[Greens-Media] Time for the Government to make good on dialysis promises

[Redman, Chris (Sen R. Siewert)]

31 May 2013

Time for the Government to make good on dialysis promises

The Australian Greens have called on Indigenous Health Minister Warren Snowdon to use Kidney Health Week to make good on the Government's commitment of $13 million to address kidney health and dialysis in central Australia.

"The Minister announced $13 million in funding in response to the Central Desert Renal Study back in 2011, but it still hasn't been delivered," Senator Rachel Siewert, Australian Greens spokesperson on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues said today.

"What we do know, through questions I asked in the last round of Senate Estimates, is that $3m of the allocated funding has been pulled back into consolidated revenue. I'm concerned as to where this promise will end up.

"Community dialysis projects are crying out for help and yet this money has been on the table for a long time.

"This is Kidney Health Week, and it would be great if the Minister committed the funding to vital projects and ensures it is delivered as soon as possible.

"There are community projects that are ready to be delivered as soon as funding is provided for the infrastructure they need. 

"This includes a proposal to deliver dialysis by the Warburton Health Centre with the support of Ngaanyatjarra Health Service, which would allow approved patients currently receiving treatment in Alice Springs, Kalgoorlie and Perth to be able to return home for treatment. They're seeking funding for dialysis equipment, water treatment and for a vehicle and staff to transport patients. 

"Similarly, the Kiwirrkurra Dialysis Project, which plans to fit out a room at the Primary Health Clinic in Kiwirrkurra to provide nurse assisted haemodialysis services 6 days a week, 52 weeks a year would provide a tremendous benefit to a community that is extremely remote, being a nine hour drive over unsealed roads from Alice Springs.

"Investment is essential to relieving the pressures being faced by health organisations and for improving health outcomes for Aboriginal people, especially people in remote areas who would otherwise have to leave their communities and families,"

"The money has been allocated to addressing kidney disease and dialysis, it needs to be spent on delivering these services" Senator Siewert concluded.