Meeting held 3 February 2016
Welcome to Country provided by Steve Randall from Deerubin Local Aboriginal Land Council
Meeting facilitated by Justin Noel with support from Marc Daley and Darlene Daley
Reported on:
Responded to questions relating to:
The level of community anger was acknowledged by the liquidator who noted he was not in a position to name people or make findings until the end of the legal liquidation process.
The liquidator indicated that that this process had commenced, will go back 4-5 years and include a detailed forensic audit. A final report will be developed and provided back to the community by the end of 2016.
The role of the liquidator relates to the AMS Co-operative (AMSWS) and it is limited to the time up to when the liquidation commenced.
Paul McCormack (Assistant Secretary, Regional Services Grants Branch, Department of Health, Australian Government) and Dr Kerry Chant (NSW Chief Health Officer) provided an overview of the proposed process for developing a new Aboriginal Health Service in Western Sydney and Nepean. Refer to the copy of presentation slides Provision Of Culturally Appropriate Aboriginal Health Services For Western Sydney And Nepean Blue Mountains Regions for further detail.
Both Government representatives indicated their commitment to listen to community issues and ideas at the meetings, and highlighted both State and Commonwealth governments’ commitment to ensuring the availability of culturally appropriate Aboriginal health services in Western Sydney and the Nepean Blue Mountains.
It was acknowledged that the federal Member for Chifley, Mr Ed Husic, sent a staff member to Meeting held 3 February 2016 attend the meeting as he was unable to attend due to parliament sitting in Canberra.
The work of the interim service managers was acknowledged by both Government representatives and community support for Jamie Matthews and his team was noted. Given the urgency of the circumstances to keep a service running a full suite of activities is not currently possible.
Both Government representatives indicated that the tender for services will be advertised as an open tender in May 2016 for 6-8 weeks and that there are no limits the types of organisations that can apply through the tender process.
Both Government representatives noted comments made by community regarding timeframes and made a commitment to examine this further.
Both Government representatives indicated prospective applicants will need to demonstrate capacity to meet the needs of the local community, including local knowledge and links with Aboriginal communities.
Both Government representatives encouraged the community to engage with the peak body, the Aboriginal Health & Medical Research Council (AH&MRC) to support capacity to tender.
Both Government representatives indicated that the tender process would allow any Aboriginal community-controlled organisation to put forward an application.
Both Government representatives acknowledged Government’ responsibility as a funding provider to follow up with services and the community to make sure organisations are doing the work they are funded to do.
Dr Chant noted that from a NSW Health perspective engagement with AMSs has been strengthened through having regular meetings and reporting structures, as well a stronger engagement with boards.
Both Government representatives indicated that consulting with the community is part of the process for shaping a future service, highlighting the importance of listening to community to identify health and service needs for the tender documents.
Both Government representatives indicated that prospective tender applicants will need to define what services they will deliver, models for community engagement and participation as well as developing a strong Aboriginal workforce across the organisation in various roles and skills.
Both Government representatives also noted comments by community regarding a desire for high quality health services, with staff that are highly skilled.
Both Government representatives confirmed that there will be no reduction in funds to the region. The funding level to be provided is from the period immediately prior to the administration of the AMSWS Co-operative. The period of funding will be 18 months. The tender documents will include the level of funding available for the future service.
NSW Health has also committed some capital funding to establish a site in Penrith (this is additional to the Palmerston Road premises).
Community indicated a strong preference for a community controlled organisation. Both Government representatives reported that there is no reason why an Aboriginal community controlled organisation or group of organisations can't apply as part of the tender process and indicated applications from Aboriginal community controlled organisations are welcome.
Both Government representatives highlighted the importance of community in informing what the future service look like. They also noted that the length of the contract (18 month) may be less commercially attractive to many large mainstream organisations.
Both Government representatives noted comments and direction from community regarding Aboriginal representation on the board of the future service as well as a desire for members with appropriate skills.
Both Government representatives indicated that National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) guidelines could be used as model templates but that other options were also available.
The involvement of Aboriginal people is important in this tender process and will be valued in the selection of a future service provider. The Liquidator also noted that several staff had recently been re-hired in the interim service.
Both Government representatives indicated that they will have further discussions about areas of Western Sydney that have particular needs but that the immediate focus was on getting the Mt Druitt base re-established with some additional money allocated for Penrith.
Community concern around ongoing input and engagement in inputting into tender process was noted by both NSW Ministry of Health and the Commonwealth.
Both Government representatives indicated that the community meeting was one of many forums for engagement and only the start of the process. Other opportunities include the survey run by CIRCA (Cultural and Indigenous Research Centre Australia) and small group consultation sessions to occur across Western Sydney and Nepean Blue Mountains regions.
Both Government representatives noted that all of the information collected from community would help inform the development of tender documents and service requirements.
Participants began a process of nominating priority areas of health service delivery – the following list is an initial listing of those suggestions (not a definitive list for tender documents):