Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS): History, Services, and Challenges

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
History:............................................................................................................................................3
Visions and Objectives:...................................................................................................................3
Services:...........................................................................................................................................4
Primary clinical care....................................................................................................................4
Population preventive or health care............................................................................................4
Clinical support systems..............................................................................................................4
Membership.....................................................................................................................................5
Issues and Challenges......................................................................................................................6
Impressions......................................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7

Introduction:
Indigenous Australians like Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have poor health status
than non-indigenous Australians. They experience high rates of mortality and morbidity
compared to the other Australians due to several factors like lack of education, unemployment,
lack of culturally appropriate health services etc. They are at the highest risk of exposure to
environmental and behavioral risk factors (Freeman, Baum, Lawless, Labonté, & Sanders,
2016). There are many health services and organization for Indigenous People to improve their
current health status.
I first came to know about ACCHS (Aboriginal Control Community Service) when I had visited
the hospital where I met few people who were from Aboriginal community and a member of
ACCHS. While talking to him I got to know about the services and facilities provided by
ACCHS to its member.
History:
In 1971, due to the vulnerable condition of Aboriginal people at Redfern, Aboriginal medical
service (AMS) was established. AMS is now known as ACCHS (Aboriginal Community
Controlled health services and is controlled by the group of aboriginal people. It was basically
originated for aboriginal people of Redfern because they were in urgent need for suitable and
accessible health care services (NACCHO, n.d.). Their primary health care approach was
innovative and focused on the accessibility and need-based health care services.
NACCHO was first established in 1992 as the new national umbrella organization of ACCHS,
by replacing NAIHO. NACCHO stands for National Aboriginal Community Controlled
Organisation. In 1974, a national meeting was held in Albury, Australia to discuss the vulnerable
health of Aboriginal people. NAIHO (National Aboriginal and Islander Health Organization)
was foreshadowed during that meeting. It was then established after a meeting of ACCHS’s in
1976 at Sydney University. ACCHS initially had no specific funding and was mostly dependent
on donations and loans (Alford, 2014). Later, in the mid-1980s it started getting different
government funds and continued to expand, collaborate, increased advocacy capacity, improved
many health policies.
Visions and Objectives:
The vision of ACCHS is to provide primary health care to people from the Aboriginal
community. Its main goal is to deliver comprehensive, holistic and culturally appropriate
treatment or health care service. The main aim of ACCHS is to provide accessibility of health
care service in each part i.e. rural, remote and metropolitan cities of Australia (Weightman,
2013). ACCHS is both run and established by local people of the aboriginal community. The
concept of ACCHS is based on the principle of self-determination and the key role of each
ACCHS is to provide provisions of community support, primary clinical care, advocacy and
special needs programmes (NACCHO, n.d.). The core value of ACCHS is embedded in the

aboriginal cultural integrity, strategic alliances, and partnership, aboriginal community control,
equity, respect and loyalty, an approach to planning, development of policy and implementation.
Its objective is to reduce poverty, provide culturally appropriate and holistic health services to
aboriginal people, help in the advancement of their spirituality and to provide educational
programs of the community.
Services:
In Australia, there are more than 140 ACCHS’s. It was established to help aboriginal people as
they were unable to get proper health care from mainstream health services. It provides large
multidimensional services consisting of several medical professionals and providing a number of
primary healthcare services mostly focusing on a preventive and health education. ACCH’s form
a large network that is independent and autonomous both of government and of one another.
It provides a wide range of healthcare services like:
Primary clinical care
It provides treatment using standard protocols, 24 hours emergency services, facility of providing
essential drugs, preventive and educational knowledge for dental, oral, eye, ear, child and
maternal health etc. and proper managed care for chronic illness
Population preventive or healthcare
It offers preventive care like Antenatal care, immunization, communicable disease, control, early
intervention and appropriate screening. It has comprehensive health information system like
patient information recall systems, systems for quality assurance and population registers.
Clinical support systems:
Provides support services like:
1.External to the health services:
It provides access to hospital facilities, supports for visiting medical facilities and associated
health professionals (including mental, dental health etc.), ambulance services or medical
evacuation, training to tertiary and another student and allows facilities based on relevant
priorities and fund availability for programs that are directed at substance misuse, nutrition,
rheumatic fever, environmental health, specific target groups such as young mothers, disable,
aged and school children.
2. Internal to the health services:
It provides staff support and training to aboriginal people like health worker training, continuing
education, and cross-culture orientation, sufficient infrastructures at the community level like
clinical facilities, staff housing, and transport facilities and a well-managed system that is
appropriately resourced, include effective hiring, financially accountable and terminating
practices.