Latest news with #AboriginalHealth
ABC News
5 days ago
- Health
- ABC News
Wellington Aboriginal Health Service placed into administration again after board disputes
An Aboriginal health service delivering care to more than 5,000 people across regional NSW and Western Sydney has been placed into special administration, with plans to split the organisation in two. Administrators were called to the Wellington Aboriginal Corporation Health Service (WACHS) after an investigation by the Registrar of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporations earlier this year. Registrar Trisha Stroud said the probe found disputes between the board's directors had halted meetings since March and had disrupted various parts of the organisation's operations. "There were a lot of allegations, but ultimately it meant that the corporation wasn't being governed effectively, or in a way that was both compliant with its rule books, or in a way in which members of a corporation could reasonably expect of their directors," Ms Stroud said. WACHS is responsible for providing health services to about 2,000 people in Wellington and Dubbo, as well as outreach services to another 3,000 people in Moree, the Blue Mountains, Penrith and Western Sydney. Its services include primary health care, child and maternal health, drug and alcohol programs, social and emotional wellbeing support, and a range of other specialist programs. The Office of the Registrar for Indigenous Corporations (ORIC) has vacated the board until February 2026. Ms Stroud said directors had expressed a desire to split WACHS back into two separate entities — a solely Wellington member-owned and controlled health service for regional NSW, and a Greater Western Sydney Aboriginal Health Service. The two regions were merged under a single governance structure during WACHS's last special administration in 2021. "That will require some business restructuring, a complete overhaul of the corporations rule book, but also close negotiations with the funding bodies that currently fund services to the Wellington Aboriginal Corporation Health Service but fund them for services in Wellington as well as Greater Sydney," Ms Stroud said. While the special administration is scheduled for six months, Ms Stroud would not rule out an extension. "So I can't rule out an extension, but members and clients of the service can be assured our intention is to restore the corporation as quickly as we can, and return it to member control. "We would never return a corporation back to members that still has legacy issues the new incoming board would inherit." She said any structural changes could affect staffing locations, but stressed the priority was "minimal disruption" to clients in both Wellington and Greater Sydney. "Inevitably the special administrator, as any board would do, will make some business and strategic decisions," she said. "That may result in restructuring of positions and where staff are located." The ORIC is responsible for the regulation of Aboriginal body corporates across the country, including registered native title groups. There have been previous cases of special administrations going longer than expected. The corporation previously went into special administration in 2021 after its board identified internal financial irregularities and requested regulatory intervention. That process lasted until May 2022 and was aimed at stabilising the organisation's operations. While it was the second time WACHS has been placed into administration, Ms Stroud said the two matters were unrelated. Matthew Mullen and Tony Jonsson from Grant Thornton Australia have been appointed as the joint special administrators until February 13, 2026. ORIC and the special administrators will hold information sessions in Dubbo and Sydney to update members on the process and answer questions.
