WITH nearly one quarter of the state’s Aboriginal population living in the Hunter New England Health District, director of rural health Susan Heyman says the region has a crucial role to play in closing the gap in Indigenous health disparity.
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This year marked 10 years since the launch of the Close the Gap campaign, aimed at cutting disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous life expectancy.
The Hunter New England Local Health District has more than 34,000 Aboriginal residents within its boundaries, which accounts for nearly one quarter of the state’s Indigenous population.
Ms Heyman recently made a presentation at John Hunter Hospital on the NSW Aboriginal Health Plan, which is now entering its third year and how Hunter New England, was faring on the plan’s indicators.
Ms Heyman said it was “strategically multi-faceted” but getting more Aboriginal people into the health workforce would go a long way to bridging Indigenous and non-Indigenous health disparities, by creating culturally sensitive health delivery.
“The onus is on us to employ more Aboriginal staff,” she said.
Ms Heyman said employment benchmarks of 3.9 per cent were being exceeded, with rates sitting at 6.1 per cent of staff.
She also said rates in some areas such as oral health and drug and alcohol were up around 9 or 10 per cent.
“Half of the indicators are improving; half of the indicators are remaining steady,” she said.
Ms Heyman said the progress had been a great achievement.
“In terms of the immunisation rates, there has been a real success,” she said.
“Smoking rates among Indigenous women, in particular, is an area that still requires some work.”
Going forward, Ms Heyman said the focus would be to increase and retain more Aboriginal staff “while ensuring they are well-skilled and educated to take on a variety of roles”.
