The political panic over sustainability of Australia's population misses key health issues that any government in the future will have to manage, a new national alliance on multicultural health said today.
The National Alliance on Culture, Diversity and Health brings together Diversity Health Institute, Institute for Cultural Diversity, Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia and Centre for Culture, Ethnicity and Health. It voices wide-spread fears in the health professions and culturally diverse communities that health reforms - from mental health to hospitals to aged care - are bypassing the needs of Australia's millions of citizens from culturally diverse backgrounds.
Alliance Convenor Michal Morris says there is a very poor evidence base for dealing with critical challenges - for instance in terms of ageing, industrial disease and injury, chronic diseases, adolescent mental health, and infant and child health - and these are not recognised in the health policies of the major parties.
The Alliance will be arguing for a national clearing house on cultural diversity and health to collect information from the health sector, provide evidence for policy and practice development, and help improve the confidence of the culturally diverse communities in the effectiveness and responsiveness of the health system.
The Alliance will be asking the major parties about their intention to act on these issues in the post-election period.
For more information on the Alliance, contact Michal Morris on (03) 9342 9700 or michalm@ceh.org.au.