❓ Mr. Abetz asks the Minister for Health about initiatives to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians. The Minister details investments in Indigenous employment within the health system and partnerships with Aboriginal medical services, highlighting specific examples and funding commitments.
AnsweredQoN 647Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
REMOTE INDIGENOUS
COMMUNITIES — CLOSING THE GAP
647. Mr P. ABETZ to the Minister for Health:
With my experience in assisting remote Indigenous
communities, I am pleased to see that the Liberal–National government
has such a strong commitment to closing the gap. With this in mind —
Mr P.C. Tinley :
Preamble!
The
SPEAKER : Member for Willagee, I think it was you; I recognise your voice. I
formally call you to order for the first time today.
Mr
P. ABETZ : With my experience in assisting remote Indigenous communities, I
am pleased to see that the Liberal–National government has such a
strong commitment to closing the gap. With this in mind —
Mr T.G. Stephens interjected.
Mr P. ABETZ : —
could the minister update the house on some of the initiatives the government
is conducting to help improve the lives of Indigenous Australians?
The
SPEAKER : Before you give your answer, Minister for Health; member for
Pilbara, I provide the same instruction to you, the simple instruction being
that I formally call you to order for the first time today.
COMMUNITIES — CLOSING THE GAP
647. Mr P. ABETZ to the Minister for Health:
With my experience in assisting remote Indigenous
communities, I am pleased to see that the Liberal–National government
has such a strong commitment to closing the gap. With this in mind —
Mr P.C. Tinley :
Preamble!
The
SPEAKER : Member for Willagee, I think it was you; I recognise your voice. I
formally call you to order for the first time today.
Mr
P. ABETZ : With my experience in assisting remote Indigenous communities, I
am pleased to see that the Liberal–National government has such a
strong commitment to closing the gap. With this in mind —
Mr T.G. Stephens interjected.
Mr P. ABETZ : —
could the minister update the house on some of the initiatives the government
is conducting to help improve the lives of Indigenous Australians?
The
SPEAKER : Before you give your answer, Minister for Health; member for
Pilbara, I provide the same instruction to you, the simple instruction being
that I formally call you to order for the first time today.
AnswerView source ↗
That is an excellent question and a
great opportunity for this government to talk about some of the work that has
gone into Indigenous communities in the state, and I thank the member for his
question and his obvious involvement in the past with Indigenous communities.
It is part of a Council of Australian Governments agreement that both the
commonwealth and the state invest considerable funds into closing the gap in
Indigenous communities. I focused on two things in the instructions I gave to
our health staff when we were preparing plans for how we spend that money to
try to assist Indigenous people in this state. First, I was very concerned
about the very low level of Indigenous employment under the previous
government, particularly in health. The member who has just been chastised
chaired the committee that looked into the number of Indigenous workers
employed by government. The number was very low, particularly in health, so I
insisted that a lot of work be done to put Indigenous employment in place
within the health system; something that I might say was very strongly
supported by the current director general, who made it a requirement of all his
senior staff that the employment of Indigenous people be a focus.
The second thing was developing partnerships with the
Aboriginal medical services, in particular, with the Geraldton Regional
Aboriginal Medical Service, with which we have had a great relationship in
growing the services that that organisation provides, particularly in some of
the more remote regions in that part of the state. We have contracted with not
only that service but all of those communities, using funding provided by the
state, which is part of our $117 million commitment over four years. I am
pleased to say that 400 new positions have been created as part of that, and
100 of those positions were for Indigenous people. That has provided a great
boost to Indigenous employment, mostly in those remote communities. A lot more
needs to be done, particularly in the area of ear health, and I am very
conscious of the need for us to grow the services we provide for Indigenous
people with regard to ear health. Some of it was in the metropolitan area. In
the electorates of the members for Rockingham and Kwinana, there is the
Rockingham Kwinana Aboriginal Wellness Centre, Moorditj Koort—members
will correct me if I have the pronunciation wrong. It has been doing a
fantastic job. More than 200 people, which is 10 per cent or the Aboriginal
population of the region, have registered as clients of that organisation.
Those people have been getting specialist appointments and the centre has been
organising health appointments and increased general practitioner
participation, with 25 GPs now referring people to that centre for treatment.
That, too, was funded under the Closing the Gap program. I think it is an
excellent example of how this government can work with Aboriginal people in
this state to close the gap on Indigenous health.
great opportunity for this government to talk about some of the work that has
gone into Indigenous communities in the state, and I thank the member for his
question and his obvious involvement in the past with Indigenous communities.
It is part of a Council of Australian Governments agreement that both the
commonwealth and the state invest considerable funds into closing the gap in
Indigenous communities. I focused on two things in the instructions I gave to
our health staff when we were preparing plans for how we spend that money to
try to assist Indigenous people in this state. First, I was very concerned
about the very low level of Indigenous employment under the previous
government, particularly in health. The member who has just been chastised
chaired the committee that looked into the number of Indigenous workers
employed by government. The number was very low, particularly in health, so I
insisted that a lot of work be done to put Indigenous employment in place
within the health system; something that I might say was very strongly
supported by the current director general, who made it a requirement of all his
senior staff that the employment of Indigenous people be a focus.
The second thing was developing partnerships with the
Aboriginal medical services, in particular, with the Geraldton Regional
Aboriginal Medical Service, with which we have had a great relationship in
growing the services that that organisation provides, particularly in some of
the more remote regions in that part of the state. We have contracted with not
only that service but all of those communities, using funding provided by the
state, which is part of our $117 million commitment over four years. I am
pleased to say that 400 new positions have been created as part of that, and
100 of those positions were for Indigenous people. That has provided a great
boost to Indigenous employment, mostly in those remote communities. A lot more
needs to be done, particularly in the area of ear health, and I am very
conscious of the need for us to grow the services we provide for Indigenous
people with regard to ear health. Some of it was in the metropolitan area. In
the electorates of the members for Rockingham and Kwinana, there is the
Rockingham Kwinana Aboriginal Wellness Centre, Moorditj Koort—members
will correct me if I have the pronunciation wrong. It has been doing a
fantastic job. More than 200 people, which is 10 per cent or the Aboriginal
population of the region, have registered as clients of that organisation.
Those people have been getting specialist appointments and the centre has been
organising health appointments and increased general practitioner
participation, with 25 GPs now referring people to that centre for treatment.
That, too, was funded under the Closing the Gap program. I think it is an
excellent example of how this government can work with Aboriginal people in
this state to close the gap on Indigenous health.
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