Aboriginal Environmental Health
In a developed country like Australia where the non-Aboriginal population has a high standard of living, the connection between health, housing and infrastructure is less visible. This is not so for many Aboriginal communities in Australia.
Research has highlighted environmental health conditions, particularly the failure of existing housing and health infrastructure on many Aboriginal communities, as being an important contributor to the higher rates of infection, injuries and chronic disease in Aboriginal people. [National Aboriginal Health Strategy (NAHS) (1989). Prepared by the National Aboriginal Health Strategy Working Party. Canberra, AGPS; March 1989]
NSW aims to address these issues to improve delivery of these services. A key Priority of the NSW Aboriginal Health Strategic Plan (1999) is to "create environments supportive of good health".
The Aboriginal Environmental Health Unit supports Public Health Units across the State and manages a range of projects and interagency programs to address environmental health issues in Aboriginal communities, including:
- the Aboriginal Trainee Environmental Health Officer (ATEHO) Training Program to support Aboriginal people to become Environmental Health Officers and
- housing projects to ensure safe and healthy living environments within Aboriginal homes.