Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Funding package should train Indigenous doctors and specialists
Mick Gooda and Tom Calma, co- Chairs of the Close the Gap Campaign for Indigenous Health Equality, have welcomed the Prime Minister’s announcement of a $632 million doctors and specialists training package, but have called for a portion of the extra funds to be targeted to specific and focused initiatives to train Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander doctors and specialists.
“Increasing the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the health workforce is critical if the Australian Government is to deliver on its commitments to train the Indigenous health workforce needed to achieve the COAG target of health and life expectation equality for Indigenous Australians within a generation,” Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and Campaign co-Chair Mick Gooda said.
“And it is not just more doctors that are needed, but nurses, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers, dentists, mental health professionals and allied health workers,” Mr Gooda said.
Campaign Co-Chair Tom Calma said, as at January 2010, the Australian Indigenous Doctors' Association estimated there were 140 Indigenous doctors and around 137 Indigenous medical students in Australia.
“While these figures are encouraging, they are not enough to service the need in order to close the gap in Indigenous health outcomes,” Mr Calma said.
“In its 2004 Indigenous Health Report Card, Healing Hands: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Workforce Requirements, the Australian Medical Association found that to increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people working as health professionals to non-Indigenous levels, 928 Indigenous doctors need to be trained. They also noted the limited number of Indigenous specialists in Australia and called for specific initiatives to increase them,” he said.
“The Close the Gap Campaign Steering Committee notes that in 2010, there was only one Indigenous psychiatrist, one Indigenous obstetrician, one Indigenous surgeon, and no Indigenous ophthalmologists or Indigenous paediatricians.
“We call on the Australian Government to work closely with the Australian Indigenous Doctors' Association, as the peak medical professional body for Indigenous doctors, to progress this agenda,” Mr Gooda said.
Commissioner Gooda said this was not only a health issue, but went to the heart of ensuring that Indigenous Australians enjoy the same opportunities as other Australians.
“Indigenous doctors account for approximately 0.2 per cent of all medical practitioners, and Indigenous nurses only 0.5 percent of all nurses, despite 2.4 per cent of the Australian population being Indigenous,” he said. “In a society that prides itself on being a level playing field, this imbalance must be addressed.”
Please contact:
Louise McDermott – 0419 258 597 (for Mick Gooda)
Tom Calma – 0418 452 558
