2011 Alice Springs Seminar
On Friday 2 September 2011, the Personal Injury Education Foundation (PIEF) hosted the first of their seminar series in Alice Springs titled the ‘Delivery of Care in Remote Communities’ with more than 40 people attending.
The purpose of the seminar was to bring together injury management professionals, treating practitioners, researchers, academics, insurance professionals, aboriginal leaders and others interested in this field to discuss the ways that acci‐ dent compensation services can be better targeted and provided to remote and indigenous communities.
The seminar was fortunate to secure Valerie Royle, CEO and President of the Yukon Workers’ Compensation Health and Safety Board (WCHSB) to provide the keynote address. The Yukon Territory in Canada faces many similar issues as Australia in dealing with remoteness. Valerie advised the seminar attendees how the Yukon Territory WCHSB, through a range of scheme reforms and improvements to claims management practices has:
- achieved a 52% decrease in claims costs from 2005‐2009 with no change in benefits, and securing the best RTW outcomes in Canada
- reduced health care costs for five years in a row
- halved health care related travel.
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The seminar also featured presentations from Dr Howard Flavell, Rehabilitation Physician, Northern Rehabilitation Network; Dr Andrew Fronsko, Victorian Transport Accident Commission; Sarah Johnson, Director Price‐ waterhouseCoopers; Paul Jameson, Gary Jeffery and Angela Sullivan from the Territory Insurance Office; Dr Rebecca Ivers, The George Institute for Global Health NSW; Superintendent Peter Gordon, NT Remote Community Police Officer; Dr Rosalie Schultz, Senior Rural Medical Practitioner; Neil Mackinnon, NSW Lifetime Care and Support Authority; and Bilawara Lee, lecturer and Elder in Residence at NT Clinical School Flinders University.
The issues discussed and debated at the seminar were varied and very topical, including:
- challenges in providing remote area health services
- implications and opportunities for CTP and workers’ compensation schemes in dealing with the proposed National Disability and Injury Insurance Schemes
- road safety initiatives in remote areas
- balancing traditional medicine with cultural medicine in remote indigenous communities
- the challenges and opportunities experienced by three different accident compensation schemes who provide services to remote communities, and the importance of investment in well designed initiatives to im‐ prove scheme and client outcomes in the long term.
As a result of the seminar, some innovative and grounding breaking road safety ideas were canvassed and will be discussed with the relevant road safety bodies in Australia and overseas for their consideration.
The seminar also agreed for the need to better integrate indigenous cultural healing within the compensation system and building awareness of the role cultural and spiritual dimensions can have towards improving outcomes for injured indigenous people.
A key outcome of the seminar was recognition of a range of key issues affecting remote and indige‐ nous communities that can help influence the design and operation of the proposed National Disability and Injury Insurance Schemes.
The group also agreed to continue to build upon the network and conversations seeded at this seminar and act upon the many good ideas raised.
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PIEF would like to thank our event sponsors for their support:
