About the Aboriginal Health & Medical Research Council of NSW (AH&MRC)

 

Who we are

The Aboriginal Health & Medical Research Council of New South Wales (AH&MRC) is a charitable, religious and educational institution incorporated under The Corporations Law as a Company limited by guarantee. [ACN 085 654 397]

The AH&MRC is registered as a Public Benevolent Institution by the Australian Taxation Office.

AH&MRC is NOT a funding organisation.

All donations for benevolent services are channelled by the Council to provide direct health and health related services to redress ill health within Aboriginal communities.

The AH&MRC is the recognized peak body and voice of Aboriginal communities on Aboriginal health matters in NSW. Its more than 60 member organisations, are comprised of Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS), also known as Aboriginal Medical Services (AMS); Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Related Services (ACCHRS) and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Committees (ACCHC).

The AH&MRC is the NSW affiliate of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) - the peak national Aboriginal health organisation representing over 130 Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services across the country.

What We Do

The activities of the Council focus on the provision of support and assistance to member organizations to provide culturally appropriate holistic primary health care for the improvement of Aboriginal health.

As the peak body for Aboriginal health in NSW, the Council also plays a role directly assisting ACCHSs; supporting community controlled health initiatives; liaising with non-Aboriginal agencies and evaluating, developing and advising on the wide range of health programs, policies, strategies and appropriate educational courses in Aboriginal health.

The Council has a state-wide representative role on behalf of its constituent members as well as responsibility for the planned expansion of its benevolent services that will be channeled directly into Aboriginal communities.

In addition to its representative function, the AH&MRC, in association with its member organisations, deliver a number of vital health services including:

The AH&MRC has been operating since 1985 and as an advocate on Aboriginal health policy and programs has an extensive corporate knowledge in this area. In particular, it has monitored numerous successive policies over many years and advised Governments and Ministers, directly or indirectly through input at forums, committees and other processes, in relation to their effectiveness. It is the role of AH&MRC to convey the collective input of member organisations to government and to this end the NSW Aboriginal Health Partnership was formed in 1995. The primary objective of the Partnership is to bring the expertise of the Aboriginal community to the health care processes through the provision of agreed positions to the Minister for Health for implementation by the Department.

The AH&MRC is also engaged in the broader, whole of government approach to the development of policy in Aboriginal affairs generally through the NSW Premier’s New Ways of Doing Business and Two Ways Together Plan for Aboriginal Affairs. Reporting by lead Government agencies together with the relevant peak Aboriginal organisations in the areas of health, education, housing, justice, economic development, culture and heritage, families and young people, against the National Indigenous Disadvantage Indicators of the Productivity Commission will influence the development of policy and identify necessary synergies on the part of government to bring about change.

History

The first Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service (ACCHS) was established by the local Aboriginal community in Redfern in July 1971 to address the blatant discrimination experienced in mainstream services; the ill health and premature deaths of Aboriginal people; and the need for culturally appropriate and accessible health services. Since then the number of ACCHS has expanded to address Aboriginal health needs throughout the country.

The Aboriginal Health & Medical Research Council of New South Wales (AH&MRC), formerly the Aboriginal Health Research Co-op (AHRC), was established in 1985 following a recommendation of the NSW Aboriginal Task Force on Aboriginal Health in 1982-83. The Task Force’s Report recognized Aboriginal community control as crucial in laying the foundation for a better standard of health care for Aboriginal people. One role recommended for the AH&MRC was to advise Ministers for Health and Aboriginal Affairs at State and Federal levels on Aboriginal health policy, programs and needs. The Report sought an increased measure of control by the Aboriginal community over health service delivery and resources and acknowledged that the Aboriginal community controlled health sector is the most appropriate means by which this outcome can be achieved at both policy and service levels.

The program of activities pursued by the AH&MRC includes the Aboriginal Health College (AHC), the AH&MRC Consultancy Service, the AH&MRC Ethics Committee and the Collaborative Centre for Aboriginal Health Promotion (CCAHP) and the Coalition for Research to Improve Aboriginal Health (CRIAH).

As the AH&MRC structure facilitates continuous consumer participation through the process of Aboriginal community control it also enables the Aboriginal Community to influence policy development, planning and broad resource allocation at all levels. This structure embodies the ongoing consultative and representative mechanisms essential for the gathering of views from the communities AH&MRC serves and to which it is accountable

Ethos

The AH&MRC not only embodies a unique Community representative structure but it also embraces the Aboriginal values of trust, integrity, consensus and the principle of local Aboriginal community control in all matters related to the Aboriginal community. Whilst health services are delivered to individuals, the dominant objective of the Aboriginal community controlled health sector is ameliorating ill health within the Aboriginal community mindful that the health of Aboriginal people is gauged by the health of the Community as a whole.

