Centre `off Rails'

Newcastle Herald

Saturday March 15, 2003

By LISA ALLISON Health Reporter

A $600,000 indigenous accommodation centre aimed at improving Aboriginal health has "gone off the rails", according to Hunter Health chief executive officer Katherine McGrath.

Management problems have become so entrenched at Yallarwah Place that an independent review will get under way next month.

The review will be carried out under the auspices of the peak NSW Aboriginal health organisation, the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council.

It will be undertaken by Newcastle University Professor and Wollotuka School of Aboriginal Studies head John Lester.

Yallarwah Place was built near John Hunter Hospital in 1998.

While it welcomes both indigenous and non-indigenous visitors, the centre was designed specifically to attract Aboriginal people from remote NSW communities.

The centre's underlying concept is that if culturally sensitive accommodation is available for a patient's relatives near John Hunter, more Aborigines will seek treatment at the hospital.

But two chief fundraisers for Yallarwah Place, Susan Harvey and Paul Walsh OAM, said more non-indigenous than indigenous people were using the accommodation.

In a letter describing the Yallarwah project, Professor McGrath said John Hunter Hospital was the tertiary referral centre for "many far-flung Aboriginal communities" in northern and north-western NSW.

But there was a "notable reluctance among many Aboriginal communities to attend a `white fella' hospital" without family support.

"The Yallarwah site addresses this need by providing culturally supportive relatives' accommodation in a bushland setting," Professor McGrath's letter said.

But in a letter to Mr Walsh dated July 16, 2002, Professor McGrath admitted the process ensuring that this goal was realised had "gone off the rails".

She also wrote to Mr Walsh in December last year, informing him that Aboriginal bed occupancy at the site averaged 16 per cent, compared with 84 per cent for non-Aborigines.

Mr Walsh and Ms Harvey said those figures were probably even lower, around 4 per cent, given that it appeared fold-out beds installed to give Yallarwah Place the capacity to accommodate 20 or more people and to cope with large families were no longer being used.

They said a $20 per night, per person cost was one of the major barriers for Aboriginal people to using the centre.

"What is needed is for Yallarwah Place to be actively promoted within the Hunter and beyond as a culturally friendly place for Aboriginal accommodation," Mr Walsh said.

"That has not been properly undertaken."

Hunter Health manages the site in partnership with the Awabakal Medical Service.

Awabakal Aboriginal Co-operative chief executive officer Ray Kelly said he agreed with "much of what Paul Walsh is saying".

"That is why we are bringing in an external review into place to see what we need to do," Mr Kelly said.

Professor McGrath said she had met with Mr Walsh to address his concerns.

The terms of reference for Professor Lester's investigation include reviewing the prices at Yallarwah Place and identifying barriers to Aboriginal visitors.

He has also been asked to make recommendations on how to publicly promote the centre to the Aboriginal community.

Professor McGrath said the centre's review would occur between April and June this year.

Professor Lester would meet with Mr Walsh and other community members as part of the review.

Yallarwah Place was lauded as a progressive step in Aboriginal health at its 1999 opening.

Ms Harvey and Mr Walsh were among the centre's main fundraisers, donating funds from a self-published book called Novocastrian Tales.

The book celebrated Newcastle's bicentenary in 1997 and was supported by luminaries including former prime minister Gough Whitlam, poet Les Murray and comedian Mikey Robins.

Mr Walsh said the publication raised $100,000 towards the building of Yallarwah Place, which was supplemented by $300,000 State Government funds, $100,000 from Hunter Health, and other money.

© 2003 Newcastle Herald

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