Health

There was a time when I woke up there was four church women sitting beside my bed who were watching me and praying over me whilst I slept...

Because I was so young when I had my stroke, our health system ‘failed me’. They couldn’t help provide Len with some nursing support in our home because all that was available was the Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) and that only applied to aged or people in hospital who needed 24hr care and there was no other option other than what our doctor said, to take me back to the hospital, because someone had to be there to raise our daughter.

I cried and he cried and he held me crying, then he told the nurse that I understood him and could respond by blinking. They didn’t believe him at first, but they eventually asked me questions, and I responded to them all.

The day before yesterday I poured a glass of water from my tap in our town camp and gave it to my granddaughter – I did not know it then, but there was poison in that water.

Over the past few months, some mainstream media outlets have attempted to stir up a hornet’s nest about health services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people; Karen Wyld explains.

Our way is not your way, and it doesn’t have to be. We are strong, we know the land, our stories and our place in our society. This has value.

"We both did time (me at the age of 18). And we both put loved ones through things that we sorely regret. But we’ve faced up to our mistakes and turned our lives around"

I rang my dad over the weekend. We’d hardly begun yarning before he asked me: “What’s this about white nurses having to apologise to us for being white?” I could have just said, “Dad, you should know better than to believe what the mainstream media says about us.”

“But first tonight, the contentious new code telling nurses to say ‘sorry for being white’ when treating their Indigenous patients. That’s how Today Tonight Adelaide began last night.

This International Women’s Day, #PressforProgress will be the call of millions of women. Across the world today, violence against women and girls is one of the most widespread, persistent and devastating of all human rights violations.

The roots of racism within mainstream feminism are still there, under the soil.

She is the woman holding it all together connecting the dots in spirit

I remember on the day of the national apology to the stolen generations thinking, “This is amazing”. I couldn’t register that the prime minister had said sorry. It was a pivotal moment in my experience of Indigenous affairs and it made me feel positive about the possibility for change and a better Australia for our peoples.

Let’s dive straight in: What it heterosexism? It is the system of oppression that excludes and marginalises LGBQTI people; often unconscious and unintentional. However, conscious heterosexist attitudes/behaviours that exclude LGBQTI mob are a form of homophobia. And, homophobia kills.

In the final report of last year’s Royal Commission into the Detention and protection into children in the Northern Territory, it stated that 75% of Aboriginal youth in detention have one or more diagnosable psychiatric disorders. This statistic is heart breaking to read.

Recently the Productivity Commission looked into the way in which GST revenue is distributed across Australia’s states and territories. Currently, GST revenue is carved up based on a number of factors to achieve what is called horizontal fiscal equalisation (HFE). This assessment involves a number of measurements, one of which includes taking into account the proportion of Indigenous people in each state or territory.

As the temperature begins to go into the high 40s, there is a focus on ensuring that our young ones are enjoying a safe summer in Bourke.

In preparation for this week hosting IndigenousX to talk about Black Rainbow and why I started it and why I have persevered challenged me to look inward for first time in a very long time.  I will share some horrific personal experiences, not all of them, in an attempt to provide perhaps some context for what drives me and why I believe what Black Rainbow is trying to do is so vitally important.