Alison Barrett writes:
As we contemplate the end of one year and the beginning of another, the team at Croakey have been reflecting on the key events and issues of 2023.
However, instead of recapping the disasters, disappointments and tribulations that have occurred, we asked our supporters and contributors about what gave them cause for hope in 2023.
We hope that you, our readers, may also find some hope and uplift in their responses, which range from the deeply personal to the political and professional. Notably, many have found hope in the strength and smarts of young people.
In the new year, we will bring more reflections on hopes for 2024.
***Note, some reflections on 2023 have been added since original publication***
Dr Megan Williams, Yulang Indigenous Evaluation, Contributing Editor and Director, Croakey Health Media
What has given you cause for hope in 2023?
I have a tricky relationship with hope and on the one hand will quote Professor Chelsea Watego from QUT saying “f@#$ hope” and on the other Jack Bulman from Mibbinbah saying “without hope we are hopeless”.
I always have my radar going, looking for “what’s the human right/s that apply in this specific context?” Use of cultural safety in legislation in a complaint against a health worker, and that being reported even in some mainstream media, does suggest a way First Peoples can exert a minimum and a bit of power perhaps.
Fiona Cornforth, Head of the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research at the Australian National University
What has given you cause for hope in 2023?
The many young people in our communities who are making their presence known and voices heard to forge ahead in the interests of justice and peace.
The people in my life showing by example how to protect their joy, as an act of powerful resistance.
Passionate, dedicated way-finders in research settings who understand truly that knowledge is power and create it, share it and push it out so that we all have the opportunity to deal with the truth in relation to health and wellbeing, and not the rhetoric and deficit views.
Scott Willis, Palawa man, National President of the Australian Physiotherapy Association
What has given you cause for hope in 2023?
Workforce design, in optimising scope of practice to support changing models of care is the key reform piece. It is the transformation we urgently need and represents the most significant reform opportunity since the inception of Medicare.
Minister for Health Mark Butler provided all health and medical professionals with hope when he said that working to full scope of practice is essential to reforming the health system. I have repeatedly said that the Medicare system has, in some areas, reached its use by date.
The Minister’s words provide genuine hope that the road to systemic reform has begun. My hope lies in changes to referral pathways and scope of practice. Primary care is more than the GP and fixing the patient journey means removing the obstacles that hinder access to the right care.
We must have a patient journey in primary care that is accessible, affordable, guarantees the best health outcomes for patients with musculoskeletal conditions by allowing practitioners to work at the top of their practice.
Finding a GP just to get a referral to the care you need costs patients time and money – and often leaves them in pain, distress, or discomfort. My hope is that physiotherapists will soon be able to make direct referrals to surgeons and for essential imaging. GPs must always be involved in patient care, however, I see a government genuinely interested in reducing expenditure through efficiencies and efficacy, which includes physiotherapists working to their full scope in primary care.
Erin Fitzpatrick, Research Assistant and PhD candidate at Victoria University
What has given you cause for hope in 2023?
2023 has been…a year. It feels like we may have somehow crammed a year and a half into the last 12 months. This year was my first full calendar year working on my PhD and it has been filled with highs and lows, both professional and personal. Hope, though, has been sneakily hiding in many corners.
In my personal life, while I have been struggling with the ever-present work/life balancing act and academic pressure to perform I have witnessed so much growth from those around me. One of my best friends started the year with numerous struggles and I found myself having to shine a light on hope for them. Now, though, they share their light with me to keep me going. In the 400 months of 2023 they have found, and excelled at, work, found new friendships, and started to dream of the future. This, in turn, has helped me dream of my future, and the future of those around me. As good or as challenging as things may have been, we have been together.
Professionally, I recently had the chance to meet some young people who are actively engaging with academic research, and are part of a project investigating systems change. These young people come from very different walks of life and have very different perspectives. One thing they do share, though, is a hope for the future; a hope that the world can be better than it is, and the hope that they can help shape that world. I met them in a room full of other (read: real) grown up academics and I can only imagine how intimidating it must have been.
