First Nations Health

Six Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) have started delivering the First 1,000 Days program across North Queensland, focusing on maternal and child health social and emotional wellbeing to help reduce health inequities and ensure all children in the region have a healthy start to life.  

The development of this program, which was codesigned with the ACHHOs, is an important milestone that represents targeted support for First Nations women, children, and families in their first 1,000 days, defined as the period from conception through to a child’s second birthday. During this period, parents and children may receive access to a range of care and supports, including pregnancy care, birthing, post-birth care, and child development.  

Codesigning the program with ACCHOs and other health professionals began in 2022, with phase one and two workshops facilitated by Beacon Strategies.  

More than 40 people attended the workshops that brought together a targeted and diverse cross-section of staff from the ACCHOs, Hospital and Health Services (HHSs), the Department of Education and Early Childhood, Tropical Health, Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council (QAIHC), and digital health organisations from across the region. Midwives, early childhood educators, mental health directors, immunisation specialists, women’s health representatives, and Indigenous health workers were also in attendance.  

Following a successful codesign process, the six ACCHOs were contracted to implement the program from 1 July 2023.  

The First 1,000 Days program aims to improve health outcomes for First Nations families and communities by providing care coordination and improving access to primary health care, including culturally appropriate mainstream services.

The Integrated Team Care (ITC) program aims to improve the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Australians living with chronic disease, through improved access to care coordination and support, and to culturally appropriate mainstream primary care services.  

In 2022-23, NQPHN Indigenous Health Project Coordination staff worked directly with all ACCHOs to support the development and implementation of 12 place-based models.  

Implementation support has included assisting providers to run workshops, education sessions, and stakeholder engagement meetings with mainstream services to establish referral pathways.  

There is currently a collective workforce of 50 individuals – including Care Coordinators and Indigenous Outreach Workers - supporting 4,647 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients to manage their chronic conditions.  

A Peer Support Group meets monthly, and providers are sharing information, providing advice, and discussing and exchanging resources relating to areas such as cultural competencies and safety, and service delivery goals to promote efficiency. Group members are also sharing trends and issues, which have provided opportunities to work collaboratively across ACCHO and mainstream providers.    

ITC plays a role in improving the cultural competency of mainstream primary care services as a means of reducing barriers to access. As more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people source their medical care through mainstream general practice, it highlights the importance of having a health system that is responsive and culturally appropriate for First Nations health needs.  

Indigenous Allied Health Australia has developed an online Cultural Responsiveness training program for providers within the NQPHN catchment, funded by NQPHN.

In August 2022, and in an Australian first, NQPHN created the First Nations Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) program, an ambitious 12-month program to dramatically improve access to culturally safe health assessments for the First Nations’ people within the northern Queensland catchment.  

Over the 12-month period, the program brought together general practitioners, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) and Aboriginal Medical Services (AMSs), Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), and Hospital and Health Services’ (HHSs) Primary Care Clinics.  

The aim was to enhance primary care providers’ knowledge, skills, and abilities to provide culturally sensitive and effective health care to First Nations people living in North Queensland.  

Participating practices received Cultural Safety and Awareness Training, and free resources and education to assist in providing comprehensive, culturally sensitive health assessments as well as a host of other training and access to information and data.  

Quarterly workshops were held in Cairns, Townsville, and Mackay from May 2022 to June 2023, involving expert presenters, and covering First Nations health topics such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 715 Health Assessment, best practice for managing complex and chronic conditions experienced by First Nations’ Australians, Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, and First Nations Mental Health and Alcohol and Other Drugs.