Reports and Publications

Your Year 2023-2024

Our Your Year Annual Report 2023-2024 shares the work we have done over the past financial year to offer safe, affirming and inclusive care to our community.

Read on to learn more about:

• Our 50 year history of supporting the community
• Our clients, volunteers and staff
• Our commitment to Voice, Treaty and Truth for First Nations peoples
• Our successful programs including the Cooking Group and Being Valued
• The continuous improvements we are making to our services and health centres
• And much more.

Federal Inquiry into the Health Impacts of Alcohol and Drug Use

Your Community Health strongly supports a comprehensive, health-focused response to AOD use in Australia. Our submission highlights, the impacts of substance use extend far beyond individual health concerns, intersecting with mental health, housing instability, employment, and broader social challenges. By prioritising harm reduction, decriminalisation, and equitable access to culturally safe care, we can better address these complex issues and reduce the stigma that prevents so many from seeking help.

Your News Spring Summer 2024

The latest edition of Your News, our community newsletter is here! Read on for a variety of updates, including:

• Profiles on three of our incredible volunteers
• Insights from our community forum on mental health and wellbeing
• How we celebrated NAIDOC Week
• The new VicGov Trans and Gender Diverse inclusion campaign
• A report on our progress against our Strategic Plan 2022-2026
• And more!

Navigating the way to food security in Darebin

The food security situation in Darebin is alarming, as evidenced by multiple surveys and assessments. According to the Darebin City Council’s 2022 Reservoir East / Preston East Neighbourhood Indicators Survey, nine percent of respondents reported instances where their households ran out of food and couldn’t afford to buy more, highlighting a significant level of food insecurity in the area.

The work discussed in this report contributes to Your Community Health’s 2024 health promotion work in the Healthy Eating priority area. The aim of this project is to pinpoint gaps in food security within Darebin and formulate recommendations to inform the development of future food access initiatives.

Your News Autumn Winter 2024

The latest edition of Your News, our community newsletter is here! Read on for a variety of updates, including:

• A feature on Alison Black, proud Wurundjeri woman and YourCH volunteer
• A celebration of our 50th Anniversary
• A recap of our Community Launch grand opening
• The new In Her Shoes: Women in Darebin Unmasking Racism video
• A report on our progress against our Strategic Plan 2022-2026
• And more!

YourCH submission into the Australian Human Rights Commissions investigation into current and emerging threats to trans and gender diverse human rights.

Your Community Health (YourCH) has prepared a submission addressing the Australian Human Rights Commission’s investigation into the ‘current and emerging threats to TGD human rights’.

Trans and gender diverse people face systemic breaches of their human rights across various domains, significantly affecting their health and wellbeing.

Our submission emphasizes that the fundamental ‘Right to Health’ is far from a reality for many trans and gender diverse people due to the lack of affordable and accessible gender-affirming care. This barrier results in unmet health needs and adverse effects on overall wellbeing.

Despite public support for trans rights in Australia, the growing global anti-trans movement poses a serious threat to previously established protections and legislation. Therefore, we advocate for strengthening anti-discrimination laws and enhancing protections for the trans and gender diverse community. This step is essential to ensure that their rights are fully safeguarded and upheld.

We invite you to read our submission to better understand the challenges faced by trans and gender diverse people and join us in our call to action to ensure fair, accessible, and affirming healthcare, along with stronger legal protections.

Response to Yoorrook Justice Commission: Health and Healthcare Inquiry

Your Community Health (YourCH) welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Yoorrook Justice Commissions inquiry into Health and Healthcare. As a healthcare provider committed to health and social equity, YourCH is dedicated to centring the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and engaging in meaningful work to support positive outcomes in partnership with First
Nations peoples.

The health disparity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is well documented, with
increasing research correlating racism with poor health and wellbeing outcomes. A
community-led inquiry prioritising the perspectives of First Nations peoples will provide
valuable insights into historical and current injustices in order to pave the way for sustainable
and positive change.

