Environmental Health
Planning to establish an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander environmental health workforce
“In mainstream Australia, hardly anyone recognises the role that environmental health plays. For the majority of the population, environmental health is silently present. Water, sanitation, rubbish, housing standards, food safety, everything is all taken for granted. In mainstream settings, there is no battle for recognition or resources for environmental health from finance departments. There is nothing more to prove and a fully resourced framework is in place. But Aboriginal environmental health is something else again. Aboriginal environmental health combines deep cultural knowledge of how things work in Aboriginal communities with these hard scientific facts about disease. Aboriginal environmental health must forge high-trust partnerships with community. Aboriginal environmental health is a community asset … and Aboriginal environmental health is needed now more than ever.”
– Pat Turner AM, CEO of NACCHO
NATSIEH Conference, Perth, 17 September 2019
What we do
NACCHO is leading the development of a National Strategic Roadmap, supported by funding from the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA). The Roadmap will integrate key stakeholder insights to support potential investment in an essential Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled environmental health workforce
Environmental health in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities involves addressing significant health risks by combining deep cultural knowledge with scientific approaches to prevent disease. NACCHO is committed to building high-trust partnerships with communities and supporting them in the development of culturally safe environmental health solutions.
Our initiative
Our key initiative focuses on expanding the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander environmental health workforce recognising the critical role they play in tackling high rates of environmentally attributable diseases.
This initiative is guided by an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Steering Committee which provides both technical and cultural guidance to shape the Roadmap, to ensure it aligns with the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. While NACCHO is not funded to create new jobs or services within this project, our aim is to advocate for future investment in a dedicated environmental health workforce.
Our approach
NACCHO’s approach is grounded in the National Agreement on Closing the Gap and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan. By working with member services and other stakeholders, we’re advocating for investment in a workforce that responds to the diverse environmental health challenges faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. This includes addressing the varying levels of policy readiness and capability across States and Territories, which have led to disparities in approaches to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander environmental health.
Our impact
NACCHO is working with members and affiliates to lay the groundwork for investment in an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce. Although we are in the early stages of this journey, our work is already helping to shape a future where environmental factors that negatively impact health are systematically addressed.
Through the development of the National Strategic Roadmap, we are taking significant steps toward building a skilled, nationally credentialled Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander environmental health workforce. This workforce will be key to reducing the high rates of environmentally related diseases that affect our communities.
About environmental health
The environment where people live and work significantly impacts their health. Environmental determinants of health include:
- Air pollution
- Climate change
- Exposure to chemical and radiation
- Housing risks
- Land use and built environment
- Noise
- Water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH)
When these factors are not properly addressed, they contribute to preventable health issues and inequities. Many diseases disproportionately affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are rooted in environmental conditions.
In 2010, the Australian Health Ministers’ Conference endorsed six Policy Principles for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Environmental Health, including the necessity of good environmental conditions, cross-portfolio collaboration, and the employment of trained Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander environmental health practitioners.
Environmental health was further identified as a priority in the My Life My Lead consultations in 2017 and is a key focus in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2021-2030, and in the sector’s Core Services and Outcomes Framework. This plan emphasises capacity building to ensure access to safe environments, sustainable housing, sanitation, water security, and disaster preparedness.
Action 4 (A4) of the Health Sector Strengthening Plan, endorsed by the Closing the Gap Joint Council in 2021, calls for investment in a permanent, nationally credentialed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Environmental Health workforce.
Other reports include:
- Action 1.7 of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workforce Strategic Framework and Implementation Plan 2021–2031, which outlines steps to grow and support the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Environmental Health Workforce.
- Action 4 (A4) of the ‘Health Sector Strengthening Plan’ endorsed by the Closing the Gap Joint Council in November 2021, which identifies the need to invest in a permanent, highly skilled, and nationally credentialed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Environmental Health workforce.
Case study
To begin consultation for the Roadmap, NACCHO hosted a 90-minute Aboriginal-led workshop in September 2022 in Darwin in association with the 13th NATSIEH conference.
Key themes to emerge from this workshop included:
- Training – the need for career pathways in environmental health and national consistency in assessing needs, training and credentialing.
- Funding – the need for more sustainable funding for training and employment, long-term contracts and decent wages.
- Workforce – increasing job opportunities through permanent funding as well as recruitment and retention so the workforce is connected to the communities where they are working.
- Partnerships, understanding and coordination – the need for increased understanding of the importance of environmental health and its scope, increased coordination and partnership between environmental health and other sectors, increased funding and strengthened Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership and control.
- Environmental Health Workforce Report, available here.
Resources
Committees
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Environmental Health Workforce Steering Committee
The purpose of the Environmental Health Workforce Steering Committee is to provide technical and cultural advice to guide the development of the National Strategic Roadmap for establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander environmental health workforce.
ACCHO locations
NACCHO oversees a network of 146 members, each running Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) across urban, regional, and remote Australia. These ACCHOs range from large facilities with multiple healthcare professionals providing comprehensive services to smaller centres focused on preventive care and health education, primarily delivered by Aboriginal Health Workers and nurses.
NACCHO’s Aged Care programs are delivered in selected locations across its network, ensuring culturally appropriate care reaches Elders and older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in diverse urban, regional, and remote communities.
Contact
For any inquiries or further information about the Environmental Health Workforce Roadmap, please contact the team at: ehw@naccho.org.au.
