Australian Indigenous

Angeles, G. (2000).
A brief report on the efficacy of an information package designed to expand and awareness and help address the control of rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease.
Menzies School of Health Research, Darwin.

This report describes a project resulting from a grant from the Rural Health Support Education and Training (RHSET). The project centred on rheumatic heart disease and the development of a 'Rheumatic Heart Disease Information Package'. The RHSET project's main aims were: to assess the current understanding of rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease among various health staff (particularly Aboriginal Health Workers); present and promote the information package; and evaluate the usefulness of the information contained in the package.

The report includes information about the RHSET project, information about rheumatic fever and a history of the disease in Australia as well as details about the RHDIF package and its evaluation.
Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract

To enquire about obtaining copies of this report, contact the Menzies School of Health Research, PO Box 41096, Casuarina, Northern Territory, 0811; ph: 08 8922 8196; fax: 08 8927 5187.

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2000).
Directions in Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander statistics.
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra.

This report provides an overview of current and planned ABS activities to meet needs for statistics on Indigenous people. It is based on results from discussions with users on ABS directions and priorities for Indigenous statistics, the proposed Indigenous survey strategy, the ABS Household Survey Program Review, improvements in administrative data and the development of the 2001 Population Census.

The report details the commitments of the ABS in improving the quality of Indigenous data to be collected in the 2001 Census, including the formation of partnerships with other organisations involved in data collection.
Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract

To enquire about obtaining copies of this report, contact the Australian Bureau of Statistics through their Internet site: http://www.abs.gov.au or ABS bookshops in any capital city. The report may be available also from Commonwealth Government Info Shops and agents in capital cities.

Cercarelli, L.R. (1999).
Road crash hospitalisations and deaths in Western Australia involving Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, 1988 to 1996.
Road Accident Prevention Research Unit, The University of Western Australia, Perth.

The aim of this report was to analyse and examine the characteristics of road crash hospitalisations and deaths involving Aboriginal people in Western Australia. Data from the Road Injury Database for the period of 1988 to 1996 were examined. For Aboriginal people, the overall rate of hospitalisation was 679.8 per 100,000 population, almost three times more than the non-Aboriginal rate of 245.4 per 100,000 population. The death rate for Aboriginal people was similarly disproportionate at 34.7 per 100,000 population, approximately two and half times the figure for non-Aboriginal people, 13.6 per 100,000 population. The author concludes that more information is needed to examine the role of factors such as alcohol and the use of restraints in these road crashes.
Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract

To enquire about obtaining copies of this report, contact the Road Accident Prevention Research Unit, Department of Public Health, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA, 6009.

The Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal and Tropical Health (CRCATH) Annual Report details activities during the third year of operation of the Centre. Highlights of activities that are included in the report are the development of the CRCATH strategic plan 1999-2004, establishment of CRCATH website-based monitoring; publication of the first CRCATH occasional papers, and development of specific areas of research. The report also details the progress of research activities, such as the Rethinking Compliance study, the Indigenous community-driven project Marnggithinyarau Yalu, a scabies project, and a feasibility study into a pneumococcal vaccine trial.
Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract

To enquire about obtaining copies of this report, contact the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal and Tropical Health, PO Box 41096, Casuarina, Northern Territory; ph: 08 8922 7861; fax: 08 8927 5187; email: crc-admin@ath.crc.org.au; internet: http://www.crcah.org.au

d'Abbs, P., Gray, D., Togni, S., Wales, N., Fitz, J., & Chikritzhs, T. (1999).
Alcohol related problems in Katherine: a report prepared for Morgan Buckley (Solicitors).
Menzies School of Health Research, Darwin.

A decision by the Northern Territory Liquor Commission in March 1999 to vary the licence conditions of all licensees in Katherine prompted a hearing in relation to the proposed variations. A team from Menzies School of Health Research and the National Centre for Research into the Prevention of Drug Abuse was commissioned to report on the impact of alcohol in Katherine, in preparation for the hearing.

Key elements of the research strategy included: a literature review; analysis of data on alcohol consumption in the Katherine area and comparison with Northern Territory data; collection and analysis of data relating to alcohol-related harm in Katherine; interviews with stakeholders in Katherine. As well as addressing these elements, the report also includes a conceptual framework for approaching alcohol-related problems at a community level, with a discussion of some recent initiatives in Australia and overseas, and offers some recommendations.
Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract

To enquire about obtaining copies of this report, contact the Menzies School of Health Research, PO Box 41096, Casuarina, Northern Territory, 0811; ph: 08 8922 8196; fax: 08 8927 5187.

The second Indigenous Environmental Health Workshop was held in Broome in 1999, with three main aims. These were:

1. to assess the progress on recommendations and other issues arising from the first workshop (held in Cairns in 1998);
2. to develop further collaborative projects and strategies for progress on a national basis through the National Environmental Health Forum; and
3. to inform the final development of the Implementation Framework for the National Environmental Health Strategy.