YourCH’s inquiry response has been informed by Aboriginal staff, community members and
partner agencies. YourCH would like to warmly thank those that generously shared their
lived experience and expertise. The submission response identifies the following key points
that contribute to the health injustice Aboriginal and/Torres Strait Islander peoples
experience:
• Racism remains a common experience in healthcare settings.
• Lack of timely and affordable access to healthcare disproportionately impacts
Aboriginal people.
• ACCHO’s are integral to improving health outcomes and broader reform is needed to
improve the mainstream healthcare system.
• Health entitlements and initiatives are under-utilised.
• Meaningful community engagement is required to improve healthcare.
• White concepts of health (bio-medical model) don’t meet the holistic health needs of
community.
• Aboriginal employees are essential in mainstream healthcare but there are multiple
challenges experienced.

YourCH recognises there are unique perspectives in relation to preferred language when
referring to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples. YourCH respectfully utilises the
term ‘Aboriginal’ throughout the document, intended to encompass all Aboriginal and/or
Torres Strait Islander peoples. When referring to First Nations peoples, this is specific to an
Australian context.

Submission to NHMRC draft Statement

LGBTIQA+ people are often excluded from research resulting in a lack of reliable data on their needs and lived experience.

The Department of Health and Aged Care, in partnership with National Health and Medical Research Council has released a draft Statement on Sex, Gender, Variations of Sex Characteristics and Sexual Orientation in Health and Medical research. It’s a great step forward in improving LGBTIQA+ inclusion in research, as we know that LGBTIQA+ people are often excluded from research resulting in a lack of reliable data on LGBTIQA+ people and their needs.

Your Community Health have provided the below suggestions to further strengthen the draft Statement.

View the NHMRC consultation page including draft Statement here.

WONCA Climate Action Statement

Quality Account and Annual Report 2022-2023

Our Quality Account and Annual Report 2022-2023 shares the work we have done over the past financial year to offer safe, affirming and inclusive care to our community.

Read on to learn more about:

• Our clients
• Our successful community programs including Rebuilding Together, Your Health Help and Mpox vaccination
• The continuous improvements we are making to our services and health centres
• Our first Reconciliation Action Plan, Kaydo Kertheba
• Our new Climate Action Plan, Our Climate. Our Health.
• And much more.

We are proud of our accomplishments over the year and the impact that our services and supports have had on the wellbeing of our community. Together with our staff, clients and community we are evolving and strengthening the role community health plays in Darebin and surrounding suburbs. Thank you for joining and supporting us on this journey.

Your News Spring 2023

The latest edition of Your News, our community newsletter is here! Read on for a variety of Your Community Health updates, including:

• An interview with Jamuna Parajuli, Refugee Health Nurse, sharing how she supports better health outcomes for newly arrived community members
• Our NAIDOC Week activities supporting the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
• The Smoking Ceremony at balit wurun, our Preston health centre
• A report on our progress against our Strategic Plan 2022-2026.

Community Engagement Framework

The Community Engagement Framework 2023 outlines why engaging with clients and the community is important continuous improvement at YourCH, and the principles and processes that are key to meaningful engagement.

Engagement enables YourCH to build relationships with the community. Effective engagement helps to build and sustain cohesive relationships, and provides YourCH with the means to reach out to those who may not already be connected with us. The benefits of effective community engagement are experienced by all but vary slightly for community and YourCH.

The benefit to community means, community will:

• know that they are listened to and valued;
• have choice and flexibility in their care;
• see how services and systems developed respond to and reflect their needs
• understand how YourCH plans and makes decisions.

The benefit to YourCH means, YourCH will:

• know decisions made consider the rights, needs, preferences and values of the community;
• experience better outcomes and decisions relating to service and policy developments;
• build trust with community which will generate greater confidence in the health service.

National Health and Climate Strategy Consultation Submission

Your Community Health (YourCH) recently contributed to the National Health and Climate Strategy consultation. We were pleased to hear about the establishment of the National Sustainable Healthcare Unit and the development of Australia’s first National Health and Climate Strategy (the Strategy). Our consultation submission details our belief that the Strategy takes a ‘Health in All Policies’, whole of government approach with tangible mechanisms for implementation including targets and funding to meet the needs of the community. We also share our recommendation that this imperative requires a nationally coordinated approach, led by the Department of Health and Aged Care (DHAC), to embed climate and health outcomes into the business of government. The Strategy must clearly outline how the Department will take a whole of government approach to embedding health across every portfolio, not just DHAC.

