- Register now for the 2025 NACCHO National Youth Conference!
- World Immunisation Day ACCHO Video Competition
- Culturally safe disability support is essential for Aboriginal Communities – VACCHO chief executive
- Strengthening health collaboration across the Pacific
- Sector Jobs
The NACCHO Sector News is a platform we use to showcase the important work being done in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, focusing on the work of NACCHO, NACCHO members and NACCHO affiliates.
We also share a curated selection of news stories that are of likely interest to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health sector, broadly.
Register now for the 2025 NACCHO National Youth Conference!
This year’s National Youth Conference is taking place on Monday 8 December 2025 at the Royal Randwick Racecourse, Sydney on Bidjigal & Gadigal Country. The National Youth Conference will bring together up to 100 youth from around Australia to gain experience and exposure to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sector on a national level. During the conference the youth will engage in discussion, share their experience and learn from other peers from across the country. The conference will allow the youth to learn about informing policy, influencing change and provide a pathway so their voices are heard and represented by NACCHO throughout the sector.
The NACCHO Members’ Conference will follow on Tuesday 9 December and Wednesday 10 December. The Conference theme is Strength Comes from Community Control.
To register, go here.
For more information, go here.
World Immunisation Day ACCHO Video Competition
World Immunisation Day’s coming up and that means… ACCHOs, it’s your time to shine! We want to see your most creative, cheeky, and clever ideas to get community rolling up their sleeves.
Create a fun, 90-second video that shows how we can Fab Jab & Roll Up, Show Up, Power Up for a stronger, healthier mob. Sing it, rap it, dance it, yarn it, act it, whatever gets the message out and makes people smile.
We will select a winning ACCHO from each category:
- Best Community Voice
- Best Storytelling/Narrative
- Best Original Song/Performance
- Best Humour/Comedy
- Best Youth-Led Video
- Most Innovative Approach
Winners will receive tickets, flights and accommodation to the 2025 NACCHO Members’ Conference.
Submissions close 1 November!
Submit your entry via: immunisations@naccho.org.au
Deadly video below by Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services.
Culturally safe disability support is essential for Aboriginal Communities – VACCHO chief executive
Disability services for Indigenous people must be culturally appropriate, respect kinship structures and embrace holistic understandings of health, the CEO of the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) has told a national summit.
Delivering the keynote address at the National Disability Summit in Melbourne, Dr Jill Gallagher warned that mainstream systems are failing First Nations communities and leaving many people without proper care.
Dr Gallagher stressed that if governments are serious about Closing the Gap, they must properly fund culturally safe disability services. She offered three practical steps for providers: build relationships with Aboriginal organisations to understand barriers; ensure recruitment practices are culturally safe; and support NDIS participants with Return to Country funding.
“It’s not just a one-size-fits-all approach, but holistic and culturally grounded services. If we want better outcomes for Aboriginal people living with disability, then support must be delivered safely, respectfully and grounded in our culture,” she said.
“If we are truly going to understand how to fix the structural problem of why Aboriginal and people with disability are not accessing the NDIS, then we need to understand the barriers that are preventing their access.”
Read more here.
Jill Gallagher speaking in Naarm last week. Image: Linkedin.
Strengthening health collaboration across the Pacific
Apunipima Cape York Health Council recently met with representatives from the Vanuatu Ministry of Health to engage in a productive exchange focused on Indigenous health systems and leadership.
The meeting provided an opportunity to share Indigenous knowledge and explore comparative approaches to community health workforce education, regulation, and practice. Both parties discussed the value of culturally grounded health models and the importance of supporting community-based health workers.
Key outcomes included the identification of strategies that may be adapted to improve service delivery and workforce development in both contexts. Participants also reflected on leadership development through field-based learning, noting increased confidence to advocate for change and contribute to policy discussions.
“The meeting was an example of how we can strengthen our organisations through building relationships with other Indigenous health organisations around the world. Through this meeting we created a foundation for ongoing collaboration and mutual support and this highlights the potential of Indigenous-to-Indigenous partnerships to strengthen health outcomes and leadership capacity across the industry,” said Apunipima CEO Deb Malthouse.
Image source: Apunipima Cape York Health
Sector Jobs – you can see sector job listings on the NACCHO website here.
Advertising Jobs – to advertise a job vacancy click here to go to the NACCHO website current job listings webpage. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find a Post A Job form. You can complete this form with your job vacancy details – it will then be approved for posting and go live on the NACCHO website.
Email us your story with some images to: NACCHOCommunicationsandMedia@naccho.org.au
and we will feature it in the news.