But these young people held their own, both in presence and in insightful contribution. They proved that expertise and insight are not restricted by age or education. I was proud of them, and so proud to have met them.
Dr Robert Stirling, CEO, Network of Alcohol and other Drugs Agencies
“Hope will never be silent” – Harvey Milk
What has given you cause for hope in 2023?
We hoped for many years that the NSW Government would respond to the 2020 report from the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Drug ‘Ice’. In 2023, implementation of many of the recommendations commenced, with funding for new alcohol and other drug services, including those specifically for First Nations women with children and young people. These new services will enable increased access for people who are seeking support that would have otherwise been on a waitlist, had to travel significant distances, or at worse refused a service.
And in a year that served a devastating blow for a First Nations voice to parliament, the NSW Ministry of Health established a governance group to give First Nations people a voice on alcohol and other drugs health policy in NSW – one in four treatment episodes are for First Nations people.
Mark Burdack, CEO of The Healthy Communities Foundation Australia
What has given you cause for hope in 2023?
While I remain concerned that “what” we are doing in the primary healthcare space continues to be an acute care response to a primary care crisis, I did feel hope in 2023 that we are getting better at focussing on “why” we need to reform our approach.
The need for comprehensive, accessible, affordable and community-led universal primary health and social care seems to have shifted from the periphery to the centre, which is a cause for hope.
At an organisational level, 2023 has been a journey of learning with the community. We began with a commitment to ensure our staff profile reflected the diversity of the people we were established to support.
By the end of 2023, 88 percent of our staff live in rural Australia, 31 percent are Aboriginal people, 32 people are LGBTQIA+, 8 percent have lived experience of mental health and 32 percent identify as neurodiverse.
This has enriched our organisation with the knowledge and creative capacity to do better, but also challenged us to reflect on our professional practice to ensure we are the best we can be. My hope is that we continue to meet this challenge.
It was also a time of sadness personally when I lost my dear friend Donny Murray, an Aboriginal Elder who taught me so much about the land and waterways, perseverance, resilience and care. He was my brother, and I will miss him deeply. But despite all the sorrow of 2023, he truly believed that Australians would come together as Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people have done in Galariinbaraay/Collarenebri to work for the common good as one people. A beacon of hope!
Simon Katterl, mental health and human rights advocate
What has given you cause for hope in 2023?
Looking at the leadership of Aboriginal Victorians in treaty negotiations with the Victorian state government. While I can’t imagine how difficult this period has been with the Commonwealth Referendum result, the innovation and political acumen from Aboriginal leaders is something to behold.
Take one example: the Treaty Authority. This is a novel legal entity, passed in 2022, that will be a neutral umpire to oversee treaty negotiations between Aboriginal communities and the state. There’s nothing in Australia’s legal history that compares to this authority. Rather than be a traditional creature of the state, former Assembly Co-Chair Marcus Stewart and Nira illim bulluk man explained that it needed to reflect the culture and values of both parties to the negotiations. Stewart explained that the Authority would ‘will be guided by Aboriginal lore, law and cultural authority that has been practised on these lands for countless generations.’ In late 2023 all five members were appointed to the Authority. This is decolonisation, radical reform and social justice in practice.
Dr Joanne Flavel, Research Fellow at Stretton Health Equity in the Stretton Institute, University of Adelaide
What gives me hope from 2023:
There were major political disappointments in 2023, but there were still developments that gave me hope. Tony Burke is to be commended for industrial relations changes that will provide more protection and rights for Australian workers. He persisted with these changes despite formidable opposition from business, and they are all the more important now with the wages share of GDP being at a near all-time low, and the profits share of GDP being at an all-time high.
Passage of legislation to create a permanent Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee also gives me hope. This committee will play an important role in applying pressure to act on income support payments that are still well below the poverty line, echoing evidence-based calls from a coalition of NGOs led by ACOSS campaigning to raise the rate.
