The Morrison-McCormack Government has made major investments recently to improve health outcomes for Indigenous Australians.

Almost $35 million has been invested in 42 key research projects in areas such as ending avoidable indigenous deafness and blindness and helping to eradicate chronic kidney disease through Round 1 of the Indigenous Australians Health Programme Emerging Priorities grants.

Federal Member for Cowper Pat Conaghan thanked Health Minister Greg Hunt and Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt for the funding and said it would help to improve health outcomes for local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

“Our Government is committed to achieving equality for indigenous Australians in health and life expectancy,” Mr Conaghan said.

“It is an important, basic human right that all people have access to health services and the education required for good physical health and mental wellbeing.

“I am pleased the Morrison-McCormack Government is investing $749,232 in a local Port Macquarie Aboriginal health clinic as its locally-led programs and practitioners will deliver improvements to indigenous people’s health.”

Werin Aboriginal Corporations CEO Fay Adamson said the grant will enable the health clinic’s information technology systems to be upgraded to today’s standards.

“Our Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation has been going for 14 years and we service over 4000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on Birpai County,” Mrs Adamson said.

“Our IT and data storage systems require a major upgrade and this grant will enable us to implement the right mix of hardware and software systems to ensure we continue to deliver a best practice model of care to our community.

“It will also enable us to provide tailored IT and data management training for our staff. This upgrade will result in efficient systems for our clinic and therefore improved services to our community.”

A further Emerging Priorities grant opportunity will be opened later in 2020.

The Emerging Priorities grant programme builds on the Morrison Government’s $35 million, three-year investment in the Telethon Kids Institute, to lead a national consortium to accelerate one of four existing Strep A vaccine candidates into a clinical trial, working with researchers around Australia and the world.

In Australia, diseases caused by Strep A disproportionately affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 94 per cent of new cases of acute rheumatic fever – the precursor to rheumatic heart disease – occur among Indigenous Australians. When left untreated, rheumatic heart disease can lead to permanent disability and premature death.

Media Contact:
Mr Conaghan – Liz Spry 0418 928 744