriginal health status, including the cycle of vself destructive behaviours. It rovides an explanation of the importance of community agency to address community problems, and the potential of community controlled ABoriginal health services as vehicles for such community action. 1ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many people have assisted in the development of my thinking about the issues around Aboriginal health presented in this thesis. Foremost have been the people I have worked with over the past 10 years in central

This booklet represents a range of successful Aboriginal health initiatives from around Australia. These Success Stories show that Aboriginal communities are taking initiative in tackling health problems, and that significant progress in improving Indigenous health is achievable through increased funding and support for initiatives which have Aboriginal communities at their centre. Most of the projects featured in the booklet are currently unsupported or under-supported by government, however, they provide models which could be extended or translated elsewhere, should they be so invited and there is the right support.

Social Science and Medicine, 2001

Over the past thirty years in Australia, there has been a recognition of the need for increasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in the management of their health services as part of the strategy to improve the poor health of Australia's indigenous peoples. The proliferation of Aboriginal Community-Controlled Health Services and the vigorous advocacy of groups such as the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation have significantly contributed to this recognition. This, combined with additional management opportunities in government service, has drawn attention to difficulties in recruiting and retaining appropriately experienced Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander managers, particularly in the northern states of Australia.

International journal for equity in health, 2016

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience inequity in health outcomes in Australia. Health care interactions are an important starting place to seek to address this inequity. The majority of health professionals in Australia do not identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people and the health care interaction therefore becomes an example of working in an intercultural space (or interface). It is therefore critical to consider how health professionals may maximise the positive impact within the health care interaction by skilfully working at the interface. Thirty-five health professionals working in South Australia were interviewed about their experiences working with Aboriginal people. Recruitment was through purposive sampling. The research was guided by the National Health and Medical Research Council Values and Ethics for undertaking research with Aboriginal communities. Critical social research was used to analyse data. Interviews revealed two main typ...

Human Rights Law Review, 2016

The Aboriginal Community Controlled Health sector in Australia has been described as a best practice example of the implementation of the right to self-determination as enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. By prioritizing the expression of Indigenous cultural values within a predominantly western health sector, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services shift the dynamics of power to centre Aboriginal knowledges, understandings and perspectives. The effect, over time, has been to establish more equitable health services based on principles of self-determination, empowerment and coexistence. In this article, I examine more closely the role of Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services and the tensions that exist in embodying the principles of self-determination and the right to health at international law in the Australian health care context.