Newsletter date: 22 March 2014
Contents:
* SNAICC's Statement for National Close the Gap Day
* NACCHO Close the Gap day: The Portrayal of Aboriginal Health in Selected Australian Media
* Greens Senator Rachel Siewert: Senate marks National Close the Gap Day
* CAAMA Radio Photos: National Close The Gap Day Alice Springs 2014
* Closing the Gap speeches, articles and news
* SNAICC'S STATEMENT FOR NATIONAL CLOSE THE GAP DAY
- Media Release
SNAICC News: Media release 20 2014 March SNAICC's Statement for National Close the Gap Day
[SNAICC: Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care]
http://www.snaicc.org.au/news-events/fx-view-article.cfm?loadref=32&id=1384
http://www.snaicc.org.au/news-events/dsp-default-e.cfm?loadref=86&txnid=...
20 Mar 14: "Statement by SNAICC Chairperson Sharron Williams on Closing the Gap Day The Australia
Boost Indigenous early childhood funding - or risk failure on new school attendance target ...
Government must provide a substantial boost to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander early childhood education services if it is to meet its new Closing the Gap target on Indigenous school attendance rates and achieve sustained success in other target areas.
SNAICC welcomes the Government’s new target and agrees with Prime Minister Abbott that closing the gap on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander disadvantage cannot be achieved unless there is significant progress in education outcomes.
Improving school attendance rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children is certainly an important start. But measures under the new target should go far beyond simply marking names off school rolls.
To make meaningful progress, measures must also engage our children and families in the education system, which in turn must be more responsive to their needs and strengths. And there must be more focus on preparing children for school - having them healthy, confident and excited to learn. ... "
* NACCHO CLOSE THE GAP DAY: THE PORTRAYAL OF ABORIGINAL HEALTH IN SELECTED AUSTRALIAN MEDIA
- Media Release
NACCHO Close the Gap day: The Portrayal of Aboriginal Health in Selected Australian Media
[NACCHO: National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation]
http://nacchocommunique.com/2014/03/19/naccho-close-the-gap-day-the-port...
19 Mar 14: "One of the factors impacting on the relationship of Indigenous Australians with mainstream society is the way in which the media portray Indigenous people and issues. There is growing research that suggests negative media portrayals in relation to Indigenous Australians perpetuates racist stereotypes among the wider population and that this type of racism has a major impact on the health of Indigenous Australians
Portrayal of Indigenous Health in Selected Australian Media Melissa J. Stoneham Curtin University
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (herein referred to as Indigenous Australian) comprise three percent of the Australian population (Australian Government, 2013). Distributed across the continent, Indigenous Australians are one of the most linguistically and culturally diverse populations in the world. It is commonly acknowledged that health outcomes for this group are lower than those of non-Indigenous Australians."
Download the Report here: The Portrayal of Indigenous Health in Selected Australian Media Melissa J. Stoneham Curtin University:
http://www.naccho.org.au/download/aboriginal-health/Portrayal%20of%20Ind...
* GREENS SENATOR RACHEL SIEWERT: SENATE MARKS NATIONAL CLOSE THE GAP DAY
- Media Release
Greens Senator Rachel Siewert: Senate marks National Close the Gap Day
http://rachel-siewert.greensmps.org.au/content/media-releases/senate-mar...
20 Mar 14: "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Issues
The Senate has marked National Close the Gap Day by urging federal, state and territory Governments to continue to work together to achieve important outcomes in health and life expectancy.
"National Close the Gap Day highlights the importance of action to address the unacceptable gap that remains in life expectancy and health outcomes between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people," Senator Rachel Siewert, Australian Greens spokesperson on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues said today.
"I welcome the Senate's support of the motion put today by Senator Nova Peris and myself, which encourages the Government to deliver on the recommendations of the 2014 report of the Close the Gap Steering Committee.
"The Steering Committee has called for the implementation and monitoring of a comprehensive National Action Plan on health, and has highlighted the need for meaningful partnerships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities and health services. ... ""
* CAAMA RADIO PHOTOS: NATIONAL CLOSE THE GAP DAY ALICE SPRINGS 2014
- Photos
CAAMA Radio: National Close The Gap Day Alice Springs 2014
[CAAMA: Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association]
http://caama.com.au/national-close-the-gap-day-alice-springs-2014
20 Mar 14: "Around 150,000 Australians are expected to join this year’s National Close the Gap Day on the 20 March a day which excerices the high importance of closing the life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples within a generation."
* CLOSING THE GAP SPEECHES, ARTICLES AND NEWS
- News
SNAICC News: Closing the Gap speeches - March 2014
[SNAICC: Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care]
http://www.snaicc.org.au/news-events/fx-view-article.cfm?loadref=32&id=1361
5 Mar 14: "Three Closing the Gap speeches have recently been given in Parliament calling upon the Government to provide long term funding to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander early childhood and family services across the nation. After meeting with a delegation from SNAICC, Members of Parliament Sharon Claydon, Kate Ellis and Andrew Leigh all spoke in support of stable, ongoing funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander early learning and family centres. The speeches come at a critical time with services facing an uncertain future beyond June 2014."
- News
NACCHO Aboriginal health: Four Aboriginal Doctors - Closing the Gap on Palm Island by establishing new medical centre
[NACCHO: National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation]
http://nacchocommunique.com/2014/03/13/naccho-aboriginal-health-four-abo...
13 Mar 14: "Our whole team is made up of diverse people, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal staff and our achievement comes from being connected. Whilst we are all different people, from different backgrounds, we have a commonality in our commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and this enables our success, ... My links are to Palm Island. I love Palm Island and that we are now able to offer equitable health services." Dr Raymond Blackman
- News
NACCHO Aboriginal Health: Record number of Australians speak up for National Close the Gap Day
[NACCHO: National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation]
http://nacchocommunique.com/2014/03/13/naccho-aboriginal-health-record-n...
13 Mar 14: "It’s clear that Australians care about this issue and expect our leaders to act, Progress is starting to be made on Indigenous health, as outlined by Prime Minister Tony Abbott last month in his closing the gap speech to Parliament. ... The target to halve the gap in child mortality within a decade is on track to be met, and smoking rates amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are going down. ... But there’s still a long way to go, which is why we need Federal and State Governments to take a coordinated approach and continue funding Indigenous health initiatives in order to build on the progress already made." Indigenous Rights Policy Advisor Andrew Meehan
- Analysis / Opinion
ANTaR Victoria: Reflections on Close [Closing] the Gap Reports
http://antarvictoria.org.au/news/reflections-on-close-%5Bclosing%5D-the-...
"It was great to see the politicians in the same room, at the launch of the CTGC [Close the Gap Campaign] report and in Parliament. But for positive change to happen, the principles of community control, cultural safety and appropriate resourcing must be adhered to. Otherwise we will never get beyond good intentions and never break the habit of paternalism." By Peter Lewis
- Video
NITV News: Community involvement needed to improve eye health
By Myles Morgan; Source NITV News
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/03/13/community-involvement-need...
13 Mar 14: "Health experts have met in Melbourne to discuss what needs to be done to close the gap in eye health. ... “One of the most important things we've got to get across is it must be Aboriginal led and it has to be with us, not for us, to make the changes that are required to the system,” said CEO of NACCHO, Lisa Briggs. But the report also notes that millions of dollars will be required to fully deliver on its recommendations." By Myles Morgan
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