- More than $150 million will be invested into six new or updated Primary Health Care centres on Badu, Boigu and Horn Islands, and in Laura, Lockhart River and Bamaga.
- An additional $1.1 million will be invested to help grow the Torres Strait health workforce through traineeships, scholarships and leadership programs.
- The Health Minister Shannon Fentiman and Member for Cook, Cynthia Lui will travel to the Torres Strait to meet with community members on Thursday Island and Horn Island.
More than $150 million will be invested into six new or updated primary healthcare centres on Badu, Boigu and Horn Islands, and in Laura, Lockhart River and Bamaga.
The investment is part of the Palaszczuk Government’s $943 million Building Rural and Remote Health Program.
Health Minister Shannon Fentiman and Member for Cook, Cynthia Lui announced the new investment ahead of their arrival into Thursday Island, on Tuesday 11 July 2023.
To help grow the workforce in the region, the Palaszczuk Government will also invest $1.1 million into the First Nations workforce in the Torres and Cape through traineeships, scholarships and leadership programs.
This includes $800,000 in scholarships for up to ten students who reside in the Torres Strait Islands to assist with the travel and living costs associated with studying tertiary health courses away from home.
An additional $300,000 will be invested into the Deadly Start program, to provide 15 new traineeships to First Nations health students in the Torres and Cape Region.
The Queensland Health will work closely with the people of Torres Strait, Cape York and Northern Peninsula to ensure these centres service meet the needs of the community and deliver culturally appropriate care.
Quotes attributable to the Health Minister, Shannon Fentiman:
“This investment is all about helping deliver better health services closer to home for people living in the Torres Strait, and more job opportunities for people who call this region home.
“This is all part of our government’s commitment to maintaining and improving health services in Queensland no matter where a person lives.
“We know that more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people working in our hospitals directly helps us improve health outcomes for First Nations people.
Our government is committed to improving health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and to do that, we need more First Nations doctors, specialists, nurses, carers and allied health professionals.”
Quotes attributable to Member for Cook Cynthia Lui:
“The health and wellbeing of people in the Torres Strait is a major priority for me, and one that is share by the Palaszczuk government.
“The new health facilities and centres mean better health services for people right across the region.
“We will work closely with the local communities to ensure health facilities meet the needs of the community and deliver culturally appropriate care.”
