Close The Gap And Reinstate The Racial Discrimination Act In The Nt

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1st April 2009, 08:58pm - Views: 943






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The industrial and professional organisation for nurses and midwives in Australia


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PO Box 4239  Kingston  ACT  2604  Australia

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Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing

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2 April 2009


MEDIA RELEASE


Close the gap and reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act in the NT


The Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) calls on the Rudd Labor Government to reinstate

the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA), suspended by the Howard government, and boost the

health care workforce in Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory on national

Close the Gap day (April 2).


“There is no apparent benefit to the health of Indigenous communities in maintaining the

suspension of the RDA. The United Nations has rightly expressed concern over the

suspension and the RDA should be reinstated immediately,” said Australian Nursing

Federation Federal Secretary Ms Ged Kearney. 


“The ANF welcomes all of the positive moves the Rudd government has taken to close the

17-year life expectancy gap in Indigenous communities but we don’t believe suspending

legislation designed to protect people from racial discrimination is either warranted or

beneficial. Mr Rudd recently signed the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous

Peoples and would be aware of the conflict in maintaining the suspension of the RDA in our

own Indigenous communities.”


Ms Kearney applauded the efforts of nurses working with Aboriginal Health Workers and

medical and allied health professionals in remote and Indigenous communities. “Nurses

and Aboriginal Health Workers provide the bulk of primary health care services in

Indigenous communities. They work tirelessly to improve the health and wellbeing of

Indigenous people and we need to ensure they remain working on the ground to close the

17-year life expectancy gap.”

Ms Kearney said she was also concerned about recent reports that Aboriginal women

travelling interstate from the Northern Territory had been unable to access Centrelink

payments due to the quarantine measures imposed by the NT intervention. “A recent report

detailed the case of a woman who tried to buy food with the Basics card that operates in

the NT but the card was not recognised in New South Wales,” Ms Kearney said. “We are

not going to improve health care outcomes by hampering people’s ability to access food

and medical services when they are in localities outside the NT. A solution must be found

that doesn’t marginalise Indigenous people.”


Media Contacts:

Ged Kearney, ANF Federal Secretary


0417 053 322

Libby Muir, Federal Communications Officer 

0413 834 979


The ANF, representing nearly 170,000 members, is the professional and industrial voice for nurses and midwives in Australia.






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