Skip links
Update
[ld_header_button ib_style="btn-naked" ib_title="Advertise your career listing with AHP Workforce." ib_color="rgb(43, 43, 43)" ib_fs="text_small:14px" ib_link="url:%2Fadvertise%2F|||"]
[ld_header_button ib_style="btn-naked" ib_title="Advertise" ib_text_color="rgb(43, 43, 43)" ib_fs="text_small:14px" ib_link="url:%2Fadvertise%2F%3Fdirectory_type%3Dservice-directory|title:Advertise||"][ld_header_button ib_style="btn-naked" ib_title="Contact" ib_text_color="rgb(43, 43, 43)" ib_fs="text_small:14px" ib_link="url:%2Fcontact%2F|title:Contact||"][ld_header_dropdown i_type="linea" use_custom_fonts_trigger="true" i_icon_linea="lqd-icn-ess icon-lqd-user" menu_slug="profile-menu" trigger_fs="14px"]
[ld_header_image padding_top="30" padding_right="0" padding_bottom="30" padding_left="0" sticky_padding_top="30" sticky_padding_right="0" sticky_padding_bottom="30" sticky_padding_left="0"]
[ld_header_menu hover_style="fade-inactive" align_items="center" padding_top="10" padding_right="15" padding_bottom="10" padding_left="15" ddmenu_hover_style="lqd-submenu-cover" use_custom_fonts_menu="true" menu_slug="menu" fs="16px" link_color="rgb(38, 31, 98)" link_hcolor="rgb(249, 158, 73)" link_active_color="rgb(249, 158, 73)" ddlink_color="rgb(38, 31, 98)" ddlink_hcolor="rgb(249, 158, 73)" fw="500"]
[ld_header_button ib_style="btn-default" ib_title="Subscribe to AHI" ib_shape="semi-round" ib_size="btn-xsm" ib_fs="text_small:14px" ib_link="url:%2Fahi-subscribe%2F|title:AHI%20Subscribe||"]
AHP Workforce
allied health insights banner
Published in: Editorials

Allied Health Insights Vol.2, No.17: Benchmarking Allied Health Service Access For First Nations People In Australia

Author
Published on:

Allied health professionals (AHPs) can play a vital role in holistic care aimed at improving physical, psychological, and social wellbeing, yet First Nations people in Australia continue to face significant barriers in accessing allied health services that form a vital component of equitable primary care.

The consequences of limited access to allied health services are far-reaching. They can exacerbate existing health conditions, hinder early intervention, and impede the overall quality of life for First Nations individuals and communities. Moreover, the absence of culturally competent care may contribute to a lack of trust in the healthcare system, perpetuating a cycle of underutilisation and diminished health outcomes.

Featured in this edition

In line with our projects around workforce supply and needs modelling, we have examined current levels of allied health workforce needs—including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners—in relation to First Nations people and communities.

We explore the inequities faced by First Nations communities in accessing allied health services in Australia, by describing the distribution of AHPs in relation to First Nations communities, highlighting both the role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers (AHW) in brokering the referral and therapeutic process, and their distribution in each state.

1. Allied Health Professions Australia. Key Areas of Practice AHPA 2023 https://ahpa.com.au/key-areas/ Accessed June 2023 June 2023
2. Commonwealth of Australia, Commonwealth Closing the Gap Annual Report 2022 https://www.niaa.gov.au/resource-centre/indigenous-affairs/commonwealth-closing-gap-annual-report-2022Retrieved June 2023
3. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2022). Australia’s health 2022: in brief, catalogue number AUS 241. Australia’s health series number 18, AIHW, Australian Government
4. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2023. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework: summary report 2023. Canberra: AIHW. Viewed [June 2023].
5. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2022). https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/indigenous-health-and-wellbeing#Burden%20of%20disease Accessed June 2023
6. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2022) Hearing health outreach services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the Northern Territory: July 2012 to December 2021, catalogue number IHW 266, AIHW, Australian Government.
7. Chuter V, West M, Hawke F, Searle A. Where do we stand? The availability and efficacy of diabetes related foot health programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians: a systematic review. J Foot Ankle Res. 2019 Mar 18;12:17. doi: 10.1186/s13047-019-0326-1. PMID: 30923577; PMCID: PMC6423788.
8. O'Sullivan BG, Worley P. Setting priorities for rural allied health in Australia: a scoping review. Rural and Remote Health 2020; 20: 5719.https://doi.org/10.22605/RRH5719
9. Harfield, S.G., Davy, C., McArthur, A. et al. Characteristics of Indigenous primary health care service delivery models: a systematic scoping review. Global Health 14, 12 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-018-0332-2
10. Dwyer, J., Silburn, K., and Wilson, G., National Strategies for Improving Indigenous Health and Health Care, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Primary Health Care Review: Consultant Report No 1, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2004, pp91-106
11. NACCHO. Core Services and Outcomes Framework: The Model of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community-Controlled Comprehensive Primary Health Care. National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, Canberra, ACT: June 2021.
12. Jeyakumar R, Patel B, Coombes J, Madden T, Joshi R. "We're on the ground, we know what needs to be done": Exploring the role of Aboriginal Health Workers in primary health care. Front Public Health. 2023 Jan 19;10:1010301. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.1010301. Saxby A, Taylor D, Agius T, Finlayson H, Martin R, Kong K, Nolan-Isles D, Tobin S, Gwynne K Accessibility of Primary, Specialist, and Allied Health Services for Aboriginal People Living in Rural and Remote Communities: Protocol for a Mixed-Methods Study JMIR Res Protoc 2019;8(2):e11471 doi: 10.2196/11471
13. Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021), Census of Population and Housing - Counts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, ABS Website, accessed 29 June 2023
14. Department of Health and Aged Care (2023) National Health Workforce Data Tool Retrieved May 17, 2023 https://hwd.health.gov.au/datatool/
15. Macniven R, Hunter K, Lincoln M, O’Brien C, Jeffries Jr TL, Shein G, Saxby A, Taylor D, Agius T, Finlayson H, Martin R, Kong K, Nolan-Isles D, Tobin S, Gwynne K. Accessibility of Primary, Specialist, and Allied Health Services for Aboriginal People Living in Rural and Remote Communities: Protocol for a Mixed-Methods StudyJMIR Res Protoc 2019;8(2):e11471 doi: 10.2196/11471
16. Ware, V. (2013). Improving the accessibility of health services in urban and regional settings for Indigenous people. Deakin University.
17. Wilson, A.M., Kelly, J., Jones, M. et al. Working together in Aboriginal health: a framework to guide health professional practice. BMC Health Serv Res 20, 601 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-020-05462-5
18. Australian Bureau of Statistics. (Jul2021-Jun2026). Statistical Area Level 3. ABS. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/standards/australian-statistical-geography-standard-asgs-edition-3/jul2021-jun2026/main-structure-and-greater-capital-city-statistical-areas/statistical-area-level-3 (retrieved July 2023)
19. Australian Bureau of Statistics. (Jul2021-Jun2026). Statistical Area Level 4. ABS. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/standards/australian-statistical-geography-standard-asgs-edition-3/jul2021-jun2026/main-structure-and-greater-capital-city-statistical-areas/statistical-area-level-4. (Retrieved July 2023)

You may also like

Leave a comment