Northern Health has a committed Aboriginal Liaison Program in place with a number of objectives, including:

·   The development of relationships with the Aboriginal community,

·   Providing or coordinating cross–cultural training for hospital staff,

·   The implementation of policies to improve services for Aboriginal culture, and

·   The development of initiatives that examine and improve the discharge planning and primary care referral of Aboriginal patients to ongoing care.

The Program provides information to the Aboriginal community on the types of services available at Northern Health and offers support in accessing these services.

Driven by the Northern Health Aboriginal Liaison Officer (AHLO), the Program also places an emphasis on raising the cultural awareness of health professionals to the distinct needs of Aboriginal patients.

It has enabled Northern Health to develop links with a number of local Aboriginal groups and organisations to assist in promoting hospital services to the Aboriginal community.

In the last year, Northern Health has had great strides in the services offered to ATSI people. Some highlights for 2008/09 include:

·   The launch of the NAIDOC Week ‘Hall of Fame’ event showcased a photo display and stories of the lives of 25 Aboriginal people living in Northern Health’s catchment area. This event was launched at The Northern Hospital and continued as a travelling exhibition to each of the Northern Health sites and is currently on display at Panch Health Service.

·   Rates of ATSI identified births have been steadily increasing at the hospital. There has been a substantial increase in the 07/08 year as a result of the growing indigenous community and the introduction of new recording structures put in place to identify ATSI babies.

Year	Birth Episodes
2002/3	5
2003/4	14
2004/5	14
2005/6	27
2006/7	22
2007/8	52

·   The Northern Health ATSI Christmas Barbeque commenced in 2005. Over 75 families attend the event, 250 gifts are donated from the Brotherhood of St Lawrence, and staff of numerous organisations volunteer to assist.

·   AHLO is available to staff to provide education and has in the past offered cultural awareness of Aboriginal people in Palliative Care as part of the Palliative Care Study Day.

HARP ATSI Officer

In September 2008 the Northern Alliance Hospital Admission Reduction Program (HARP) introduced the role of a HARP ATSI officer. The role sees a Registered Nurse work with the Emergency Department to coordinate the care of people who identify as ATSI. Click here for more information