Impact and readership

September 2024

Tackling digital power

Week ending 26 September: The compelling image that leads our bulletin this week speaks to the reach and tentacles of digital power, and also reminds that the connections which bind us bring threats to health as well as solutions.

In a wide-ranging look at the digital determinants of health, Alison Barrett dives deep into efforts to regulate digital platforms, while health leaders urge colleagues to rise to the challenges of the digital transformation.

We also explore the weaponisation of digital devices, and detail calls for less impunity, more accountability, and peace-making, amid yet more reports of trauma and war.

Meanwhile, women in Afghanistan are suffering gender apartheid, and need the support of the international community in their struggle.

We also bring a strong focus on climate action this week, including recommendations for a systematic approach to embedding planetary health equity considerations at the upcoming COP29.

As Australia approves massive coal mine expansions, we hear about a new book investigating the power of the fossil fuels lobby.

The ICYMI column includes recommendations for implementation of the National Health and Climate Strategy, saying this will “need new policies, projects and investments and a fit-for-purpose health workforce.”

First Nations researchers are also in the spotlight.

Don’t miss the @WePublicHealth wrap from the National Justice Project; a Senate committee inquiry into Australia’s youth justice and incarceration system is an important opportunity for the health sector to highlight the harmful impacts of current policies.

The Zap by Charles Maskell-Knight is a must-read for the latest updates on health and aged care matters – and don’t miss his take on the latest Commonwealth Fund report.

Please consider yourself invited to join a #CroakeyGO in and around Kandos, rural New South Wales, for a weekend of walking journalism and connecting to Country.

Looking to the future, learning from the past

Week ending 19 September: The United Nations Summit of the Future, due to take place this weekend in New York, aims to envision better ways to respond to the many crises shaking our world.

Some of these challenges also feature in our bulletin this week, from Israel’s breaches of international law, to the climate emergency and the devastating impacts of deregulation and austerity policies.

Ways forward also come from examining the past. In reviewing the past 40 years of HIV/AIDS in Australia, Professor James Ward highlights the importance of “collective agency, advocacy and leadership” and the strengths of First Nations communities.

As the one-year anniversary of the Voice referendum approaches, our #CroakeyLIVE webinar this week shared many lessons for the health sector from the referendum campaign and its aftermath.

Concerns about equity thread through many of our stories, from Charles Maskell-Knight’s damning analysis of aged care reforms, to Dr Tim Senior’s investigations of  community-driven primary healthcare in London.

We also report on recommendations for improving healthcare for people from culturally and linguistic diverse backgrounds, as well as around menopause.

This week’s ICYMI column has a big focus on equity, including a new Australian Medical Association statement on addressing racism in healthcare.

The Zap column puts a spotlight on suicide prevention, while The Health Wrap examines critical health issues at stake in this year’s US election.

Have you got your head around vaping reforms? Don’t miss Marie McInerney’s report for Croakey Conference News Service from a recent Consumers Health Forum webinar.

We also bring conference news on HIV/AIDS, public health, rural health, and psychiatry.

Elections matter

Week ending 12 September: The new Northern Territory Government has abolished the climate portfolio, and also will no longer have a minister for suicide prevention, treaty, local decision-making, parks and rangers, nor a minister for women or remote housing and homelands.

The Australian Indigenous Doctors Association has added its influential voice to a chorus of concerns about the NT Government’s plans to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 10, urging that it instead be raised to 14, in line with global recommendations.

As Croakey’s Marie McInerney remarked this week, elections really matter. And especially for our health.

Don’t miss her investigation of the health issues at stake in the upcoming Queensland election, where Steven Miles has been paying far more attention to public health matters (and his social media accounts) than most Premiers.

Our bulletin this week also highlights the role of all areas of government in suicide prevention, and underscores the importance of calls for governments to address poverty and other social determinants of health.

We also examine why the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide doesn’t want to see any more brick walls blocking live-saving reform efforts.

Ahead of the upcoming NSW Drug Summit, we identify five ways to prevent overdose deaths, and put Indigenous leadership and community-led solutions high on the agenda.

Dr Simon Judkins urges colleagues to step up on climate health advocacy, while Dr Tim Senior asks the Australian College of Nursing to rethink its proposal for school nurses to weigh children.

Dr Jenny Grounds, a country GP and executive member of the Medical Association for Prevention of War Australia, explains why she helped organise a vigil for Palestine, held in Naarm/Melbourne last night.

The Zap reports that Health Minister Mark Butler has made it very clear that dental health reform is not on the Albanese Government’s agenda; we are looking forward to reading Charles Maskell-Knight’s forthcoming analysis of the aged care reforms just announced.

You now have less than a week to make a submission to a Parliamentary inquiry into a Bill to establish a Truth and Justice Commission; read about the submissions by NACCHO and others.