You can read our consultation submission below:

Our Climate. Our Health. YourCH Climate Action Plan - Plain English Version

Climate change has been described as the biggest threat to public health around the world. This is why Your Community Health (YourCH) is taking action to prevent climate-related illness and reduce health impacts.

Our new Climate Action Plan details how we will:

• Teach our community about the health effects of climate change
  
• Look into our own emissions and aim for net zero emissions by 2030
  
• Push for the healthcare sector to lower greenhouse gas emissions
  
• Update our health centres so they are more energy and water efficient
  
• Reduce our waste and and do more recycling
  
• Replace regular vehicles in our fleet with electric vehicles
  
• Reduce the impact of staff and client commuting
  
• Use suppliers who have sustainable and net zero emissions medical equipment
• Make environmental sustainability part of all of our business planning.

You can read the Plain English version of our Climate Action Plan below:

Australian Bureau of Statistics Submission re LGBTIQA+ Demographic Data

LGBTIQA+ Australians remain largely invisible to the local, state and federal governments charged with ensuring their health, safety, dignity and wellbeing. Decisions directing public funding are commonly based on data collection instruments that include demographic data. The vast majority of data collection surveys, including the Census, have failed to include sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex characteristic metrics alongside other demographic data, resulting in LGBTIQA+ people being consistently left out of policy and funding decisions.

Your Community Health proposes the ABS collect demographic data and produce statistics to accurately reflect the LGBTQIA+ communities of Australia.

Australian Dental Association, Public Wait Times Are Increasing

Waiting times for public dental care increasing in Victoria. The Victorian Government provided a one-off injection of funds last year to tackle record high waiting lists following the pandemic, however, with funding returning to normal levels, the system is again under pressure.

Oral health is fundamental to overall health, wellbeing and quality of life. A healthy mouth enables people to eat, speak and socialise without pain, discomfort or embarrassment. Dental diseases lead to pain, discomfort and tooth loss, and can lead to difficulties with chewing, swallowing and speech. Poor oral health can cause problems with nutrition and general health, disruptions to sleep and productivity. It can be a barrier to full participation in society including the ability to gain or maintain employment. There are also links between poor oral health and general diseases, including Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Your News Autumn 2023

The latest edition of Your News, our community newsletter is here! Read on for a variety of Your Community Health updates, including:

• An interview with Dani Bero, Community Engagement Lead, sharing how you can volunteer with us
• Our Pride activities supporting the LGBTIQA+ community
• The Arabic Social Group and Rebuilding Together Program, creating community connections for Arabic-speaking people in Melbourne’s north
• A report on our progress against our Strategic Plan 2022-2026

Our Climate. Our Health. YourCH Climate Action Plan

The climate emergency has been described as the greatest threat to global public health because it affects a number of things that impact your health: food insecurity, housing instability and poverty. This is why YourCH is passionate about climate action and doing our part to be more sustainable.

Our new Climate Action Plan details how we will:

• Be climate action leaders, educating inspiring our community to make choices that lessen environmental impact
• Support our clients and community through the health impacts of climate change, delivering great care that meets their needs
• Reduce our emissions, aiming for net zero emissions by 2040
• Add eco-friendly updates to our health centres, such as solar panels, solar hot water and electrical vehicles to our fleet
• Reduce our waste and increase our recycling
• And more.

You can read the complete Climate Action Plan below and share your thoughts on it in our survey.