The workshop was conducted immediately after the Indigenous Environmental Health Workers' Conference, with much discussion based on outcomes from the Conference. Ten recommendations were developed from both the Conference and Workshop.
Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract

Enquiries about obtaining copies of this report should be directed to:
The Publications Officer, Environmental Health Section, Department of Health and Aged Care, MDP 27, GPO Box 9848, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, 2601; ph: 02 6289 3620; fax: 02 6289 4215; email: environhealth@health.gov.au; web: http://www.health.gov.au/pubhlth/publicat/document/metadata/indigen.htm

This paper is written in three parts, being:

• Introduction;
• Report on links between Aboriginal health research, policy and practice; and
• CRCATH's efforts to strengthen the links between Aboriginal health research and health outcomes.

The introduction documents the establishment of the CRCATH from 1997 to 1999. The major achievement of this phase was the development of the 1999-2004 Strategic Plan which 'placed health outcomes and research transfer at the centre of the CRCATH's endeavours'. Part two of the paper consists of a report from the Centre for Effective Health Care who were commissioned to research links between Aboriginal health research, policy and practice. The report includes major recommendations about the future focus of the CRCATH.

The concluding section of the paper covers the development phase of the CRCATH from mid-1999/2000 when recommendations from the report were implemented. Major health-outcomes-oriented activities are detailed along with some observations on the change agenda CRCATH has followed during its development process.
Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract

To enquire about obtaining a copy of this report, contact the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal and Tropical Health at Menzies School of Health Research, PO Box 41096, Casuarina. NT, 0811; phone: 08 8922 7861.

The Menzies School of Health Research (MSHR) Annual Report pays tribute to previous Director, Professor John Mathews and Acting Director, Professor David Kemp, and welcomes Professor Kerin O'Dea as the new Director. The report gives details of research completed within each of the School's research units during the 1999-2000 period as well as ongoing research. The report also lists grants and awards received during this period, publications by MSHR staff, thesis topics of research students, School highlights, and financial information.
Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract

Enquiries about obtaining a copy of this report should be directed to the Menzies School of Health Research, PO Box 41096, Casuarina, Northern Territory, 0811; ph: 08 8922 8196; fax: 08 8927 5187; internet: http://www.menzies.edu.au.

National Board of Employment, Education and Training, Australian Research Council. (1999).
Research of interest to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Commissioned Report No. 59.
Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Canberra.

National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research. (1999).
HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C and sexually transmissible infections in Australia. Annual Surveillance Report 2000.
National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, Sydney.

This report shows the pattern of transmission of HIV/AIDS in the Indigenous and non-Indigenous population for 1992-1999. A previous report (1999) outlined HIV patterns for 1992-1998, and only slight changes have occurred in patterns of transmission with the inclusion of the 1999 figures.

Male homosexual contact was the main form of exposure for Indigenous and non-Indigenous cases of HIV. A higher proportion of heterosexually acquired cases was reported among Indigenous people compared with non-Indigenous people (36% vs 15%), and a higher proportion of cases occurred in women (27.5% vs 7.8%).

With inclusion of the 1999 figures, the percentage of HIV attributed to male homosexual contact was reduced slightly in the Indigenous population (down from 56% to 50%). There was no increase in HIV attributed to heterosexual contact, but there was a slight increase in the other/undetermined category.
Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract

To enquire about obtaining a copy of this report, contact the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, 376 Victoria Street, Darlinghurst, New South Wales, 2010; phone: 02 9332 4648; fax: 02 9332 1837; email: recept@nchecr.unsw.edu.au.

This report tells the story of the Rumbalara Football and Netball Club from when it began in 1898 (known then as Cummeragunja) to 1998. The report gives an early history of the club and tells of the difficulties faced in becoming accepted in the Goulburn Valley region. The report also describes the involvement of its partners and their role in supporting the club. A range of healthy lifestyle and leadership programs that are organised through the club are described. Currently the areas that Rumbalara is involved with are elders' fitness camps, Koori mums, men's health, father and son camps, immunisation, diet and nutrition, binji (stomach) business (including a market garden), problem gambling, a youth suicide prevention program, anger management and a leadership program. The report discusses key Rumbulara figures from the past and present, where the future of the club lies, and lists club records.
Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract

To enquire about obtaining copies of this report, contact the Rumbalara Football and Netball Club, Mercury Drive, Shepparton, Victoria, 3630; ph: 03 5831 3124; fax: 03 5831 3130.

Wakerman, J., Matthews, S., Hill, P., & Gibson, O. (2000).
'Beyond charcoal lane'. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander managers: issues and strategies to assist recruitment, retention and professional development.
Centre for Remote Health, Alice Springs.

Interviews with 41 middle and senior level Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander managers formed the basis of this report. Managers were asked about their background, approach to management, and ideas on recruitment, retention and professional development.

The report identifies the distinctive features of management in Indigenous health and groups these into individual, organisational and community level features. Barriers to recruitment, retention and professional development are discussed, followed by a section on strategies to overcome these barriers.
Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract

To enquire about obtaining copies of this report, contact the Centre for Remote Health, PO Box 4066, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, 0871; ph: 08 8951 6928;
fax: 08 8951 6952; email: remote.health@flinders.edu.au.