ABC News
01-08-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Mixed progress on Closing the Gap
Nick Grimm: Australia is still largely failing to close the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in key health and welfare targets. The latest Closing the Gap report from the Productivity Commission has found only four out of 19 targets are on track to be met and that tough-on-crime policies are directly undermining progress. But there is some cause for optimism with improvements in First Nations employment and preschool enrolment, as Bridget Fitzgerald reports. Bridget Fitzgerald: Closing the Gap is an agreement. It's a promise between peak Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups and governments to address the political exclusion and institutional racism that's led to entrenched disadvantage among First Nations people. And while the failings are clear, so too are the successes. Catherine Liddle: In amongst it there's always, always pockets of light. Bridget Fitzgerald: Catherine Liddle is the CEO of SNAICC, the national advocacy group for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. The Productivity Commission's latest Closing the Gap report has found that only four out of 19 targets are on track to be met. With the rates of adult incarceration, children in out-of-home care, suicide rates and childhood development likely to continue to worsen. But Catherine Liddle says the areas that have seen improvements, including employment, preschool enrolment and land and sea rights, are the product of genuine government commitment and engagement with community. Catherine Liddle: Change is possible and that happens when you truly commit to the national agreement and those things that change the way communities are able to work with you. That's investing into community controlled approaches, listening to communities about the services that they need. Bridget Fitzgerald: The report found that nationally the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander incarceration is increasing and the target of a 15 per cent reduction by 2031 isn't on track to be met. Of the jurisdictions where Indigenous incarceration is getting worse, the Northern Territory had the largest increase. Selwyn Button is the Commissioner of the Productivity Commission and a Goongarrie man from southwest Queensland. He says there's a direct correlation between tough on crime policies, particularly in the NT, and poor Closing the Gap outcomes. Selwyn Button: You can't actually arrest your way out of an issue, but it's thinking about the different approaches to doing things. And if investment goes into early intervention, if they're investing in programs, working alongside community control organisations to think about diversionary activities, to think about therapeutic services, I think we'll get a far better response. Bridget Fitzgerald: Dr Hannah McGlade is an Associate Professor at Curtin Law School. We Dr Hannah McGlade: are seeing systemic racial discrimination in laws and a failure to implement important inquiries that we've had into these issues. Bridget Fitzgerald: Malarndirri McCarthy is the Minister for Indigenous Australians and Senator for the Northern Territory. She says it's clear high rates of incarceration, particularly the over-representation of youth offenders, continues to be a problem. Malarndirri McCarthy: I'm not saying that if you commit a crime you don't do the time. You must do the time that's equivalent to the crime. But we have to have a look at the statistics to ask why is it that we see so many young people before these courts who are in watch houses, who are in overcrowding. Bridget Fitzgerald: Meanwhile, the Federal Parliament has backed a motion today from Independent Senator Lydia Thorpe to acknowledge the recent death in custody of 24-year-old Warlpiri man Kumunjai White and extend sympathies to the families of 602 Indigenous people who've died in custody since the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Nick Grimm: Bridget Fitzgerald reporting.
ABC News
29-06-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Police called as South West Aboriginal Medical Service members attempt to oust board
Members of one of southern Western Australia's leading Aboriginal health organisations have marched on its headquarters demanding the dissolution of its board. Police were called to the headquarters of the South West Aboriginal Medical Service (SWAMS), 168 kilometres south of Perth in Bunbury, on Wednesday last week after members staged a protest. About two dozen SWAMS members, including one recently ousted director, were blocked from entering its offices. The group instead held an unofficial meeting in the lobby, where they voted to dissolve the board and appoint elder delegate David Williams as an interim director. Mr Williams, who sits on the board of the Wagyl Kaip Southern Noongar Aboriginal Corporation and drove from Katanning for the meeting, said it was disrespectful that the members were not allowed inside. "Some of the elders are over 80 years of age," he said. "They've fought a long time for the improvement of our people and services, and you haven't even got the respect to allow them to go in, sit down and voice their opinions. It took police about an hour to disband the group due to confusion over who was or was not officially employed there and permitted on the premises. No charges were laid. SWAMS's leadership has been in turmoil this year. The ABC has been unable to confirm how many directors