At a state level, the passing of rental reforms in South Australia to ban no cause evictions, require minimum housing standards on rental properties, extend the notice period to end a tenancy and allow tenants the right to own pets under reasonable conditions are important and very welcome changes particularly given the current housing crisis and very low vacancy rates for rental housing.
On a more personal note, it has been wonderful to work with the Public Health Association of Australia South Australia branch student representatives this year and re-introduce student representative positions for the SA branch of the Australian Health Promotion Association. Seeing the passion the students have for public health and health promotion, and their enthusiasm to contribute to activities that benefit people studying and working in public health is inspiring. I cannot feel anything but hopeful about the future of public health knowing these students will be among our future leaders in public health and health promotion.
Michelle Murray, VicHealth Executive Manager of Health Promotion Systems
What has given you cause for hope in 2023?
I joined VicHealth in what has been a significant year for the organisation – we launched our 10-year strategy aimed at transforming Victoria’s health outcomes. It aims to evolve our approach from tackling individuals’ behaviours and the determinants of health, to reshaping systems for a healthier and fairer Victoria.
We believe this can be achieved through three strategic lenses – health and climate; community-led and informed; intergenerational wellbeing. I can’t wait to get started in working on this in 2024.
This couldn’t be achieved without our amazing partner organisations and staff. Together we are motivated and passionate about creating meaningful change.
Penelope Smith, public health academic, and PhD Candidate at University of Tasmania
What has given you cause for hope in 2023?
In mid-2023 I joined two reading groups to support my PhD. These reading groups have different focuses (one people of colour grappling with settler/colonial questions personally and professionally, and one PhD students examining the vulnerable body). The investment that each group has in the collective conversation and learning has given me such incredible hope. Undertaking the reading, committing to noting my personal reflection and then attending and contributing has been an important part of not only my survival but my resilience. These groups make me feel less alone with my desire to create meaningful change. The collective nature of the groups also enable me to believe that change is possible.
Also, in 2023 I became a mentor as part of the Raising Expectations program. This program “supports young people in out-of-home care and care leavers to aspire to, access and succeed in vocational and higher education.” Since mid-year I have been matched with a young woman aspiring to work in oral health. Each fortnight we meet for one hour online to talk about anything she wants to, but focused on her higher education aspirations. The evidence based and lived experience inform design is central to the success of the program for myself and my mentee. I could write pages and pages about this program and my experience, but its more efficient to go to 34 minutes part of this YouTube link.
Dr Simon Judkins, senior emergency medicine specialist and Croakey Health Media member
What has given you cause for hope in 2023?
2023 has been another very troubling year. With ongoing wars, new wars, the failure at COP28, socio-economic gaps increasing and the failure of Australia to support the YES campaign, I’m struggling to find lights that shine (powered by renewable energy, of course).
But they are there…some are personal, some professional, and others about the world we live in.
On a professional level, working in a regional ED and building a team which is continuing to grow, deliver great care, who do care, has been rewarding and I hope that we can entice more healthcare workers to join us in our efforts to close the rural/urban health gap. The momentum is building.
The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine have supported the creation of the Sustainable Emergency Medicine and Climate and Health Advocacy Network (SEMCAN) which has jumped into action, supporting the GreenED program and doing some outward facing advocacy. I expect 2024 will see that group really hit its straps. Being the inaugural chair of the group that has so many motivated and intelligent people involved is a daunting task.
And, I guess, despite all the gloom regarding our climate, the greenwashing and corporate greed, the release of the National Health and Climate Strategy is a positive; we just need to see the words translated into action.
Oh, and my cholesterol levels are down and my GP is happy.
Irene Di Lauro, PhD candidate in Sustainable Food Systems at University of Tasmania
What has given you cause for hope in 2023?
