Indigenous babies will have a better chance of being born healthy and staying healthy following an announcement today of Australian Government funding of $9.1 million over three years for 10 new mothers and babies services.
The 10 new services are in addition to the 43 already funded under the New Directions program which give Indigenous babies and their mothers better access to:
* Pre and post pregnancy care
* Standard information about baby care
* Practical advice and assistance with breastfeeding, nutrition and parenting
* Monitoring of developmental milestones, immunisation status and infections
* Health checks and referrals for treatment for Indigenous children before starting school
The Prime Minister made the announcement as part of the Closing the Gap statement in Parliament House this afternoon.
The 10 new services will be available in areas of need, including four new sites in the Northern Territory, two each in South Australia and Western Australia and one each in Tasmania and Queensland.
The new service providers are:
* Laynhapuy Homelands Association Incorporation, Northern Territory
* Pintubi Homelands Health Service, Northern Territory
* Sunrise Health Service Aboriginal Corporation, Northern Territory
* Western Arrente Health Aboriginal Corporation, Northern Territory
* Country Health South Australia
* Tullawon Health Service, South Australia
* Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre
* Ngunytju Tjitji Pirni Aboriginal Corporation, Western Australia
* Wirraka Maya Health Service, Western Australia
* Mookai Rosie Bi-Bayan, Queensland
Ms Roxon said the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has committed to halving the gap in mortality rates for Indigenous children under five within a decade, and this increase in comprehensive mothers and babies services is another important step to fulfilling this goal.
"In total, the Commonwealth has committed $90.3 million for the New Directions Mothers and Babies Services program, with an additional $75 million contribution from states and territories," Ms Roxon said.
"This program gives Indigenous children a great start to life through ongoing home visits to ensure Indigenous children are healthy, happy and ready to learn."
Ms Macklin said expanding services supporting pregnant women and new mothers in Indigenous communities was critical to giving Indigenous children the best start in life.
"Other clinics already offering these services, which include care during pregnancy, advice on nutrition and health checks for children, have seen improvements in the health of women and their babies. This includes fewer premature and low birth weight babies," Ms Macklin said.
The New Directions mother and baby services provide increased access to pre pregnancy care, improving birth weights of Indigenous babies and continuing to provide support in the child's early years to give them the best possible start to life.
Mr Snowdon said this was part of a broad commitment by the Rudd Government to Close the Gap in Indigenous health outcomes.
"Across the Health and Ageing portfolio, funding of almost $1 billion has been allocated in the 2009-10 Budget for health programs specific to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people."
"These recent investments equate to a 57 per cent increase in Indigenous health funding across the Portfolio since the 2007-08 Budget," Mr Snowdon said.