The Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) has submitted its comprehensive health submission to the Yoorrook Justice Commission’s inquiry addressing systemic injustices faced by Aboriginal communities in healthcare, education, and housing.

In its submission, VACCHO delves into the pervasive barriers hindering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities’ access to mainstream health services, with racism standing out as a formidable obstacle in recent decades.

Through its Yoorrook Submission, VACCHO has strived to convey the narrative of the enduring impacts of over 150 years of colonisation and systematic racism.

The short, anonymous excerpt below details the harrowing experience of one Elder who encountered inhumane levels of care while seeking hospital assistance –

“The (hospital) staff asked what he had had for breakfast and he responded, ‘Wheaties’ but as his speech was slurred, the hospital staff believed he had said ‘whiskey’. Despite his protests and attempts to correct the staff, they ignored him…Eventually, he was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease.”

These situations and centuries of racist policies and racial stereotyping have led to profound health disparities and a critically needed yet chronically underfunded Aboriginal health sector that fiercely strives to support thriving, healthy Communities.
Key areas explored in VACCHO’s submission to the Yoorrook Justice Commission’s inquiry into education, health and housing injustice include:

• The devastating impacts of historical injustices such as the denial of self-determination, cultural disconnection, forced removal of children from families, and wage theft, continue to have on the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal Communities.
• Current factors exacerbating health disparities among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations and an exploration of the pervasive impacts of racism that impeded access to quality healthcare.
• Proposed solutions that promote Aboriginal ways of being, knowing, and doing – such as continued commitment to treaty, ACCOs funded to directly provide health care in custodial settings, outcomes-focused recurrent funding for ACCOs, and cultural safety standards in all mainstream health services.
• A recommendation backing the development of a dedicated Aboriginal-led accountability body to ensure government transparency and that standards are maintained in the development and delivery of policies and services – as called for in a joint Lowitja Institute / VACCHO study.

VACCHO’s submission underscores the urgent need for concrete action to rectify the systemic inequities faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Victoria.

As part of its submission, VACCHO has also extended an invitation to the Yoorrook Justice Commission to a VACCHO hosted roundtable to provide a platform for further discussion and sharing of stories concerning the history, impacts, and successes within the Aboriginal health and wellbeing sector of Victoria.

VACCHO CEO Dr Jill Gallagher AO says VACCHO’s submission illustrates persistent shortcomings of a health system that has let down Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities across generations.

“It is abundantly clear that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to be grossly failed by structures that should be protecting us. It feels like the Aboriginal flag is always flying at half-mast.”

“The enduring presence of racism within health systems not only perpetuates intergenerational trauma but also undermines the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families in Victoria.”

“VACCHO’s submission is one of many raw and painful submissions being delivered. I encourage people to draw on their strength as their powerful truth-telling will play an integral role in bringing us closer to truth and justice, meaningful structural reform – and on the pathway to breaking the cycles that have held back Aboriginal Communities for over 250 years.”

“VACCHO pays tribute to Chair Professor Eleanor Bourke, and Deputy Chair Adjunct Professor Sue-Anne Hunter, who is leading Yoorrook’s health inquiry, for their leadership, and dedication to uncovering the truth and seeking justice for Aboriginal Communities.”

VACCHO’s Submission to the Yoorrook Justice Commission’s inquiry addressing systemic injustices faced by Aboriginal communities in healthcare, education, and housing can be viewed here.