Recently, I visited the Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services here in the ACT and met with CEO Julie Tongs to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing Aboriginal health and community services in the ACT. Julie has run Winnunga for 25 years and is a pillar of our community. Winnunga is a vital service based in Narrabundah, a short distance from this place, that supports First Nations people not just from the ACT but from surrounding New South Wales. Established in 1988 by local Aboriginal people, Winnunga offers a range of health services, including medical, dental, counselling, outreach and preventative health programs. It brings together doctors, dentists, midwives and counsellors with art teachers, boxing instructors and mechanics. Julie believes there is no point treating a person for a single ailment without looking at other aspects of their life. So, in addition to the health programs provided by Aboriginal health workers, Julie has established and expanded life-skills options, such as a youth diversion program, a boxing club and a home maintenance program.
When I arrived, Winnunga's reception area was absolutely full of people, and Julie told me that demand for their services has been outstripping the capacity of her dedicated staff to meet those demands. As a result, patient outcomes are suffering. For example, there is a need for a paediatrician on staff, but Commonwealth funding doesn't currently stretch to this. Winnunga also runs a health clinic inside Canberra's prison, the Alexander Maconochie Centre, where their services are in high demand. Julie believes Winnunga is critical in helping to prevent Indigenous people going to jail, by treating alcohol and drug dependencies.
In our chat Julie outlined the challenges and opportunities facing Winnunga. A number of recent reports, including from the Productivity Commission and the ABS, showed that First Nations Canberrans experience some of the worst outcomes of any Aboriginal community anywhere in Australia. For example, Indigenous people make up less than two per cent of the national capital's population but make up more than one quarter of the prison population at the Alexander Maconochie Centre. In fact, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are 20 times more likely than non-Indigenous people to be in prison in the ACT. This is the worst rate in the country. Sadly, other areas tell a similar story, including homelessness and Aboriginal children in contact with the care and protection system and in out-of-home care.
Julie and the Winnunga team are doing an incredible job, but they are absolutely stretched. They desperately need the fair proportion of Commonwealth funding and assistance to be directed to ACT Aboriginal community controlled health services. As Julie explained to me, Winnunga serves not only the ACT community but a huge proportion of New South Wales, as Canberra is a meeting place not just for politicians but for people from all around the country as well. I will be working with the federal government to ensure that Winnunga receive the support they need to support those that they support.
