Contacts. Issue 1, February 2013

Issue 1, February 2013

Contacts

Senior Program Officer Phone: 9388 4935

Welcome to the first edition of Campfire published

electronically by the Environmental Health Directorate.

This publication aims to promote the work that

environmental health practitioners do in Aboriginal

communities in WA.

Campfire was selected as a name for the publication

because it is an activity that draws people together. In

bush settings, the campfire allows for the sharing of

ideas and thoughts and those sharing the campfire

have a common benefit. It also represents a managed

activity that must be watched and tended to provide

heat and protect the surrounding environment – if it isn’t

properly managed, there is a risk of harm to people and

the land.

If you are an environmental health practitioner and want

to showcase something that you are proud of we

encourage you to write an article for this publication. If

you’re not an environmental health practitioner but

work with Aboriginal people to improve living conditions

or community environments we would encourage you

also to read the e-newsletter and contribute your own

articles. Feel free to distribute this e-newsletter to allied

health and other agencies that are interested in

environmental health.

We aim to produce an electronic newsletter three times

per year. We look forward to your feedback and any

news items you want to place on a statewide platform.

The editorial staff can be contacted through David

Jarman at:

[email protected]

or by

phone on (08) 9388 4947

2

Contents

Page

Environmental Health at Kurrawang Aboriginal Community

3 Environmental Health across the

Ngaanyatjarra Lands

4

Bega Garnbirringu Environmental Health Team

5

East Kimberly Environmental Health Community Program

6

Goldfields Dog Health Training - My Story

7

Welcome Environmental Health

Promotions Officer Georgina (Georgie) Kelly

8

First Indigenous Environmental Health University Graduate for Western Australia

9

Pilbara Meta Maya - Working in the Pilbara

10

Training - Empower Education Style 11

Doing My Job Better – A Training Resource for the Aboriginal Environmental Health Practitioner

12

Keeping in touch using Skype 13

Expressions of Interest -Training Workshop

14

By Stanley Ashwin – Environmental Health Practitioner at Kurrawang Aboriginal Christian Community Kurrawang Aboriginal Community is a Christian community and is drug and

alcohol free. Kurrawang has a population of approximately 130 people and 32 houses, Facilities include an office, chapel, school and sporting facilities.

I am fairly new to Environmental Health and have been learning on the job. I have

successfully completed Certificate II in Environmental Health with Greg McKonkey of Empower Education.

It is my duty to provide the Environmental Health Service which includes;

Ÿ Rubbish Collection And Disposal Ÿ Waste Water Management Ÿ Pest Control

Ÿ Dog Health Programs Ÿ Community Awareness

Ÿ Municipal services such as road maintenance, dust abatement, storm water drainage,

Ÿ Plant Machinery operation and maintenance

We have 4 staff including myself the Environmental Health Practitioner,

Community Manager, Office Manager and Housing Officer.

Environmental Health at Kurrawang Aboriginal

Community

4 By Troy Hill, Environmental Health Coordinator,

Ng Health Service

Firstly I would like to thank Ngaanyatjarra Health Services for giving me an opportunity as the new recruited Environmental Health Coordinator. It has been a fantastic experience working out on “the

Lands” and facing many new challenges. The

Ngaanyatjarra Lands are increasingly being recognised for their strong cultural and natural values. Ngaanyatjarra people, Yarnangu, have cared for their country for thousands of years, and these social and cultural activities continue unbroken to the present day.

Today the Ngaanyatjarra Health Service’s Environmental Health Program employs:

● 1 x Coordinator

● 2 x Full time Field Support Officers ● 8 x Environmental Health Practitioners

The Ngaanyatjarra Health Service is the only permanent health facility on the lands. There are no private facilities; the closest is over one thousand kilometres away. There is strong cultural support and commitment from the Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku who assist with monitoring environmental health conditions for the local communities.

The Ngaanyatjarra Health Service is aware that chronic lifestyle illness is rapidly escalating. The Health Service will have to face these demands and it needs to be adequately resourced. To do this it must be inventive and lateral in its thinking to improve people’s health and to prevent any further deterioration. This can certainly be done with local support from our environmental health practitioners in the form of making a difference by delivering a well established environmental health program.

I remain confident in being efficient with service delivery and employment. Resources are being positioned to provide positive outcomes. It is still early days for our committed team with plenty of positive results to be delivered.

Environmental Health across the Ngaanyatjarra Lands

Kenan Bender trained as an

Environmental Health Officer in Curtin University and has been employed by the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder doing Aboriginal Environmental Health since 2004.

Kenan works closely with Cody Winter and Joseph Dayton who are employed with Bega Garnbirringu Health Services in Kalgoorlie. All three enjoy the

challenges and rewards of working to improve the standard of Aboriginal Environmental Health in the Eastern Goldfields Region.

As part of this work, they report on the environmental health standards in Aboriginal communities and run school programs, pest control programs, dog health programs and various

environmental health projects.

Recently they have been working on a waste control project for Mt Margaret Community, run a dog desexing program for Tjuntjuntjara, Kurrawang and Ninga Mia communities and a revitalisation project for the temporary camping ground in Boulder.

