Indigenous Smoking Project Report

This PHAIWA project, commissioned by the Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA), is now complete. The project recognised the various organisations working in the area of Aboriginal tobacco control and aimed to complement their work by linking tobacco control and advocacy expertise with stakeholder engagement and community involvement.

Specifically, the project aimed to contribute to capacity building in skills-based tobacco advocacy strategies for the Aboriginal Health Council of WA (AHCWA) and Aboriginal Medical Services (AMS) staff members. By working closely with peak bodies such as AHCWA, AMSs, other Aboriginal leaders, experts in tobacco control and key public health organisations, the project sought to develop innovative approaches and provide future policy options to reduce the prevalence of Aboriginal tobacco use in Western Australia and Australia. These are highlighted in the final report.

A Project Advisory Committee (PAC) was established to guide the process and advise on appropriate consultation procedures and final recommendations.  Thanks are offered to every PAC member for their time, advice and commitment to the project. The PAC Members included:

• Glenda Humes (South West Aboriginal Medical Service Aboriginal Corporation (SWAMS)), Terry Brennan (Geraldton Regional Aboriginal Medical Service)
• Juli Coffin (Combined Universities Centre for Rural health (CUCRH)
• Tim O’Brien (Kimberley Population Health Unit (KPHU)
• Associate Professor Lyn Henderson-Yates (Centre for Indigenous Studies)
• Lyn Dimer (Heart Foundation),
• Stephen Hall (Australian Council on Smoking and Health (ACOSH)),
• David Waters (Office of Aboriginal Health)
• Wendy Creech (Department of Health and Ageing (OATSIH)
• Michael Fowlie (Department of Health and Ageing (Primary Health)
• Professor Mike Daube (Public Health Advocacy Institute of WA (PHAIWA)
• Dr Melissa Stoneham (Public Health Advocacy Institute of WA (PHAIWA)
• Laura Bond (Public Health Advocacy Institute of WA (PHAIWA)
• Ms Jodie Goodman (PHAIWA)

The project team would also like to thank Shane Bradbrook, Director of Te Reo Marama, for his commitment to and assistance with this project. Shane’s primary role is to advocate change at a political and policy level on tobacco control issues from a Maori perspective.

The final report outlines the key finding from the literature review, documents the main themes from the community consultation and documents the project strategies. More importantly the final report provides some direction for the future funding directions for Aboriginal tobacco control in Western Australia.

To read a copy of the report, please follow this link.

For further information please contact Dr Melissa Stoneham at M.Stoneham@Curtin.edu.au.