officially remain on the board. Just three names remain listed on the SWAMS website — chairperson Phillip Ugle, Ernie Hill, and Janine Williams — down from six as recently as May. Chief executive Lesley Nelson, who had led the service since 2015, was also stood down earlier this year. SWAMS member and nurse Donna Turvey said the circumstances of her departure remained unclear. The ABC has contacted Ms Nelson for comment. Ms Turvey claimed there was internal friction between the SWAMS board and executive team, with the constitutional legitimacy of some board members questioned. Fellow SWAMS member Lynette Narkle said there was general confusion around what had happened with Ms Nelson and some of the deposed directors. "We're concerned about the lack of transparency," she said. The ABC has repeatedly approached SWAMS for comment on this matter. Ms Turvey said many SWAMS members had lost faith in the current board. She said the current leadership was jeopardising SWAMS's services and a long-fought-for health hub supported by $36.6 million of combined state and federal funding. "It's our elders who are going to suffer, it's our young people who are going to suffer, our mental health patients," she said. "We are requesting a spilling of the board today before there is any more damage to this company." Ms Turvey said the removal of several directors was supported by at least 60 members, which she said was above the 5 per cent required to call a general meeting on the issue. The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Commission issued a compliance notice to SWAMS in March, alleging it had breached conditions of its registration with the scheme. The notice said the corporation had failed to commence a mid-term audit within 18 months of becoming registered. In a statement posted to SWAMS's Facebook page, chair Phillip Ugle acknowledged concerns around the charity's governance but said they were unfounded. "The SWAMS board wishes to reassure our members, clients, and community that we have acted in accordance with all legislative, governance, and constitutional requirements, and have continued to seek independent legal advice throughout this process," he said. Mr Ugle said SWAMS would continue to operate as normal, and services had not been impacted. The service has since posted, informing the community that all SWAMS NAIDOC events have been postponed. A state government spokesperson said it had no powers to intervene due to SWAMS being constituted federally under the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). The Federal Department of Health, Disability and Ageing said it was aware of the current governance issues at SWAMS. "Matters relating to the composition and conduct of an incorporated organisation's board are primarily the responsibility of its members and the relevant regulatory authority — in this case, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission," a spokesperson said. "The department actively monitors issues as needed to ensure that funded services are delivered in line with the obligations of their grant agreements. Where those obligations are not met, the department may consider taking action."
The Guardian
25-06-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
All parents need someone in their corner like we had. But for First Nations parents, having an Aboriginal midwife is essential
When we first shared our pregnancy news with friends, the advice from those who had been through birth was to get into a midwifery program. But the midwifery programs at our local hospital were full – or so we thought. When we were offered a place in an Aboriginal midwifery program, we declined. Narelda, a Whadjuk Noongar woman, was not the birth parent – Karina was – and we didn't want to take the place of someone who might need it more than us. We knew the healthcare system is notoriously culturally unsafe and this racism and discrimination is contributing to the shocking statistic of Indigenous women being three times more likely to die during childbirth. But one of the midwives was in the room before we knew what was happening, explaining how the program is for families and by helping provide a culturally safe environment for Narelda during our pregnancy and birth, it would benefit all of us. Tears of deep appreciation rolled down Narelda's cheeks. Unfortunately, the midwives in our program don't work on weekends – which is when we went into labour. We were lucky to have other wonderful midwives help us deliver our baby, Sanna, but it was after the birth that we found ourselves saying things like: 'Thank goodness we are in the Aboriginal midwifery program', and': 'How would more vulnerable parents cope or get the medical care they need?' Sanna was born on a Sunday morning and, because of a third-degree tear, Karina required surgery. By Monday morning, Karina was distressed; no one had explained to her what had happened, warned her how severe the swelling might be, talked to her about pain management, given her food, said she could shower or explained how to empty the catheter. Karina's breasts were also engorging and nipples blistering, which was painful, and she was feeding for durations well beyond what a newborn needed. Thankfully, in rolled our midwife. 