MEDIA RELEASE

Koori challenges Murri as the AHMRC Mindaribba Warriors play their Queensland rivals to see who will be Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rugby league champions.

30 January 2012 – Sydney:
The Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council of New South Wales (AH&MRC) and the Mindaribba Warriors, winners of the 2011 NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout, are teaming up to raise awareness about Aboriginal Health as part of the 2012 Indigenous All Stars Festival.
To be held on the eve of the 2012 Harvey Norman Rugby League All Stars match at Skilled Park, the 2012 Indigenous All Stars Festival will celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in Rugby League with an all-day event held at Miami, Gold Coast on February 3, culminating in the best Indigenous Club players coming together for the inaugural National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation -NACCHO Deadly Choices Interstate Challenge.

The NACCHO Deadly Choices Interstate Challenge will see the AH&MRC-sponsored Mindaribba Warriors play their counterparts from Queensland, the Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council (QAIHC) Southern Dingoes at 7.30pm on February 3 at Burleigh Bears' Bob Singh Oval, with the winning team to be crowned Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander champions.
The festival commences at 10am and will feature family entertainment including stage-led activities, performances and storytelling, music, street theatre, local Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander art, and junior league clinics. A number of health organisations, including the AH&MRC, will also be on hand to provide health awareness information.

“Sports like rugby league have an important role to play in promoting positive messages about Aboriginal health, leading to a better quality of life and longer life expectancy for Aboriginal people,” said Rodger Williams, Chief Operations Officer of the AH&MRC.
This is a view shared by Ronald Griffiths, coach of the AHMRC Mindaribba Warriors.
“The life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and non Aboriginal people will not decrease if we don’t take matters into our own hands, regular health checks through your local AMS in conjunction with a healthy lifestyle can help increase our life expectancy. The health checks also set a good example for our elders and children and raise awareness amongst the wider Aboriginal community to be healthy be deadly”.

The NACCHO Deadly Choices Interstate Challenge brings together the two winning teams from the New South Wales (Koori) and Queensland (Murri) Indigenous Knockout carnivals held in October and September 2011 respectively. Eighty-two teams from around NSW played in the competition, which was held over days in October 2011 at Carrington Park in Bathurst, with the Maitland-based AHMRC Mindaribba Warriors emerging as the victors.
This year’s Indigenous All Stars team consists of local and national Rugby League stars voted by over 15,000 fans who cast their ballots online. Captain Johnathan Thurston from the Queensland Cowboys will be joined by NRL superstars including Greg Inglis (Rabbitohs) and Justin Hodges (Broncos), as well as young guns Chris Sandow (Eels), Nathan Peats (Rabbitohs) and Andrew Fifita (Sharks), who will be making their debut in an exciting Indigenous All Stars line-up that features 10 players with Test experience.

The NACCHO Deadly Choices Interstate Challenge will be televised nationally on NITV at 7:30pm on February 3.
Tickets for the game are available through Ticketek.
For more information about the AH&MRC please visit our website at www.ahmrc.org.au or contact Matthew Rodgers, Media and Communications Officer, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or (02) 9212 4777
For more information on the AHMRC Mindaribba Warriors please contact Ronald Griffiths (Coach) on (02) 4015 1134

Media Release

Where’s the Shame, Love Your Liver! Shame exists around Hep C but we need to talk about it.

The Last Kinection will be coming to deliver one of the first arts based Hep C awareness campaign, of its kind in NSW.

The Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council (AH&MRC) was commissioned by NSW Health to implement a state-wide Hep C Campaign involving ‘THE LAST KINECTION’.

Black Chili Productions also known as The Last Kinection will be running three day workshops in nine communities across NSW. Participants at the workshop will have the opportunity to take part in a number of activities to raise awareness about the Hep C Virus in order to learn about the Hep C virus, challenge shame and stigma around the Hep C virus as well as learning about prevention, access to services, treatment options and support pathways for Aboriginal people across NSW.

Some activities the workshops will involve include - developing a health promotion poster, writing and recording a song, producing a video clip and/or taking part in making an animation. There will also be a free community showcase, featuring the participants’ productions concluding with a performance by The Last Kinection.

AH&MRC believes this is a great opportunity to open a dialogue with Aboriginal communities about Hep C and to explore and gain knowledge, challenge shame and stigma and improve Aboriginal  peoples access to appropriate services and information.

The Campaign is part of a state-wide effort to better support Aboriginal people’s access to Hep C treatment and care services, the AH&MRC encourages Aboriginal people to take part in this important and unique event.

The Campaign will be coming to Nowra, Tamworth, Nambucca Heads, Griffith,  Western Sydney, Sydney Metro, Dubbo, Walgett, Newcastle and surrounds between May 2011 and March 2012.

For further information visit the Campaign website at: http://www.loveyourliver.net.au/ and Campaigns Coordinator Harp Kalsi This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (02) 9212 4777 or 0402 249 058.