2023 has been a year full of growth and awareness. Moving to Tasmania as the new year was turning, I could not stop myself from peeling all the realities that Australia seems to be struggling to hold. As I learned more about the truth of how Australia has been stolen, I couldn’t unsee the grief and pain that the land holds. I am so grateful to all the individuals and organisations that have been involved in telling the truth about Australia and that have contributed to the imagination of a new one. I often sit by the kanamaluka/Tamar river here in lutruwita/Tasmania and think about the past and the future, and what I imagine for the future is full of hopes for this land.
For me, northern lutruwita/Tasmania has been so fertile. I have joined and been part of a few community gardens and initiatives that bring people together around food production and consumption. With these projects comes a constant reflection on the impact that producing food has on land and the potential that it has for soil, community, and personal regeneration.
I believe that the process of imagining a hopeful future in a world grappling with many wicked problems cannot be done alone. Building hope collectively has been part of a project I joined in 2023 called GRANT (GrassRoot Action Network Tasmania). Applying intersectional activism, we work towards nourishing our sense of place and purpose by working across issues that touch food insecurity, homelessness, food waste, lack of third places, loneliness, and environmental challenges. We believe personal transformation of individuals, challenging dominant institutional, revealing systemic issues, and building alternative systems are all equally important.
Academia and activism for me do not have set boundaries and I bring the knowledge I gain through the work on my PhD in sustainable food system to my activist work and vice versa. As a researcher in this field, I feel compelled to help promote change locally through my involvement with civil society organising.
Adjunct Associate Professor Lesley Russell, Croakey Health Media member and regular columnist of The Health Wrap
What made me proud in 2023:
The passionate work of so many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to explain to all Australians why the referendum on The Voice was so important.
And their dignity and grace, despite their sorrow, when the referendum failed.
We owe them so much – not least continued efforts to get The Voice up, to Close the Gap on Indigenous disadvantage, and to recognise and utilise First Nations’ wisdom, knowledge and strengths.
What made me happy in 2023:
Lots of great hiking in the mountains of the American West, in England and the Scottish Highlands, in New Zealand and around Australia. Tough on the legs, but good for mental wellbeing.
What has given you cause for hope in 2023?
2023 was a monumental year for public health. We made significant progress towards better health for all, taking vital action on tobacco and vaping; disease control and prevention; workplace health and safety; and environmental health.
We were enthusiastic about the Government’s decision to take strong, vital, and complementary action against tobacco and vaping last year. The Public Health (Tobacco and other Products) Act 2023, which passed Parliament in December, represents one of the most significant moments in public health history. The Act will modernise, simplify, and upgrade outdated tobacco laws, and add a suite of new protection measures. In another historic move, the government announced that the import of disposable vapes will be banned from 1 January 2024 to combat the vaping epidemic. The forthcoming regulations will protect children against predatory industry tactics and save lives.
We also welcomed all Health Ministers formally committing to the establishment of the Australian Centre for Disease Control, which is due to begin operating in its interim phase in early 2024. Progress on the Centre is slow. The department and minister have released few details. But PHAA will continue to push it along.
In a world-first, all Work Health and Safety Ministers announced on 13 December that they agreed to ban the use of engineered stone, effective 1 July 2024. The ban will protect workers from preventable silicosis. It took less than 10 years from the first study about silicosis and engineered stone, to action by the Commonwealth, states, and territories. This is remarkable in the public health world, and a testament to the many people from many sectors who pushed to make it a reality.
We also welcomed the release of the first National Health and Climate Strategy, and its potential to mitigate some of the health harms caused by a warming planet.
These reforms, and the many public health experts and supporters who tirelessly advocated to make them a reality, inspired hope within our organisation in 2023.
Meanwhile, this quote by Giles Parkinson in Renew Economy about the recent COP28 meeting provides another reminder of the duality of hope.
“It says something of the hopefulness that still binds human society that the world thought it could turn up to the home ground of the world’s biggest petrol-states and expect them to sign up to a deal that would end the gushing riches that flow from their fossil fuel pipelines.”
Also read: Some of the most insightful and memorable quotes from 2023 – you can read them here
