VACCHO Budget Submission Calls on Victorian Government to Deliver on Commitment to Having Aboriginal Health in Aboriginal Hands
The Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) has launched its 2024-25 Budget Submission which focuses on removing systematic barriers for Aboriginal health and wellbeing whilst delivering a boost for critical cultural services and infrastructure for Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) so that they are empowered to support thriving, healthy Communities.
For over half a century, ACCHOs have been delivering extraordinary health and wellbeing outcomes for Communities by providing services within an environment and atmosphere where culture is celebrated.
The 2024-25 VACCHO Budget Submission champions Aboriginal knowledge and innovation as it seeks to strengthen and expand the capacity of ACCHOs so that they are resourced to deliver vital health and wellbeing services to Aboriginal Elders, families, and Communities.
VACCHO’s 2024-2025 Budget Submission recognises the current financial climate in Victoria and focuses only on four projects in response to critical need and require immediate funding to deliver tangible benefits to the Victorian Aboriginal Community. VACCHO’s Budget Submission calls for:
- Statewide rollout of the hugely successful Culture + Kinship program to reduce the burden on acute tertiary health services.
- Funding to implement marra ngarrgoo, marra goorri: The Victorian Aboriginal Health, Medical and Wellbeing Research Accord to support researchers and organisations to improve their practices thereby enabling the outcome of ethical and self-determined Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research in Victoria.
- Deliver on 11 practical, prioritised actions from the cabinet-endorsed Victorian Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing Partnership Agreement Action Plan 2023-2025 thereby removing systemic barriers to health and wellbeing of Aboriginal Victorians.
- Support for Dandenong & District Aborigines Co-Operative Ltd (DDACL) to acquire land and fully develop plans for facilities to deliver holistic models of care and replace rundown facilities.
Image: Minister for Health The Hon. Mary-Anne Thomas visits an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation in 2023.
VACCHO CEO Jill Gallagher AO says VACCHO’s 2024-25 Budget Submission is about strengthening the Aboriginal health sector to empower ACCHOs and their dedicated teams to close the gap in health and wellbeing outcomes.
“In recent years, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) across Victoria have shown unwavering dedication to enhancing not only physical health but also cultural and emotional wellbeing in the midst of bushfires, floods, and a global pandemic.”
“VACCHO’s 2024-25 Budget Submission calls on the Victorian Government to further its commitment to self-determination and champion 65,000-plus years of Aboriginal ways of knowing, being, and doing by assisting ACCHOs to expand their services to meet the health and wellbeing requirements of a growing Aboriginal population.”
“This submission contains important measures that seek to remove barriers, strengthen foundations, and prioritise Aboriginal knowledge and innovation to boost the capacity of ACCHOs and provide them with the tools to do what they do best – support vibrant, healthy, self-determining Communities.”
“Supporting ACCHOs to do what they do best alleviates the demand on the already overstretched health system. There are also broader impacts to the other systems – education, justice, child protection, youth services and family and social services – with flow on impacts to the wider Victorian economy.”
VACCHO thanks the Victorian Government for their valuable partnership in supporting positive health and wellbeing outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities in Victoria.
The full version of the 2024-25 VACCHO Budget Submission can be found here.
