Australian Indigenous Offender Health Research Capacity Building Group (IOHR-CBG) Bridges Gap in Indigenous Health

HERVEY BAY, AUSTRALIA, June 18, 2013

The organizers of the 2013 National Indigenous Health Conference: Building Bridges in Indigenous Health to be held at the Pullman Cairns International Hotel on 25th -27th November 201, Cairns Queensland are extending the June registration rates for invoices issued until 15th of July to allow for end of financial year's last minute bookings, an attempt to give a chance for grassroots Indigenous Health workers to participate.

One of the highlights of this year's conference is that on the 27th November 2013, Ms. Julie Nankervis, Director of Australian Bureau of Statistics from the National Centre for ATSI Statistics, Northern Territory will announce the first release of the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey 2013 report, giving delegates the most up to date information on Indigenous health survey nationwide.

Furthermore representatives from the northern hemisphere will also be sharing different First Nations' health pathways implemented in various Indigenous communities in Canada. Bella Ribbonleg of Canada will be co-presenting with Ms. Lydia Mainey of Queensland on a keynote session entitled Dream Catchers and Diabetes: How the Kehiw Women's Group reduced isolation and imparted positive health messages to women in a remote First Nation's community in Northern Canada. Ms. Nathalie Lachance will also be presenting her paper entitled Shared Past, Different Meanings: Looking for a Path Forward in Working Together which outlines the relationship between First Nations and the federal government in terms of the delivery of health services to First Nations communities - an area of Canadian public policy that has experienced a fairly high level of change over the last century. Nathalie works in Policy and Strategic Planning Team at First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB), Health Canada, Alberta and has participated on a number of initiatives seeking greater collaboration between First Nations communities and First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB) and has worked for national Aboriginal organizations.

Moreover, a further development in the conference agenda is the recent collaborative sponsorship established with the Indigenous Offender Health Research Capacity Building Group (IOHR-CBG). Australia has the highest Indigenous incarceration rates in the developed world, which impacts profoundly on Indigenous communities. With offender populations known to endure a greater health burden compared with the general community, there is a need to develop new knowledge in this area to improve health outcomes. The IOHR-CBG team will be joining us at the conference with the whole afternoon sessions on the 3rd day allocated to sharing their findings as well as discussing issues, challenges and successes of their research project. Outcomes with which will include better health services for Indigenous offenders, and more generally improved health and wellbeing for those in the community from which they come, and to which they return.

Consequently, Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars from New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and the ACT received a capacity building grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council for a 5 year project titled: "From Broome to Berrima: building capacity Australia-wide in Indigenous offender health research". This project led to the formation of the Indigenous Offender Health Capacity Building Group (IOHR-CBG) consisting of emerging and established researchers. The central objective of the IOHR-CBG is to develop the knowledge and skills of a cohort of Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers (Team Investigators) through collaborative research work, secondments to research centres and mentoring. Investigators currently work on projects in the areas of mental health, alcohol and other drug use, blood-borne viruses, Justice Reinvestment, social support post-release and Juvenile Justice path-ways.

In addition to this with the renewal of the closing the gap agreement, by the time the federal election have taken place a new round of funding for the closing the gap initiative will be announced no matter whether the government be Labour or the Coalition. As such, the next one to three years will be an interesting period of time in Indigenous Health affairs. This is why this conference is extremely valuable for all aspects of Indigenous Health and businesses throughout this country. With this in mind, we extend the special invitation throughout Australia to participate in the conference and to be part of this gathering.

Indeed this 3-day event will offer a truly unique experience for all delegates. Attending this event presents an opportunity for workers not only in the field of Indigenous health but also in Indigenous criminal justice health research network to form new alliances and opportunities at the same time gaining an intricate working knowledge of presented successful community programs and efficient strategy implementation.

To register for the event, please contact us at admin@indigenoushealth.net or visit the website: http://www.indigenoushealth.net