2 December 2004
From Conception to Birth - Building Healthier Communities 9 Months On
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Peter Toyne MLA
Minister for Health
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Marion Scrymgour MLA
Minister for Community Services
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Building Healthier Communities – A 5 Year Framework was conceived with a promise to improve the health and well being of all Territorians.
Nine months on and we are delivering a bold new era for Health and Community Services.
Since coming to Government we have injected an extra $154 million into Health and Community Services.
Thousands of Territory school children will be given a good start in life through our $1.7 million commitment to upgrade Territory school dental clinics and equipment.
This vital investment comes on top of the $1.6 million extra funding committed in the 2003 Budget to oral health services.
Territorians with a terminal illness will be able to die with dignity with work starting on the $4.2 million hospice at the Royal Darwin Hospital grounds.
It’s expected to be operational by May next year.
Alice Springs Hospital is also seeing major improvements, including $228,000 worth of equipment at the Intensive Care and High Dependency Units as part of an $11 million upgrade over the next four years.
Apart from buying equipment such as five new electric beds, a blood infusion warmer and a syringe driver, the allocation of funds will also see the employment of 37 additional health professionals in the hospital, mostly nurses.
Nursing numbers has been a wonderful success story for the Labor Government as we have already created 97 fully funded new hospital based nursing positions that has already exceeded our election target of 75 nursing positions during our first term.
In the area of Family and Community Services the reform of Child Protection Services is well underway.
The NT Government has tripled the funding into this area since coming to office, injecting an additional $53 million into the system over five years.
Since January an additional 32 operational staff have been employed in Family and Community Services – with 10 more positions to be created in 2004-05.
The Foster Care payment was increased this year by eight per cent – that is an additional $10 a week.
Building a better child protection system is only as effective as the legislation that guides it – and to that end this Government has begun the process of overhauling the 20 year old Community Welfare Act.
Following public consultation, which begins this weekend, the Act will be replaced with a more contemporary legislation to better provide for the care and protection of children and young people.
Tackling Substance Abuse is another NT Government priority, and today marks the introduction of the Volatile Substance Abuse Prevention Bill into Territory Parliament.
This is new legislation which will ban petrol sniffing in the Northern Territory – without making it a criminal offence.
Another milestone this year is the creation of the Health, Disability and Family and Community Services Advisory Councils – which have been formed to provide the Government with honest advice.
The Building Healthier Communities – A Five Year Framework provides a broad agenda for change, based on a challenging vision and the following priorities:
- Giving kids a good start in life
- Strengthening families and communities
- Getting serious about Aboriginal health
- Creating better pathways to health services
- Filling service gaps
- Tackling substance abuse.
The strategy also identifies four areas for strengthening and reforming our health and community services system. They are:
- Building quality health and community services
- Creating better ways of working together
- Valuing and supporting our workforce
- Creating a health information network