The definition of “health” adopted by AH&MRC is that which was composed and adopted by the National Aboriginal and Islander Health Organization (NAIHO) in 1979. NAIHO is now the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health organization (NACCHO):

“Health does not simply mean the physical well-being of an individual but refers to the social, emotional and cultural well-being of the whole community.

For Aboriginal people this is seen in terms of the whole-of-life view incorporating the cyclical concept of life-death-life.

Health care services should strive to achieve the state where every individual is able to achieve their full potential as a human being and this bring about the total well-being of their community.”

How We Work - in Partnership

The National Aboriginal Health Strategy (1989), recognised the need for Government at all levels to work in partnership with the Aboriginal community. The AH&MRC supports the principles of partnership between the Aboriginal community controlled health sector and governments as well as intersectoral collaboration between government departments in the context of Aboriginal self determination.

The most prominent of these partnerships is the NSW Aboriginal Health Partnership Agreement which was established in 1995 and subsequently endorsed by members of the AH&MRC and the NSW Department of Health in 1997 and 2001. The AH&MRC and the NSW Government through its health portfolio are equal members of this Partnership in which Aboriginal self-determination, a partnership approach and the importance of intersectoral collaboration are emphasised. The aim of the Partnership is to ensure that the expertise of Aboriginal communities is brought to health care processes. The primary function of the Partnership at the State level is to provide the NSW Minister for Health with "agreed positions" on Aboriginal health policy, strategic planning and broad resource allocation, also encompassing national policy issues.

The NSW Aboriginal Health Partnership structure, with its state, regional and local application, is summarised in the NSW Aboriginal Health Strategic Plan 1999.

A copy of the NSW Aboriginal Health Partnership Agreement 2001 and the NSW Aboriginal Health Strategic Plan can be downloaded by clicking here.

The Partnership is replicated at regional and local levels through Local/Area Aboriginal Health Partnership Agreements. This structure enables appropriate Local Aboriginal health forums through which all health matters affecting the local Aboriginal community can be addressed with provision for relevant stakeholders to participate. Local and Regional Aboriginal health plans have also been developed and collated into a state summary with ongoing relevance through timely revision.

At the national level, the AH&MRC is a co-signatory, together with the NSW Minister for Health and the Federal Ministers for Health and Aboriginal Affairs and ATSIC, to an Agreement on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health, called the NSW Framework Agreement. The Agreement incorporates the NSW Aboriginal Health Forum which oversees joint planning and priorities in Aboriginal health.

The AH&MRC also has a number of informal and formal partnerships and MOUs with other peak organisations involved either directly or indirectly in health care provision for Aboriginal people in NSW. Click here for “Working Relationships”.

AH&MRC Membership

There are currently over 60 Aboriginal community controlled member organisations belonging to the AH&MRC. The majority are Aboriginal Community Controlled Heath Services, (ACCHS) which operate clinics more generally known as Aboriginal Medical Services (AMS) which deliver a range of primary health care services and host a number of specialist services.

Other AH&MRC member organisations include Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Related Services (ACCHRS) which work closely with ACCHSs and include specialist health organisations providing, for example, drug and alcohol services to Aboriginal people or specialist men’s or women’s health organizations. Membership also includes Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Committees (ACCHC) which are organisations working towards providing primary health care to their Communities.

For more information, go to the Member Services page or click here for a map of NSW which links to the member organisations in any particular area.

Board of Directors

The AH&MRC is governed by a Board of Directors who are elected regionally at the Annual General Meeting. The Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson are also elected annually by the full meeting of delegates. These are voluntary positions.

Please click here for the current Board of Directors

Additional office bearers are elected by the Board.

The combined membership determines policy, strategy and the operational directions of the Council.

AH&MRC Directors, working with constituent member Services, are also responsible for evaluating and monitoring health service delivery to Aboriginal people in their AH&MRC region, including those areas that have yet to be resourced to deliver primary health care and, accordingly, are reliant on departmental initiatives.

The 12 AH&MRC regions are listed below:

For more information click here for a map of NSW which links to the member organisations in any particular region.

Helping the work of the AH&MRC

The AH&MRC as an acknowledged Public Benevolent Institution (PBI) delivers primary health care services and benevolent services directly to Aboriginal people to ameliorate their ill health. These services include immunisation, eye care and vision care as well as delivering direct support and assistance to member organisations in primary health care through constant field visits by project staff.

All donations to the AH&MRC are tax-deductible. Contributions are all directly channelled into the provision of health services and projects for Aboriginal communities or, to specified purposes such as research or education, or other initiatives.

Your financial support would be invaluable to the work of the AH&MRC

 

 

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