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Report of the
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Environment
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Report of the
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Environment
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| Note: | HLP= Healthy Living Practice. Follow up survey is conducted 6-12 months after the first, baseline survey. 182 houses were included in analysis. 54 houses had gas connected and were assessed for gas safety. |
| Source: | Healthy Living Practices baseline (Fix1) and follow up (Fix2) Surveys, Environmental Health Branch, NSW Health Department. |
The Housing for Health program aims to assess, repair or replace health hardware so that houses are safe and the occupants have the ability to carry out healthy living practices. It aims to improve the health status of Aboriginal people, particularly children (Pholeros P et al, 1993). Housing for Health has been delivered to Aboriginal communities in NSW through the Aboriginal Communities Development Program. Between 1998 and 2005, 34 community projects have been conducted under this program.
Two surveys were conducted on 182 houses in 7 Aboriginal communities in NSW approximately six to twelve months apart in the years 2004-05 to 2005-06.
The first survey involved the collection of data that identified problems in the key areas of safety (electrical, gas, structural and fire) and healthy living practices (including facilities for washing people, washing clothes, removing sewage and waste and improving nutrition) and on-the-spot maintenance. This was followed by a capital works program and follow-up survey to assess improvements and a further maintenance program.
Between the 2 surveys major improvements were demonstrated in houses in some areas, for example there was a 83.8% improvement in electrical safety and 66.2% improvement in working showers. More than 95% of all houses had power, water and waste removal connected and flush toilet working.
Each of the healthy living practices (HLP) is made up of a number of criteria, which all need to be met to consider a house improved with respect to that practice. For example, the HLP: store, prepare and cook food has 15 criteria including adequate cooking facilities, bench space and cool storage. Occasionally, the criteria are beyond the scope of the program's funding capacity and while some improvements have been made (stoves and kitchen taps repaired etc) because other criteria have not been met (fridges) this area shows the most modest result (29.9% of houses improved from 7.9% to 37.7% of all houses).
Also in structure and access, some houses required major repairs and engineering works, beyond the funding scope of this project. For fire safety, all houses were upgraded to current standards for smoke detection, but in some houses escape was not possible from most windows and doors as they were many metres above the ground level.
| For more information: |
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Indigenous housing needs 2005- a multi-measure needs model Canberra: AIHW, 2005. Available at www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10166. Pholeros P, Rianow S, Torzillo P. Housing for Health: Towards a Health Living Environment for Aboriginal Australia. Healthabitat: Newport Beach, 1993. Department of Family and Community Services. National Indigenous Housing Guide (2nd edition) Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia, 2003. |
| Print version: | Although this page can be printed directly from your Web browser, a higher quality version of this entire page (graph, table and text) is available as an Acrobat PDF file which can be printed or viewed on screen using free software. |
| Downloadable files: | The data contained in the table on this page are available for download as a CSV file which can be imported into many software packages. The graph is available for download as an EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) file and as an EMF (Enhanced Metafile Format) file. Files in these formats can be imported into most word processing, presentation and graphics software packages. |
| Copyright notice: | This work is copyright NSW Department of Health, 2006. It may be reproduced in whole or in part, subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgement of the source. Commercial usage or sale is prohibited. |
| Suggested citation: | Population Health Division. The health of the people of New South Wales - Report of the Chief Health Officer. Sydney: NSW Department of Health. Available at: http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/public-health/chorep/env/env_hlp_stat.htm. Accessed (insert date of access). |
| Produced by: | Centre for Epidemiology and Research, Population Health Division, NSW Department of Health. |
| Last updated on: | 5 December 2006 |
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