6 By Marie Rosney, Environmental Health

Coordinator, Kimberly WACHS

The East Kimberley Environmental Health Community Program was introduced in December 2011 in collaborating with the Environmental Health team and the Department of Corrective Services Kununurra.

Under the supervision and guidance of Kimberley Population Health Unit’s

Environmental Health Coordinator, Clayton Bell and Senior Environmental Health Field Support Officer, Tim Bond, the program enables those who are serving Community Service Orders to complete their hours in blocks rather than intermittently while repaying their debt to the community. Participants are involved in meaningful activities directly related to environmental health enabling new skills to be developed, which will assist with future employment and educational prospects.

The program involves the transference of environmental health knowledge to

communities through the practical skills learned by workers leading to improved health outcomes for communities. To date

the program has supported 11 participants in clearing 617 community service hours with the Department of Corrective Services reporting an attendance and completion rate of 100%.

The programs success has resulted in the part time employment of a community service worker with the Environmental Health team who is currently completing a TAFE Certificate in Horticulture.

The team is currently in discussions with TAFE, Centrelink and the Department of Juvenile Justice in relation to future opportunities towards improved environmental health outcomes and community development.

The Environmental Health Team with the Department of Corrective Services was recently nominated for a joint Western Australia Health Award as an example of programs, which successfully work in partnerships with organisations and individuals outside of the department Congratulations to Clayton and Tim and best wishes for the programs continued success.

East Kimberly Environmental Health Community

Program

By David Jarman, Environmental Health Directorate

I recently assisted in organising a Dog Health Training Course in the Goldfields Region run by Professor Ian Robertson School of Veterinary Science Murdoch University. There were 18 participants who came from various organisations and communities within the Goldfields, Ngaanyatjarra Lands and the Pilbara regions.

Attending and participating in this training event gave me a better appreciation for the environment in which the Environmental Health Practitioners live and work. The two day Dog Health course covered both theory and practical training. The course teaches the environmental health workers and officers about dog health and its potential to impact on human health.

Some types of zoonotic diseases that spread between dogs and people are bacterial e.g. salmonella, viral e.g. rabies and parasitic e.g. scabies, mites or round and hookworm.

Successful trainees become qualified to treat dogs in remote communities where no veterinary service operates by injection for chemical sterilisation and euthanasing sick or unwanted dogs and to apply topical treatments for parasites.

While in Kalgoorlie I was able to see firsthand the varied environmental issues affecting remote communities and the impact these issues have. I also was able to see and appreciate the issues the local Environmental Health Practitioners faced during their day to day work.

8 We take this opportunity to extend a warm welcome to Georgina (Georgie) Kelly who takes up the role as Environmental Health Promotions Officer with Kimberley Population Health Unit based in Broome.

Before joining KPHU, Georgie worked with the Shire of Broome for five years. In her new role, Georgie will work across Environmental Health and Health Promotions and will be responsible for the No Germs On Me hand hygiene program.

We look forward to supporting and working with Georgie in her current role and wish her a happy association with Environmental Health and Health Promotions.

Georgie’s contact details are as follows if you would like to contact her regarding the No Germs on Me program. Georgina Kelly

Environmental Health Promotions Officer Kimberley Population Health Unit

Phone: (08) 9192 9760.

[email protected]

Welcome

Environmental Health Promotions Officer

Georgina (Georgie) Kelly

Troy Hill is the first Aboriginal person from Western Australia to graduate at a tertiary level in environmental health. Troy started work as an environmental health worker in Meekatharra in 1995 with Yullela Aboriginal Corporation. He completed a Certificate 2 in Aboriginal Environmental Health with Pundulmurra College over two years (1995-1997). In 2001 he completed a Certificate 3 qualification. 2003 saw Troy move to Kalgoorlie and start work as a Field Support Officer with the City of

Kalgoorlie-Boulder. While working for the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder he applied for the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education course in

environmental health.

Troy commenced his tertiary degree course in 2006 and graduated from Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education in June 2012.

Troy is now employed by Ngaanyatjarra Health Services as their Environmental Health Coordinator. He is responsible for delivering services in the

Ngaanyatjarra lands area of WA, comprising 11 communities in the Central Desert near the SA/NT border. Troy is the National WA Aboriginal representative on the Working Group for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Environmental Health.

First Indigenous Environmental Health

University Graduate for Western Australia

10 By Gabrielle Campbell, Environmental

Health Practitioner, Pilbara Meta Maya

I joined the Pilbara Meta Maya

Environmental Health team as a supervisor over six months ago. My team and I have been working together to engage with community on a number of different levels. We have been focusing on building

sustainable programs, developing an environmental health workforce on

community and working with community to ensure that they have access to safe and well functioning housing and an improved living environment.

Since my appointment we have rolled out a number of dog health programs with Animal Management in Rural and Remote

Indigenous Communities (AMRRIC),

conducted several community clean-ups and car removals. We routinely visit our 13

communities on the Pilbara to conduct basic environmental health tasks such as

plumbing, pest control and animal

management while synchronising health promotion with these tasks by providing community members with information on how to avoid plumbing problems, pest issues and dog overpopulation.