And finally, please register to join us for a #CroakeyLIVE webinar next Monday, 16 September, to reflect upon the impact of the 2023 Voice referendum as the one-year anniversary approaches.

Protecting children

Week ending 5 September: “Every conversation matters” is the theme of National Child Protection Week. Our bulletin this week hosts many hard but necessary conversations about wide-ranging assaults on children’s rights and wellbeing.

We examine how governments, systems, industries and institutions are creating dangerous environments for children, whether because of human rights violations, climate change, toxic marketing, or failures to invest in prevention and public health measures.

In our lead story, Marie McInerney examines how the state of Queensland failed over many years to provide proper care for a 15-year-old Indigenous boy with a significant intellectual disability. As a result, he’s been on a “sad merry-go-round of offending, incarceration and hopelessness”.

Doctors for the Environment call out a recent article in The Weekend Australian by journalist Chris Uhlmann that supported “the continued prescription of oil, coal and gas”.

Meanwhile, the Albanese Government is under intense pressure on gambling policy as well as the Census debacle.

We feature extracts from Thomas Mayo’s latest book, ‘Always Was, Always Will Be, The Campaign for Justice and Recognition Continues’, reflecting on ‘where to now’ after the Voice referendum.

And we hear from health professionals making a difference in different places, including Labor MP Dr Mike Freelander and Dr Tim Senior, who makes an emotional return to Sheffield in south Yorkshire.

As we celebrate great feats at the Paralympics in Paris, we are reminded of policies of control that shaped the lives, identities and careers of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander athletes over decades.

Don’t miss The Zap for all the latest in health and aged care policy, including a timely observation about the future of the Australian Centre for Disease Control.

August 2024

Evidence matters

Week of 29 August: What happens when governments don’t follow evidence?

Many of the stories in our bulletin this week answer this question.

What happens is global heating, rising sea levels, escalating disasters, and widening inequalities. Children get harmed, people get sicker, and money is wasted on ineffective and harmful policies and programs.

The importance of following the evidence is highlighted by articles addressing the harms of fossil fuels and ineffective youth justice policies, as well as effective road safety interventions.

The Albanese Government’s appalling decision to exclude LGBTQIA+ questions from the 2026 Census is a reminder that politics too often trumps evidence.

As the Paralympics begin, we also look at COVID-19 measures at the Games, and hear from a former Paralympian about the challenges involved.

Our bulletin also showcases those working to improve evidence, with stories on consumers contributing to research, and efforts to embed evidence into clinical practice and communications.

Another highlight is Emily Carter’s article on the importance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ knowledges in addressing climate change.

Don’t miss the latest wrap from Dr Tim Senior’s investigations of general practices at the Deep End, as part of his Churchill Fellowship.

Our regular columns, The Health Wrap and The Zap, bring a wealth of updates on health policy and public health.

The ICYMI column highlights opportunities for Croakey readers to engage with truth-telling.

See this 75-page report compiling Croakey Conference News Service’s coverage of the International Social Prescribing Conference, sharing evidence on the practice of social prescribing.

Global solidarity

Week of 22 August:

*** Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this bulletin contains mentions of someone who has died***

Global solidarity is called for this week, whether in ensuring equitable mpox vaccine access, action on the climate emergency, or for putting pressure on governments to work for urgent ceasefire in Gaza.

Following confirmation of the first case of polio in the Gaza strip – in a 10-month-old baby – United Nations Secretary General António Guterres said “the ultimate vaccine for polio is peace and an immediate humanitarian ceasefire”.

This week’s bulletin highlights many ways that systems and governments are failing people, especially children and young people, Indigenous women and children, and people with disability. 

On the flipside, our stories also offer solutions – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and community-led programs, genuine co-design, inclusion of people with lived experience, and cooperation across all levels of government.

We also examine the role of philanthropy in a time of multiple crises and societal fragmentation.

Don’t miss our coverage of the critical health issues at stake in the Northern Territory election this weekend, especially for First Nations communities.

The importance of media policy as a determinant of health is woven through many of these stories. Melissa Sweet and Marie McInerney report on current media policy issues, and call for wider civil society to contribute in this space.

A highlight this week is Linda Burney’s moving valedictory speech, filled with hope, as she farewells Parliament. In a week of important speeches, the ICYMI column shares some not to miss.

Government responses to two important reports reveal the enormous scale of mental health reform challenges. Don’t miss the latest developments, announcements and consultations on health and aged care in The Zap.

Meegan Fitzharris reports on lessons for the health sector following the recent CrowdStrike outage. 

Put health and wellbeing first

Week of 15 August: This week has brought some harsh reminders of how governments so often disappoint when it comes to protecting the community’s health and wellbeing.

