Jimmy Little Promotes Good Health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, Feb 2005

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MEDIA RELEASE

February 1, 2005
Embargoed 11:30am (AEST)
14/2005

Jimmy Little Promotes Good Health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People

Entertainer Jimmy Little is supporting the largest nation-wide health survey of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people ever conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Recently diagnosed with kidney disease, Jimmy Little is well aware of the health issues and concerns Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people face daily.

Jimmy Little sees the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey (NATSIHS) as an important step towards improving the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities.

"I’m helping the ABS because they want to talk and listen to the people,” said Jimmy Little. “Through the survey, health workers and organisations that deliver health services will better understand our health needs.”

“I’m aware this is the most thorough health survey of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people ever undertaken by the ABS,” said Jimmy.

Between now and July 2005, ABS interviewers, with official identification, will talk to individuals and families in over 5,000 households in urban, rural and remote areas across Australia.

Interviewers will ask families about different sicknesses or injuries they might have had, if they have visited a doctor lately and different things that might affect their health like smoking. There are also some questions about children's health.

“If an ABS interviewer comes knocking on my door, my family and I would be more than happy to help,” says Jimmy “because at the end of the day, it's not just about helping the ABS it's also about helping us and our children. Good health is our future.”

All information collected in the NATSIHS is treated confidentially, and no information will be released in any way that would enable an individual or household to be identified.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, government agencies and other research organisations helped the ABS to develop this survey.

The survey results will be used to plan for improved health care programs and health services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. First results from the survey are expected to be released in 2006.

Media note: A 60 second radio Community Service Announcement by Jimmy Little is available on CD and will be delivered to relevant radio stations when the survey reaches their area.