Yandeyarra community is experiencing the benefits of having Environmental Health Worker, Michelle Coppin on community to address health concerns as they arise and to coordinate programs in her own community. Michelle is currently supervising the big job of removing cars from her community.

Pilbara Meta Maya - Working in the Pilbara

Empower Education is run by Greg McConkey and is a private Registered Training Organisation specialising in providing training and consultancy services to Indigenous communities and their support agencies through Western Australia. Empower Education delivers the Certificate 2 course in Indigenous Environmental Health and provides support, training and advice to Aboriginal Environmental Health Practitioners and communities in the Midwest and

Goldfields regions.

This year saw 14 trainees complete the Certificate 2 course held in several

locations around the Mid West, Goldfields and Perth. The trainees finished off the year with a revision and consolidation workshop in Perth recently. Following this, several graduates enjoyed a day of team building with a visit to the outdoor laser sports centre in the Swan Valley. Robert Mullane from the Environmental Health Directorate joined them for the day and learnt a thing or two about being targeted by such a slick team.

Training - Empower Education Style

Pictured are:

(Standing left to right) : Tyrone Cook, Wade Lyndon, Abel Dickerson, Michelle Coppin, Robert Mullane (Health

Department), Ronald Wheelock, Garth Comeagain, Chelsea Robinson, Richard George-Kennedy

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Empower Education, with the support of the City of Greater Geraldton and the

Environmental Health Directorate, have produced a training DVD entitled Doing My Job Better –A Resource to Support the Aboriginal Environmental Health

Practitioner.

The resource is made up of four DVDs covering topics including pesticides, plumbing repairs in and around the home, dog handling and mosquito awareness. Our thanks to the following people and agencies that supported this

resource:-· Geoff Harcombe - Pesticide Safety, Department of Health

· Sharleen Jordon - CY O’Connor Tafe

· Lauren Critchell - Shire of Mundaring · Richard Douglas - Globe Australia · Cindy Myers and staff - Path West

Water Testing Laboratory

· Sue Harrington - Department of Health

· Garry Dunbar – Plumbers Licensing Board

Copies are available free of charge from the Environmental Health Directorate. Contact David Jarman (pictured below) on:

9388 4934 or by e-mail.

Doing My Job Better – A Training Resource for the

Aboriginal Environmental Health Practitioner

David Jarman from the Directorate with a copy of the DVD

By Robert Mullane, Senior Program Officer, Department of Health

Hi to everyone.

Welcome to 2013! Hope you have all enjoyed the break over Christmas and New Year.

As we travel around the state many of you have commented that it would be good if free and easy video conferencing facilities were available to keep in touch with us here in Perth so that you could discuss the

various issues that you are dealing with at the time. Well now you can!! - if you have access to a computer and the Internet. Now not only can you call me on the phone, but you can see me too! Yes, I know that might be too much for some…however… I’m willing to that that risk and give it a go if it helps anyone!!

Skype is pretty easy to use and it is a free service via the Internet. I have had Skype installed on my computer here in the office and have already had a couple of sessions with people in the Kimberley region.

If you would like to give it a go and see how it works for you, then I suggest you talk to your organisation or community and ask if you could use it. It is free to load on your or someone else’s computer and it is free to call and “meet” with people.

My Skype name is robert.mullane99 – look me up on Skype!!

If you need help with any of this please contact me and either I or someone else here will help you.

Kind regards to you all

Keeping in touch using Skype

Me in the office…. put those

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Greg McConkey of Empower Education is seeking expressions of interest from possible participants to determine the viability of an AEH revision/consolidation workshop for early 2013. This workshop would focus on key aspects of AEH at a community level with a particular emphasis on practical skills. Although the workshop will draw from existing elements of the Cert II in IEH course there will be no direct connection to formal training and no

assessments or certification will be involved. It would be of use to:

∙   existing AEHW’s as a refresher course, ∙   newly appointed AEHW supervisors or co –coordinators, ∙   Housing Officers ∙   Program Managers

Venue: Aboriginal Alcohol and Drug Service, Royal Street East Perth Date: To be arranged, from March

onwards

Cost: To be determined, likely around $600

Travel/Accommodation/Meals: to be

arranged and covered by the participant or their employer. Lunches on training days will be provided. Recommended

accommodation, Flag Lodge, Rivervale. A free bus service to /from the training venue will be provided from this motel if numbers are sufficient.

Tentative Program Day 1.

Am Pest management for the AEH program

Plus - Guest speakers prior to lunch: ∙   Geoff Harcombe­ Manager Pesticide

Safety Branch, Dept. of Health, ∙   Richard Douglas­ Globe Australia

Pm Taps and Tap Repair

Day 2.

Am Household Drainage Basics

Plus- Guest speakers prior to lunch: ∙   representative(s) from Aboriginal En­

vironmental Health Programs

∙   representative from Plumbers Licens­ ing Board

Pm Tools, Resources, Suppliers for your AEH program

Day 3:

∙   Positive experiences, successful models. Group discussion

Lunch and finish

Expressions of interest or queries should be directed to:

Greg McConkey: 0407 930 218 or [email protected]