'Have you been given ice? Has anyone looked at you?', she asked. It turned out just up the hall was a fridge full of ice specifically for the tear and the breasts – no one had mentioned it, despite icing a third-degree tear being standard practice. There was also a kitchen where food could be made outside service times, which Karina had missed due to multiple visits to the NICU. Our midwife had a look at the stitching and checked Karina's abdomen for hernias; she also sorted out painkillers, because despite asking for something stronger than paracetamol, there was a reluctance to give it and she was suffering unnecessarily. Our midwife told Karina she didn't have to leave the baby on the breast so long and gave her permission to shower. If our midwife wasn't there, it seemed like no one would have done any of this, and the result would have been an increasingly traumatic birthing experience. All parents need a person in their corner like our midwife was, but for Aboriginal parents we believe it is absolutely essential. We experienced this first-hand when Narelda raised what became a very serious issue with the cannula in Sanna's arm. Her concerns were dismissed every time, but she was devastatingly vindicated when an incident report over the damage to Sanna's arm was made several days later. On another occasion unrelated to the cannula, an interaction with a staff member left her feeling shamed, belittled and embarrassed. Some would say the colour of Narelda's skin had nothing to do with it – plenty of parents are ignored by medical practitioners when they shouldn't be. But the evidence is that racism is rife, and for those who experience it, you know it when you feel it. That's also true of homophobia. We felt despite all the rainbow lanyards, there is a long way to go for queer families in hospitals. Being in an Aboriginal midwifery program meant we not only had a culturally safe experience during the pregnancy with the midwives from a First Nations perspective, but also an LGBTIQA+ one. There is clearly a need for greater investment in all nurses and midwives, but states and territories must adequately fund and expand Aboriginal midwifery programs. The reported experiences of racism, inadequate care, and lack of consent in maternity wards are shocking and cannot be ignored. If we, a non-Indigenous birth mother and two people who have some confidence speaking up, needed an Aboriginal midwife to advocate for us and for culturally safe care, then you can imagine just how much they are needed by younger, more vulnerable Aboriginal parents and babies. As the reporting in the Birth Rights series shows, Aboriginal midwives save lives, and, we have no doubt they help keep First Nations families together. Where an opportunity exists to reduce trauma, why wouldn't you take it? Narelda Jacobs is a journalist and presenter for 10 News First. Karina Natt is a political and communications adviser. Their book, If Queers Weren't Meant to Have Kids … is out 4 November.
The Guardian
18-06-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
‘Wrapped in culture': NSW birthing centre next step in long road to better maternity services for Aboriginal mothers
Melanie Briggs is gazing out at a grassy field, swatting away mosquitoes as we walk through the brush and scrub on a sunny autumn afternoon on the New South Wales south coast. We come to a stop amid the knee-length grasses where the tall eucalyptus trees reach up to the blue sky. Here she unfurls her vision for women giving birth on country. 'I can see the first birth here,' she says. 'It will happen at night.' The birth will take place at a new, culturally safe holistic maternity care centre. The NSW government has committed $45m over seven years to Waminda Minga Gudjaga Gunyah, a local Aboriginal health clinic, for the three-storey Gudjaga Gunyahlamai birth centre. Some of the eucalypts that surround us will have to be felled to make way for the clinic but the wood will be used in the building and to make coolamons – traditional carrying vessels made from the trees will be given to mothers. 'We want [you] to be wrapped in culture when you walk into the space,' Briggs says. Briggs' mission is reclaiming the birthing suite and centring the mother's cultural strength and resilience. The Birthing on Country project aims to decolonise medical care and fuse traditional knowledge and practices with maternity care – improving clinical outcomes for mothers and newborn babies in the process. 'Birth is the first ceremony,' Briggs says, 'our sacred birthing practices and bringing them back into a place for Aboriginal women.' 'We'll have smoke going, we'll cleanse the baby and mother, we'll use the cultural practices we're not allowed to use in the system.' Briggs is a senior endorsed midwife at Waminda, an Aboriginal community-controlled organisation that provides everything from early vaccinations and primary health checks to elder care, mental health services, and social support. It has expanded its midwifery services, matching Aboriginal midwives with pregnant women at Nowra's Shoalhaven hospital to provide accessible, culturally safe support for Aboriginal women and babies during pregnancy, birth and postpartum. The freestanding birthing centre for low-risk pregnancies is the next big step in the long road to improving maternity services in the region. A landmark birth trauma inquiry by the NSW parliament in 2024 heard harrowing testimony in about 4,000 submissions detailing women's experiences of being disrespected, traumatised or coerced into unwanted or unnecessary interventions. In some cases, women were left with debilitating birth injuries, denied pain relief and experienced systemic discrimination and a lack of culturally safe care. Briggs says she and her colleagues at Waminda have heard first-hand accounts from women who came to the clinic for antenatal and postnatal care of racism and discrimination in maternity wards. 