Alison Atkinson-Phillips 

Yorgum Aboriginal Family Counselling Service is one of the 15 “Success Stories in Indigenous Health” showcased in the recent publication by Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR). Like other service providers across Australia, Yorgum effects acts of reconciliation on a daily basis.

Unpack the issues...

• Did you know?
• Further reading

Yorgum Aboriginal Family Counselling Service is one of the 15 “Success Stories in Indigenous Health” showcased in the recent publication by Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR). Like other service providers across Australia, Yorgum effects acts of reconciliation on a daily basis.

Founded in 1991,Yorgum is named after a flowering red gum with healing properties. Jade Maddox, Yorgum’s chief executive officer, says the tree is symbolic of the organisation’s philosophy of healing the whole person.

When you’re looking after a plant, you don’t just worry about the leaves or branches, Jade explains, “You must treat the whole tree as well as the soil in which it grows”.

The holistic approach means that, together with its counselling services, Yorgum offers family tracing, family support and reunions for those affected by previous government policies of removing Aboriginal children from their families (i.e. the Stolen Generations).

Success Stories in Indigenous Health includes examples of both physical and emotional health and healing. For many Aboriginal people, these factors are intertwined in a very practical way, as shorter life expectancy has locked families into an endless cycle of grieving. Indigenous Australians are constantly dealing with the loss of loved ones and are then left with the physical and emotional consequences of grief.

The wide variety of success stories ANTaR has collected offers insights into how the Federal Government’s aim of closing the life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians might be achieved. The stories share one thing in common: they are all bottom-up projects moulded to fit local situations.

Roger Cook, ANTaR’s vice president, says that, while there are no miracle cures, “Essentially the winning formula is that Aboriginal people get control”.

Unpack the issues... 

Did you know?

• In the Social Justice Report 2005, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Tom Calma, called for Australian governments to commit to closing the life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Finally, the wider Australian community sat up and took notice. In 2007, the “Close the Gap” campaign was launched and, in March 2008, the first ever Indigenous Health Equality Summit was held. 
• On the 13 February 2008, Australia’s Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, apologised to the Stolen Generations. Rudd also committed to a new future for Australia, one in which Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians will work together to address the health crisis affecting Indigenous people.
• Close the Gap is a coalition of some of Australia's leading health, human rights and Aboriginal organisations committed to working with Federal, State and Territory Governments to narrow the life expectancy gap between the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander population and other Australians.

Further reading

• Yorgum
• Apology to Australia's Indigenous Peoples

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (1)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Just trying out the comments
written by Peter Bui - http://peterbui.net, June 17, 2008

Looks like it works

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Add Comment