Supporting Indigenous health and wellbeing

Businessman and philanthropist Greg Poche is no stranger to gifting millions to research. The former founder and owner of Star Track Express has donated more than $105 million to causes around Australia, including $40 million to set up the Melanoma Institute of Australia in Sydney.

Now, Poche and his wife Kay have provided $10 million to The University of Western Australia (UWA) to create a WA-based centre for Indigenous health.

UWA’s new Poche Centre for Indigenous Health joins sister centres at Flinders University in Adelaide and the University of Sydney. Around Australia, the goal of Poche centres is to significantly improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and stronger social, spiritual and emotional wellbeing.

The theme for UWA’s centre for Aboriginal people and communities is ‘Healthy Minds, Healthy Lives’.

Although there have been recent improvements to health outcomes for indigenous Australians, more needs to be done to close the gap. For Indigenous people born between 2005 and 2007, life expectancy was estimated to be 67.2 years for males and 72.9 years for females, around 10-11 years less than non-indigenous Australians.

The UWA Poche Centre will work with the University’s School of Indigenous Studies and Centre for Aboriginal Medical and Dental Health and the Rural Clinical School and Combined Universities Centre for Rural Health - geographically the world’s biggest medical school.

School of Indigenous Studies Dean Winthrop Professor Jill Milroy said closing the gap in health and life expectancy for Aboriginal people had been identified as a nationwide priority.

“We are pleased that the new centre recognises the centrality of culture and wellbeing to promoting good mental health in Indigenous communities,” she said.  “Aboriginal knowledge systems will be the cultural lens and framework for research, education and the delivery of programs.”

The centre will tackle children’s health, disability and developmental outcomes as well as chronic disease.

Professor Milroy and her team will address the overarching issue of Aboriginal culture and its relation to social and emotional wellbeing and mental health - issues that are estimated to contribute as much as 22% of the life expectancy gap for Aboriginal people.