Debates Day 1 - Tuesday 23 May 1995
Parliamentary Record 11
Debates for 7th Assembly 1994 - 1997; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 7th Assembly 1994 - 1997
1995-05-23
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
English
Debates
Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
Darwin
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DEBATES - Tuesday 23 May 1995 increase in health expenditure and this will have a large impact on Aboriginal women. Aboriginal females have 5 times the mortality rate of non-Aboriginal females. 0 There are twice as many low-birth-weight Aboriginal infants as non-Aboriginal infants. Therefore, S200 000 has been allocated for infant and maternal health to expand the Strong Women, Strong Babies, Strong Culture program in an effort to achieve higher birth weights among babies and to reduce the incidence of disease among mothers. There is also $300 000 for the introduction of an improved nutrition program, following the successful implementation of a trial program at some Top End communities. Aboriginal people occupy hospital beds at nearly 4 times the rate of non-Aboriginal people, and Aboriginal people suffer from serious illnesses more often than non-Aboriginal people. For example, renal illness in Aboriginal people is over 20 times the rate for non-Aboriginal people. Other health expenditures that will benefit women include: $1.4m to upgrade community-controlled health centres. As members are aware, many of the health workers are women. $2.2m will address the renal disease program that I mentioned earlier. This is a very serious area of illness among the Aboriginal population. 0 $500 000 for the Aboriginal-controlled health services award. A significant proportion of the $500 000 allocated to smoking prevention will be directed to Aboriginal women generally, and all adolescent and young women in the Territory. It is an unfortunate fact of life that too many girls and young women in the Territory smoke although they must realise the danger that this poses to their health. $lm in capital expenditure has been allocated to new and upgraded community health clinics in 6 remote locations, and it is at these community health clinics that women are best served in those remote locations. The key element of the 5-year plan will be a concentration on health programs that we know will work and specific preventive and remedial measures which have a track record of real and measurable success. Important elements include nutrition, infant and maternal health, environmental health, and alcohol and drugs, all of which significantly affect the everyday lives of Aboriginal women. Also mentioned in the paper is palliative care which will be the focus of greater attention this year. Women are the major carers in this area. There is $120 000 for increased provision for the Northern Territory Child Day Care Subsidy Scheme and this anticipates new service provision in some remote communities. This is an area of increasing demand that we really need to address. $201 000 is allocated for home and community care programs. It is good to see that women accessing houses will benefit from the Home Purchase Assistance Scheme. This is available to single parents as well as married couples. 3564