Month: August 2021

The Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council of NSW (AH&MRC) is seeking health workers, to be employed on a temporary basis, in order to assist Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) to roll out the COVID-19 vaccines.

Due to the current outbreak in the Greater Sydney area, NSW is now seeing cases move into regional areas with high populations of Aboriginal people. ACCHOs have delivered safe and effective COVID-19 responses to their communities since the beginning of the pandemic. They have continued to provide strong communication around social distancing, isolation, and quarantine, and additional reactive activities in support of their community needs.

‘’ACCHOs are continuing to lead as the backbone of the NSW COVID-19 response for Aboriginal people. We are, however, concerned that this is leading to extreme COVID-19 burn out due to the ACCHOs already being significantly under-resourced’’. Executive Director of Operations at AH&MRC, Dr Peter Malouf said.

The AH&MRC is calling for health workers to assist with responding to COVID-19 and to ensure that COVID-19 does not continue to spread through Aboriginal Communities. AH&MRC is seeking health workers including clinical staff such as Aboriginal Health Practitioners (AHPs), General Practitioners (GPs),  Registered Nurses (RNs), Enrolled Nurses (ENs), and non-clinical staff particularly administration supports.

Health professionals interested in supporting the rollout can get in touch with the AH&MRC by completing the Expression of Interest form. To complete the form click here.

About us

The AH&MRC is the Peak Body for Aboriginal Health in NSW. We represent the views and interests of 47 Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations.

Contact

For more information contact squayle@ahmrc.org.au

With COVID-19 numbers growing across New South Wales (NSW) the AH&MRC has advocated for increased COVID-19 vaccines for Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) to ensure the safety of Aboriginal people and communities. AH&MRC is proudly supporting 46 clinics across 29 ACCHOs in NSW to deliver the COVID-19 vaccine, with 8 clinics set to receive record numbers of vaccine doses.

Outbreaks of COVID-19 in regional NSW over the last two weeks have seen COVID-19 cases emerge in areas such as Dubbo and Walgett with close contact locations including Maitland, Mudgee, Bathurst and Orange. As the Aboriginal Health Peak Body in New South Wales, the AH&MRC has played a central role in supporting the ACCHOs to roll out the COVID-19 vaccines.

ACCHOs have delivered safe and effective COVID-19 responses to their communities for nearly 18 months now since the pandemic began. Strong communication around social distancing, isolation and quarantine have led to small numbers of Aboriginal cases of COVID-19. The current outbreak in the Greater Sydney area is now seeing cases move out into regional areas with high populations of Aboriginal people. ACCHOs that were receiving up to 120 doses of the Pfizer vaccine per week are now set to receive up to 600 doses per week in high-risk areas.

“Partnerships between the AH&MRC and the Rural Doctors Network in NSW have been fundamental in ensuring the ACCHOs are equipped with enough protective equipment and have access to the workforce to roll the vaccine out efficiently,” said Dr Peter Malouf, Executive Director of Operations at the AH&MRC.

The AH&MRC has provided vaccine readiness support to ACCHOs across NSW as well as providing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to Aboriginal Lands Councils in NSW, Schools, and community groups keeping all Aboriginal people safe irrespective of whether they are patients of an ACCHO.

“In order to keep our people safe, it is essential that the ACCHO sector, including the AH&MRC, have the support of the Ministry of Health and other NSW Government branches. We are a priority population and we need action. We’re seeing workforce fatigue because we haven’t been resourced to be the leaders of the vaccine rollout for Aboriginal people. We can’t continue to foot the bill for this.” said Jade Hansen, Manager of Service Performance and Quality at the AH&MRC.

About us

The AH&MRC is the Peak Body for Aboriginal Health in NSW. We represent the views and interests of 47 Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations.

Contact 

For more information or media enquiries please contact comms@ahmrc.org.au

The Coalition of Peaks, the collective voice of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled sector, are today proud to announce the public release of their first Implementation Plan under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. All Parties to the Agreement are responsible for publishing implementation plans that are responsive to the differing needs, priorities and circumstances of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, communities and organisations across Australia.

“This Implementation Plan sets out the actions the Coalition of Peaks are and will be taking to fulfil our partnership responsibilities under the National Agreement, driving deep change in how governments work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people so that Closing the Gap outcomes are dramatically improved,” said Pat Turner AM, Lead Convenor of the Coalition of Peaks.

“Our plan prioritises building understanding of the National Agreement and promoting the advantages and opportunities it offers to our people, communities, and organisations, provided we participate fully, and governments are held to account for its implementation.

“Although we speak with a collective voice, we retain our separate identities. We bring together the voices, expertise and experiences of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled sectors from across the country to ensure the legitimacy of all our activities, actions and representations. We are accountable to our memberships and our communities we serve across Australia.

“The achievement of outcomes relies on the way in which the National Agreement is implemented, through sustained effort by all Parties working in genuine partnership with shared decision-making to achieve the agreed targets and outcomes over the long haul. All Parties are on a learning curve, and we look forward to strengthening and extending the partnership at national, state/territory and local levels.

“We know there are other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations that are not yet members of the Coalition of Peaks. That is why we will be talking with a broad range of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, regional governance bodies, representatives and community members in each state, territory and nationally.”

The Coalition of Peaks 2021 Implementation Plan is now available on the Coalition of Peaks website.

For more information please contact Tara Maps by emailing taraapps@coalitionofpeaks.org.au or calling 0429 098 613