The fifth meeting of the Regional Health Ministerial Advisory Panel (the Panel) was held in Sydney on 31 July 2024. Uncle Michael West from the Metropolitan Aboriginal Land Council provided a Welcome to Country. The meeting was chaired by Dr Richard Colbran - Chief Executive Officer, Rural Doctors Network.
The Hon. Ryan Park MP, Minister for Health and Minister for Regional Health has specifically requested a focus on strengthening Aboriginal health for the Panel. Aboriginal health is a standing item for meetings and this meeting was centered on topics relating to Aboriginal health and stakeholders.
The Panel heard from the three Aboriginal members of the panel, Christine Corby AM, CEO of Walgett and Brewarrina Aboriginal Medical Services, Scott Monaghan AM, CEO Bulgarr Ngaru Medical Aboriginal Corporation and Laura Hand-Ross, Murrumbidgee Local Health District Clinical Lead Mental Health, Drugs and Alcohol, Aboriginal Peoples. They spoke about strong partnerships to improve access to healthcare for Aboriginal people in our regional communities as well as the issues that still need to be addressed.
Guest speakers, Melissa Nathan, Wellness Manager from Walgett Aboriginal Medical Service and Suzanne Mahoney, Health Service Manager Collarenebri and Walgett Multipurpose Health Services in Western NSW Local Health District spoke about partnerships for service delivery and the need for comprehensive and holistic healthcare for Aboriginal people. They also shared learnings about ways to support and improve partnerships between Aboriginal Medical Services and Local Health Districts.
Darryl Wright. AM. Chief Executive Officer, Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation and Nathan Jones, Director of Aboriginal Health, South Western Sydney LHD presented to the Panel on the strong partnership between their services. They referred to mutual respect, transparency, effective governance and the principles of self-determination as being key to this partnership.
The Panel also valued hearing about the work underway to transform and improve Aboriginal Health. Nicole Turner, Acting Interim CEO, Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council of NSW and Geraldine Wilson, Executive Director, Centre for Aboriginal Health spoke about embedding Aboriginal voices and leadership into NSW Health policies, procedures and structures and the soon to be released Aboriginal Health Plan.
The Panel has agreed that racism has no place within the NSW health system and it concurs with the public statements of reconciliation by both The Hon. Ryan Park MP and NSW Health Secretary Susan Pearce AM.
Dr Michael Holland, Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Regional Health represented the Hon. Ryan Park, MP and attended for a discussion with Panel members on emerging issues with a focus on innovations in healthcare for regional communities that could be scaled across NSW.
The Panel also heard about progress on the 44 recommendations from the Rural Health Inquiry and the work on the 5 recommendations specifically focused on improving Aboriginal health. Discussion also took place regarding Recommendation 44 relating to whole-of-government approaches to securing improved health outcomes.
Panel Member, Kelly Foran, CEO and Founder of Friendly Faces, Helping Hands gave a presentation on her involvement on the project to address recommendation 5 from the Rural Health Inquiry - understanding the contributions of the charity, non-Government and local community sector to health in regional NSW. Kelly referred to the valuable role of these organisations and their contribution over many years and how support from government can ensure they continue to respond to the needs of the regional communities.
The next meeting will be held in October in Sydney.