A successful and innovative health awareness program for young First Australians will be expanded to reach more communities across Australia.
Our Government will provide $79,288 to Aboriginal-directed organisation, The Malpa Project (Malpa), to develop an instructional video that will extend the reach of its Young Doctors program.
The Program focusses on leadership, teaching children aged 9-12 to be ambassadors and warriors for health.
It encourages and enables them to become advocates who share knowledge and promote better health behaviours, to help build stronger local communities.
An evaluation of the program in 2015 found that 100 per cent of the participants reported knowing more about their culture, felt comfortable visiting a health professional and shared their new learning with other children and families.
The video will be used to train project leaders who will then guide the Young Doctors as they develop understanding of well-being, good hygiene, health literacy, nutrition, environmental health and leadership, and highlight the importance of cultural identity and culturally appropriate healthcare.
It will be an important tool to help community leaders to establish a unique version of the successful program to address local health challenges within their communities.
Since the program was established in 2012, more than 1100 young people have received the training in regional, remote and urban locations across Australia.
Malpa will work with families and communities already delivering the program to develop the video. It will initially be shown in the Northern Territory, including the Tiwi Islands and Groote Eylandt, and then across Australia.
During the next 12 months, Malpa expects to train 700 children, in areas as diverse as Melbourne, Adelaide, Wollongong, Katherine, Gippsland and Kempsey.
The commitment is funded from the $3.9 billion dedicated to improving the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people announced in the 2018-19 Budget.
