South Western Sydney Primary Health Network (SWSPHN) has a deep and ongoing commitment to supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health across our communities.
Our activities include commissioning services with our local Aboriginal community organisations; providing cultural awareness training to improve and support primary care; connecting with and planning Aboriginal health initiatives across South Western Sydney; and implementing a Reconciliation Action Plan across the organisation.
More than 20,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people live in South Western Sydney. Compared to our non-Aboriginal population there is a distressing gap in life expectancy and health outcomes. The socioeconomic determinants of health and wellbeing must be addressed.
The upcoming referendum proposes to enshrine an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament in the Constitution. It represents an historic opportunity to implement the recommendations from the Uluru Statement from the Heart, delivered at the First Nations National Constitutional Convention in 2017.
Constitutional recognition will aid self-determination and help resolve the well-recognised inequalities facing First Nations communities.
In line with our commitment to closing the gap and improving the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and consistent with our Reconciliation Action Plan, SWSPHN endorses the recommendations of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and supports constitutional change to establish the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.