YourCH Advocacy Strategy 2022-2026

Your Community Health (YourCH) is committed to promoting human rights, equity and eliminating discrimination in all its forms. In our advocacy work we talk with people in our community to find out what is important to them and use this information to argue for better facilities for the community, funding for programs, and changes to policy or laws to benefit the community

The seven Advocacy Priorities outlined in this Strategy came from our organisational vision and purpose, and were informed by an Advocacy Working Group made up of community members and staff.  They are:

1. LGBTIQA+ Victorians have timely access to inclusive, safe and gender-affirmative health and well-being services
2. All Victorians have access to affordable housing with respectable living conditions that foster better health and wellbeing outcomes
3. Improved mental health and wellbeing in the local community
4. First Nations peoples have self-determination, justice and equity
5. People from non-English speaking backgrounds have access to culturally safe and appropriate health and wellbeing services
6. Primary care is accessible and delivered close to home
7. Climate action and a sustainable healthcare sector
   

Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement

YourCH welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement inquiry into the challenges and opportunities for law enforcement in addressing Australia’s illicit drug problem. In developing this response, we draw on our experience in delivering one of the oldest and busiest needle and syringe programs in Victoria.

The outreach and centre-based needle and syringe distribution and disposal operates 365 days a year. In 2021-22, we distributed almost 600,000 syringes. Twenty percent of these were distributed through our state-wide steroid education program.

The program has long-standing and trusted relationships with many of the people using the service. These relationships facilitate broader health outcomes for this marginalised population including health literacy and engagement with other YourCH services including counselling, oral health and medical services.

The voices of drug users using our services have been used to inform this submission.

Program Refresh of Your Community Health’s Needle Syringe Programs

Your Community Health recently reviewed its Needle and Syringe Outreach Program across Melbourne’s North. The review highlighted a range of strengths and development areas for the program, including:

• Strong support from clients and staff for the current outreach service models.
• Cost-effective distribution of injecting equipment, well under the NSP average cost.
• Positive feedback from clients with 100 percent agreeing that staff treated them with respect and dignity.
• Difficulties for night outreach staff to effectively engage with stakeholders.
• Opportunities to develop and implement lived and living experience models of support.
• Opportunities to trial new models of harm reduction delivery, including secure dispensing units and low threshold pick-ups at fixed sites
• Consider restructuring program including increasing resources for stakeholder engagement and client referralsWe’re committed to implementing all thirteen recommendations from this review and are currently developing an implementation plan.

You can read the full report, including the Executive Summary, below. Thank you to our clients, staff and stakeholders who provided their valuable feedback and insights.

Quality Account and Annual Report 2021 - 2022

Response to the draft National Health Literacy Strategy

Your Community Health (YourCH) welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the development of the National Health Literacy Strategy. We encourage ongoing national and state reflections on the lessons of the pandemic to inform the strategy. YourCH draws your attention to the recently released report exploring health literacy, equity and social housing from Swinburne University 1. The report documents the lessons learnt from supporting people through the High-Risk Accommodation Response (HRAR) program to access health care during the COVID crisis. YourCH was also involved in the delivery of the HRAR program and believe the findings of this report apply beyond a social housing setting. The recommendations present a framework for health literacy that addresses the complex and broad range of factors that enable people to make informed choices and to access the care they need.

Community health delivering outcomes to protect Melbourne’s North

Community health orginisations are known for being connected to the needs of our communities and able to reach them through health interventions that meet their unique needs. By taking an evidence based yet community-led approach, we ensure that our clients and local communities can access inclusive and affirming care that’s delivered with their needs in focus. Our strong connection to those we serve, coupled with robust clinical governance and community engagement, puts us in a unique position to swiftly deliver effective health services and supports. This has never been more evident than in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and can be applied to the broad range of healthcare needs.

Partnering with healthAbility, Banyule Community Health, City of Darabin, North Eastern Public Health Unit and the Islamic Museum of Australia, we had the privilege to support thousands of fellow residents through this health crisis.

Darebin Council Climate Emergency Strategy - YourCH Contribution

Your Community Health (YourCH) welcomes the opportunity to contribute to Darebin Council’s Climate Emergency Strategy and commends the Council’s proactive approach and commitment to climate action. YourCH are witnessing the serious consequences climate change has on the health and wellbeing of our local community, and poses an increased threat to people that already experience health and social inequities.

Without immediate action from all levels of government, organisations and communities, these impacts will continue to worsen.

We understand our own responsibility to minimise our carbon footprint and demonstrate leadership in climate action. Within YourCH’s submission we outline our own commitments and offer a list of recommendations to be incorporated into Darebin’s Climate Emergency Strategy. We look forward to future collaboration on this important issue.