The Victorian Government’s backflip on its pledge to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 has been widely condemned. However, Nerita Waight is confident the evidence-based change will happen, at some point.

The Federal Government is also taking heat, for its reluctance to ban all gambling advertising. As a complex web of commercial determinants influences decision making, Malcolm Baalman says gambling must be addressed as a public health concern rather than as a media policy issue.

Our bulletin has a strong focus on the Northern Territory in the lead up to the 24 August election. Housing, better support for the health workforce, and run-down infrastructure at Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations are among key priorities.

Workforce concerns are also in focus in The Zap column by Charles Maskell-Knight, while Health and Mental Health Ministers are due to meet today.

Don’t miss Dr Tim Senior’s report from Dublin, where he’s been closely observing some curious and compassionate GPs at work.

An expert investigates COVID management at the Paris Olympics, the ICYMI column brings calls to action on mpox, and a new report lays out a treatment plan for the global health menace of fossil fuels.

Alison Barrett reports on health workers encouraging colleagues to speak up for the people of Gaza.

The importance of Indigenous knowledges is highlighted, in disaster resilience and improving research outcomes.

If you missed our #CroakeyLIVE on better care pathways for knee osteoarthritis, Marie McInerney has you covered. 

Allyship matters

Week ending 8 August: As we approach the one year-anniversary of the traumatic Voice referendum outcome, some timely conversations were shared yesterday at the first National Allyship Summit.

The Prime Minister and Opposition leader were not in the room, but may have felt their ears burning.

Dr Summer May Finlay urged allies and accomplices to speak out about the PM walking back his commitment to a Makarrata Commission, which is a key recommendation of the Uluru Statement. 

Uluru Dialogue co-chair Pat Anderson told the summit that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were getting a “sense of déjà vu, that familiar feeling when retail politics and short-term thinking start to motivate the abandonment of a key Indigenous reform”.

The bulletin this week also has a strong focus on healthcare reform, with Jason Staines taking a deep dive into the rollout of Urgent Care Clinics, and The Zap bringing some zinger quotes.

As the Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, hits the United States election trail, many health issues are coming to the fore, as reported in The Health Wrap and ICYMI.

We also highlight a range of current concerns about infectious diseases, including mpox, polio, syphilis and whooping cough.

Planetary health also features across several stories, including in our final report from the recent international social prescribing conference. 

We also investigate the power of Big Tech companies and report on an important judgement against Google/Alphabet.

Don’t miss a landmark new statement that challenges researchers to do better in addressing inequities.

Also read about why specialist knee surgeon Nigel Hartnett works hard to avoid knee surgery for his patients.

And please register to join us for a #CroakeyLIVE webinar (5-6pm AEST on 13 August), which will examine the need for better care pathways for people with knee osteoarthritis

July 2024

Prioritise prevention

Week ending 1 August: Prevention is the golden thread that runs through our stories this week, whether we are reporting on the climate health crisis, long COVID, or the trials facing athletes in Paris.

On that note, we invite you to our upcoming #CroakeyLIVE, on Tuesday 13 August, which will examine recommendations to prevent or at least delay surgery for knee osteoarthritis. Register here.

Don’t miss Dr Lesley Russell’s analysis of new research identifying how public health and prevention research misses out in Medical Research Future Fund allocations. The findings are disturbing, troubling and perplexing, she writes.

As the 24th Garma Festival begins in the Northern Territory, we bring two articles identifying key health issues at stake in the NT election – the climate health crisis and community safety.

In responding to the latest analysis of Closing the Gap data, the Coalition of Peaks and the National Health Leadership Forum stress the importance of the community controlled sector, and the need for governments and bureaucracies to work differently.

Meanwhile, the First Nations Clean Energy Network discusses how targeted employment and training opportunities in the renewable energy sector have the potential to “change the intergenerational wealth of First Peoples”.

We bring details of the Federal Ministry reshuffle; meanwhile, our recent story on Linda Burney’s resignation from politics has been updated with further reactions.

The ICYMI column brings news from Gaza, Paris and the United States, as well as various recommendations for reading on the media, including about “the gendered, racialised mess of media reporting”.

In an effort to tackle Big Soda at the Olympics, read about the petition that 76,162 people and 66 organisations have signed to kick big soda out of sport.

And there’s a chorus of disappointment about the Federal Government’s response to the Disability Royal Commission.

Don’t miss the wide-ranging discussions when a group of PhD candidates took over Croakey’s curated, rotated account on X, @WePublicHealth, including their favourite PhD jams.

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Community matters

Week ending 25 July: Our bulletin this week highlights leadership for health, from Australia to the world stage.

Australia’s first Ambassador for First Nations People, Justin Mohamed, shares some of his personal story and how the vision and strength of the Aboriginal community around Shepparton, on Yorta Yorta Country in regional Victoria, were pivotal for his journey towards his current role, the first such position in the world.

