- ‘Time for the rubber to hit the road’: Pat Turner calls on re-elected Labor government to step up
- Tom Calma call to change Indigenous Closing the Gap strategy
- New campaign urges greater awareness and screening for cervical cancer in First Nations communities
- New leadership for PSA Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Pharmacy Practice CSI
- 4th International Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Conference 2025: Donnella Mills keynote speaker
- 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.
‘Time for the rubber to hit the road’: Pat Turner calls on re-elected Labor government to step up
In the wake of the Albanese government’s landslide re-election, the longtime advocate, CEO of NACCHO, and convenor of the Coalition of Peaks is calling for stronger leadership on Closing the Gap.
She warns that key targets won’t be met unless governments fundamentally change how they work with First Nations communities.
“I expect [much] stronger leadership from the second term of the Labor government when it comes to the National Agreement on Closing the Gap,” Turner told Karla Grant on Living Black.
Turner says real change will only come when funding is tied to reform — and when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations are not sidelined by bureaucracy, but properly empowered to lead the work
Read the full article here.
Aunty Pat Turner says she expects stronger leadership from the second term of the Labor government when it comes to Closing the Gap. Source: AAP / LUKAS COCH/AAPIMAGE
Tom Calma call to change Indigenous Closing the Gap strategy
The decade-long national agreement on Closing the Gap signed in 2020 includes a promise to invest heavily in community-controlled Aboriginal organisations so they can do the work in key areas, including Indigenous health, child protection and crime prevention. This is based on evidence that results are often better when the service provider is a local Aboriginal organisation with locals on its board.
However, Tom Calma, whose 2005 social justice report inspired Kevin Rudd to create the first Closing the Gap agreement, says community-controlled organisations should not be bolstered at the expense of all else.
The former social justice commissioner says big numbers of Indigenous Australians use mainstream services and there should be a focus on ensuring those deliver what they are paid to deliver.
“Those community-controlled organisations by and large deliver a great service but we need to look at a move away from just investing in community-controlled Indigenous organisations and work much more with the private and public systems to ensure their services are culturally sound and safe,” Professor Calma told The Australian on Tuesday.
Read the full article here.
Aboriginal leader Tom Calma. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman
New campaign urges greater awareness and screening for cervical cancer in First Nations communities
Four of Australia’s leading health organisations recently joined forces with the federal government to ensure no one is left behind in the drive to eliminate cervical cancer in Australia.
The Australian Centre for the Prevention of Cervical Cancer (ACPCC), the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO), ACON and the Australian Multicultural Health Collaborative have united in a new federally funded campaign – the Own It campaign – to improve cervical screening rates by highlighting Australia’s world-leading HPV self-collect test.
NACCHO Deputy CEO Dr Dawn Casey said the new national campaign is “a significant step forward in raising awareness about cervical screening within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities”.
“It builds on the successful implementation of human papillomavirus (HPV) self-collection already taking place in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations,” she said.
Read more here.
Lowanna with a self screening kit. Image: Own It.
New leadership for PSA Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Pharmacy Practice CSI
The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) is proud to announce the appointment of a new leadership group for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Pharmacy Practice (ATSIPP) Community of Specialty Interest (CSI), chaired by respected pharmacist and proud Nywaigi Mamu woman, Chastina Heck MPS.
The ATSIPP CSI plays a vital role in championing culturally safe pharmacy practices, supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pharmacists, and improving health outcomes across communities. With the appointment of this new leadership group, PSA reaffirms its commitment to equity, representation, and empowering Indigenous voices within the profession. PSA recognises culturally safe care and equity of health care access as critical drivers to improving health outcomes.
he 2025 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Pharmacy Practice CSI Leadership Group includes:
- Chastina Heck MPS (Chair)
- Atinuke (Tinu) Abraham MPS
- Jaimee Anderson MPS
- Carli Berrill MPS
- Jenny Cooper MPS
- Hannah Mann (NACCHO)
- Dr Jared Miles MPS
- Yvette McGrath MPS
- Alice Nugent MPS
- Mike Stephens MPS
- Cheyne Sullivan MPS
- Kelly Tanner MPS
- Shi-Anne Wallace (inaugural NAPSA Indigenous Chair)
- Lisa Wark MPS
- Lucky Zeniou MPS
Read more here.
Image source: Pharmaceutical Society of Australia
4th International Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Conference 2025: Donnella Mills keynote speaker
Lowitja Institute is proud to welcome Donnella Mills as a keynote speaker at the 4th International Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Conference 2025.
A proud Torres Strait Islander woman with family ties to Masig and Nagir, Donnella is the Chair of NACCHO, a strong advocate for justice and community controlled health, and a dedicated legal professional. Her career spans frontline legal work, pioneering health justice partnerships, and national leadership roles that continue to shape policy and outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
For more information and the conference and to register, go here.
Image source: Lowitja Institute
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.