Discussion Paper: Victorian Suicide Prevention and Response Strategy

YourCH is a primary mental health care provider, and often the first point of contact when someone is seeking support with their mental health and wellbeing. YourCH’s submission highlights the link between discrimination and suicide, and calls for urgent prioritisation of suicide prevention and response strategies for First Nations peoples, and people that are LGBTIQA+, from non-English speaking backgrounds – using an intersectional framework.

Other recommendations include:

• A shift in focus on early intervention and primary prevention approaches, supplementing/complimenting crisis support services.
• Investment in local and community-led approaches to ensure targeted and appropriate strategies that include hard-to-reach communities, promoting self-determination.
• An increase in peer workforces to promote recovery and enhance engagement with services.
• Reducing stigma by increasing dialogue about mental health and suicide across a number of settings.

Discussion Paper: Australia’s Humanitarian Program 2022 - 2023

People from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds experience disproportionately high rates of physical and mental health concerns compared to the wider Australian community. People often arrive to Australia experiencing conflict, persecution, family dislocation, torture, trauma, and disruptions to the basic resources required for health. YourCH witness these poor health and wellbeing outcomes that are often compounded by Australian settlement processes, particularly in relation to visa processing, prolonged detention (onshore and offshore) and lack of post-settlement support. YourCH’s submission calls for a more flexible, responsive and generous Humanitarian Program to meet international humanitarian obligations and improve the health and wellbeing of people from refugee backgrounds. Specific recommendations include:

• Increasing the size of the Humanitarian Program to respond to the growing global need for resettlement
• Permanently ending offshore processing and establishing sustainable settlement solutions
• Releasing asylum seekers currently in Australian onshore detention
• A more transparent, equitable and timely process for claiming asylum
• Increased resettlement support and flexible funding models to ensure client-centered care

Independent Review of Australia’s COVID Response submission

COVID-19 has had a major impact on global health, with governments and healthcare systems under enormous pressure to contain and mitigate the infection rate and treat those affected. Your Community Health’s (YourCH) submission to this review, looks at what worked well and what could have been improved in relation to Australia’s COVID-19 response. The pandemic exacerbated existing health and wellbeing inequities, seeing the people that experience disadvantage and barriers to healthcare most impacted. Based on YourCH’s learnings, our submission recommends the following to better prepare for the next public health emergency or pandemic:

• Investment in community-led and local health interventions to ensure the planning, implementation and communication of public health measures are culturally appropriate and targeted
• A long term solution to address the social determinants of health
• Government support and funding for community services to maintain newly formed relationships with hard-to-reach communities, to minimise health inequities
• Independent Review of Australia’s COVID Response

Your News Autumn 2022

The latest edition of Your News, our biannual newsletter is here! Read on for updates from across the organisation, including:

• An interview with Keira Leike, Manager for the Trans and Gender Diverse in Community Health program
• Our General Practice Respiratory Clinics, providing medical care to people with breathing and lung issues
• A report on our progress against our Strategic Plan 2022-2026

Supporting better conditions for rooming house residents

As Darebin’s community health provider, we deliver services and supports to people living in rooming houses across the North-East Melbourne area. Living conditions in these properties are often poor, and long-term tenancy hard to secure. We see the impact that this has on residents’ health and wellbeing and sent a submission to The Commissioner for Residential Tenancies advocating for changes that improve rooming house living conditions and promote tenants’ safety and rights through improved standards and regulations

Strategic Plan 2022-2026

Victorian Oral Health Alliance position paper

As a provider of publicly funded dental services, Your Community Health supports the recommendations made by the Victorian Oral Health Alliance in November 2021 that outlines the need for new Federal-level policy decisions to address one of Australia’s greatest health inequities – the long wait (averaging greater than 2 years) to access oral health care for disadvantaged and lower income Australians, including older people. You can read the full VOHA position paper below.

Quality Account and Annual Report 2019-2020

Quality Account and Annual Report 2018-2019

Quality Account and Annual Report 2017-2018

Quality Account and Annual Report 2016-2017

Quality Account and Annual Report 2015-2016

Quality Account and Annual Report 2014-2015