'We weren't in the labour room, so we had no control over who was walking into the room or who was putting their judgment and their racial acts upon our women and our babies,' she says. 'There was a lack of culturally safe maternity care. Women weren't accessing care because of racism and judgment. [They are] fearful of child removals, which are still ripe today … What that has created is different layers of trust and distrust within an institution that has caused harm.' Briggs says she saw racism daily in her early career working in Sydney hospitals. 'As a midwife in the system, I experienced racism,' she says. 'That's the last place I want to work because I'm experiencing it as a minority in that system.' The midwifery program at Waminda is about building trust. 'You're building a relationship with someone who knows your fears, your hopes, your plans, your dreams,' Briggs says. Last month Waminda celebrated the 60th baby born in the program. In just 12 months, Briggs says, they have seen a marked reduction of interventions such as inductions of labour, caesareans and instrumental births: 72% of labours have been spontaneous, 94% of births happened at full term and 80% of mothers are breastfeeding. 'Mums and bubs have come out of their birthing experience with more power, more understanding and more nurturing,' she says. 'Women can make these decisions with their midwives.' Judgment and discrimination still happen in healthcare settings, says Carly David, a midwife and registered nurse who has been with Waminda for 12 years. Sign up to Five Great Reads Each week our editors select five of the most interesting, entertaining and thoughtful reads published by Guardian Australia and our international colleagues. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Saturday morning after newsletter promotion 'As a non-Aboriginal person here, my journey has also been about unlearning,' she says. 'In a mainstream public system Aboriginal women are seen as a risk. They're seen as a clinical risk, but [the mainstream system] can be a risk to Aboriginal women because they're labelled and judged. Aboriginal women thrive when they're cared for in a culturally safe way.' As we speak, David stops to take a call from a mother worrying about her new baby: high fever, feeding poorly, vomiting. She conducts a rapid assessment, asking the worried mother for details and gently advising her to take her child to the local hospital. A few decades ago, in her mother's generation, says Briggs, Aboriginal women weren't allowed to access maternity services in local hospitals. Women would give birth in segregated wards or on hospital verandas. She says women sometimes walked as far as 15km to a hospital to give birth. 'Many babies during this time were born sleeping.' The Minga Gudjaga Gunyah clinic is in a house on a tidy street just a few minutes' walk to the hospital. There are no healthcare workers rushing through clinical corridors in scrubs. Instead, the midwives and practitioners wear T-shirts from Waminda and Indigenous-owned brand Clothing the Gaps. In the waiting room there are woven baskets of full with baby clothes, and colourful paintings and shell designs created by local women decorate the clinic. There's a kitchen with a table and chairs surrounded by evidence of the program's achievements: the birth statistics and weight records of those first 60 babies. For the clinic's patients, many of whom carry trauma from negative experiences with healthcare services or past births, it does not feel like a standard doctor's or midwife's room. Kimberley Ray is a mother of five children; her second pregnancy was an unexpected set of twins. She's experienced a range of births and antenatal care: at Waminda; at the local Nowra hospital; and at Westmead hospital in Sydney. Her twins were a high-risk pregnancy so she spent a lot of time resting in bed at Westmead to prevent a preterm labour. Her family and friends were two and a half hours' drive away. 'It was really tough, very isolating and I felt really unsupported,' she says. She says caring for her newborn twins after her caesarean was a challenge with little support beyond a hospital lactation consultant. Born at 37 weeks, the baby boys were small. 'I'd just had the surgery and you're lying in the bed and it's hard to look after one baby – let alone two,' she says. 'They were just kind of like, 'Well, you just have to do it.'' During her last pregnancy, with her seven-month-old daughter Ivana, Ray experienced perinatal depression and anxiety and was supported by a Waminda midwife through her antenatal appointments and underwent a caesarean at the local hospital. 'I felt held the whole way through,' she says. 'Waminda really carried me and my daughter's spirit and soul before she even entered the world. It brought me back to the mother I was. It was life-changing.' Her midwife, well versed in her previous birth histories, gave her 'a moment to breathe' throughout the surgery, as machines beeped in a busy bustling hospital. 'Taking her there, I still feel that,' Ray says. 'Ivana is loved as if she was family.' Back at the birthing centre site, Briggs says construction will begin soon with the first births expected by the end of the year. 'We've been given the responsibility as women to take this on because it's needed, it's so desperately needed,' she says.