In delivering the Dungala Kaiela Oration, Mohamed also outlined how community-driven initiatives are influencing his work internationally on issues such as climate, human rights, trade and health.

Meanwhile, the ICYMI column asks whether United States Vice President Kamala Harris might end up as a President for public health? At the very least, her campaigning is an opportunity for public health advocacy on many key issues.

We publish two stories on Gaza: Alison Barrett reports on a recent panel discussion by Australian health professionals, while Professor Mike Toole warns that the detection of poliovirus in sewage samples in Gaza is “a wake-up call” showing the need to end hostilities and address public health concerns.

Dr Melissa Sweet digs into the UK COVID Inquiry, and regular Croakey columnist Charles Maskell-Knight shares his intense frustration at the Federal Government’s failure to advance oral health reform.

And don’t miss him at The Zap, as well.

Our bulletin also has a strong focus on subverting systems and putting people first, whether it be in general practice, HIV prevention, or developing a gender-responsive health system.

The Federal Government is urged to prioritise the health and wellbeing of asylum seekers and put an end to offshore detention. And to lift its game on climate.

There are calls for stronger regulation of alcohol branded products to protect young people’s health.

Meanwhile, the importance of communities of practice is highlighted in Dr Ruth Armstrong’s report for Croakey Conference News Service on social prescribing.

As Linda Burney announces plans for life after politics, her many years of service are warmly acknowledged.

From children’s wellbeing to healthy ageing

Week ending 18 July: As we’ve been reminded this week, violence has long been part of United States politics, whether the violence is experienced by politicians, or by communities that pay a heavy price for inadequate gun control.

In Australia, “tough on crime” politics is a type of violence against children and young people. Those most at risk from this type of politics are young people and communities whose needs are not well met by governments, policymakers and services.

Don’t miss our two lead stories taking a deep dive into these issues, with multiple experts urging politicians to drop the harmful rhetoric.

Our contributors also bring detailed suggestions for how journalists and media organisations can lift their reporting game when politicians talk tough on crime.

At the other end of life, this week’s bulletin also has a focus on ageing.

The Health Wrap covers age-friendly communities in the United States, while we share solutions to Australia’s looming aged care workforce crisis, and The Zap also has a series of aged care updates.

We report on NAIDOC Week events, and share a must-read list of public health articles by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers.

We also publish on stigma in healthcare, as well as an investigation of a long-running syphilis outbreak.

Health leaders call on the University of Melbourne to drop disciplinary action on students involved in activism for Gaza.

Dr Tim Senior shares wide-ranging discussions from a primary care conference in England, and the ICYMI column discusses the importance of feminist leadership in the health sector.

Meanwhile, public health advocates have some clear advice for an upcoming meeting of Food Ministers.

Our latest impact report was sent out this week; please let us know if you’d like to receive future editions. And a big shout-out to readers and supporters.

@WePublicHealth

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Deep dives and thoughtful reads

Week ending 11 July: What do the United Kingdom, France and United States elections mean for global climate action?

Our lead story by Marie McInerney digs into the threats and possibilities emerging in a critical year, as the planet marks another shocking climate milestone.

Roving reporter Dr Tim Senior reports from the UK on the early days of the Starmer Labour Government, prompted by some early wins to ask: Is it possible the Australian Government could also discover their own bravery?

The urgent need to come together, “shoulder to shoulder”, to address challenges like climate change is one of the driving forces for us to “be at peace” as a country, Professor Megan Davis told a University of Queensland NAIDOC Week event.

Other articles in our bulletin also focus on the NAIDOC Week theme of Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud, celebrating the life and work of leading Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health professionals and researchers, including Aunty Dulcie Flower AM and Professor Aunty Gracelyn Smallwood.

As researchers attempt to count the dead in Gaza, United Nations human rights experts warn that “Israel’s intentional and targeted starvation campaign against the Palestinian people is a form of genocidal violence and has resulted in famine across all of Gaza”.

The #ICYMI column delivers a serve to Minister Bill Shorten and news on medical research reform, while The Zap highlights an urgent need to build the nursing workforce in the face of a looming undersupply of nurses in acute care, primary care, aged care and mental healthcare.

Don’t miss Dr Ruth Armstrong’s latest report from the recent international social prescribing conference, bringing insights from an innovative primary healthcare service in Queensland, neighbourhood carers clubs, and an engaging rural community health and arts project.

Meanwhile, researchers call upon all Australian governments to follow the lead of the Queensland Government in subsidising the cost of food in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

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Our coverage of the International Social Prescribing Conference continued.

NAIDOC Week

As well as editorial coverage, Professor Bronwyn Fredericks and James Blackwell guested at @WePublicHealth, and we republished a sponsored content article with permission of the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives.

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