Close the Gap is a government campaign, which aims to close the health and life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians within a generation.

Mehi Cluster general manager David Quirk highlighted the many issues he’d seen decline locally.

“In the 15 years I’ve been in Moree some of the greatest achievements I’ve seen,” he said.

“I’m not quoting governments, I’m talking about the local information from people I work with at this site and in this community and I think the Aboriginal maternity health team have done a remarkable job within the last 15 years,” he said.

“I think back to personal experiences when it was frequent you had young, Aboriginal women giving birth here with no anti-natal care, who didn’t know they were pregnant. Some would turn up and actually have their baby outside the maternity ward. Now I can’t even remember the last time that happened.

“The number of babies now born under the 500 grams has dropped to almost zero and that’s a huge achievement. The immunisation rates in this community are really high and that’s a tremendous achievement particularly for younger people because that will carry them through an older life. That’s preventing disease throughout their lifetime.

"I am not the government, I work in this community and I think Closing the Gap is about us in this room doing what we can every single day to do something positive.

Hosted by the Aboriginal Peer Support Group of the Moree Hospital, the day gave health professionals the chance to focus on future goals and in particular Helen McNamara, clinical co-ordinator for the medical ward, was the first to sign a new pledge.

The support group, who thanked Martin Nean for the idea, created a pledge for hospital managers each year to work towards meaningful action in support of achieving Indigenous health equality by 2030. 

AFTER Kamilaroi woman, Val Dahlstrom, welcomed the crowd at last Thursday’s National Close the Gap Day event at Moree Hospital, she reflected on her own views on the latest Close the Gap report.

“I’ve always been a bit cynical when I look at the government’s attempts to make changes in things they don’t really have a lot of input into, but we still die younger; 10 years younger than the white population,” she said.

Val said the life expectancy for indigenous men was still 69.1 and 79.1 for non-indigenous men, and for indigenous women it was 73.7 compared to 83.1 for non-indigenous women.

“One of the things that really gets me when we talk about the death rate, I always say to the Aboriginal people in the room, stop and think how many of your relatives have died in the last six months? How many have died from diabetes and heart disease, renal disease?”

She pointed out that 505 indigenous babies died between 2010 and 2014, more than 83 per cent of the 611 who died in that time.

“I’m saying these things so we can all stop and think for ourselves, not just take what’s been said to you, because if you do, things will never change,” she said.

Val said the employment statistics were “bloody lousy” and pointed out the 58.8 employment percentage from 2008 had gone backwards. Aboriginal Peer Support Group representative Rod Tighe highlighted other areas of the report.

“You know 75 per cent of juvenile justice students in the system are Indigenous throughout Australia?

“And today we are living in higher housing commission populated then we were in the early 80s. I’d like everyone to reflect on that as well,” he said.

Close the Gap is a government campaign, which aims to close the health and life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians within a generation.