Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Recently I travelled to the remote outback town of Coober Pedy in South Australia, and I had the great honour of officially opening the renal dialysis clinic there. It was an emotional day for local families who have lost loved ones to kidney disease. But there was a genuine sense of relief for those in Coober Pedy who will no longer have to relocate to places like Adelaide and Alice Springs, many hundreds of kilometres away from family, community and country, for life-saving treatment.

Dialysis and chronic kidney disease is a real scourge for First Nations people. First Nations adults are twice as likely as non-indigenous Australians to have chronic kidney disease and almost four times as likely to die from chronic kidney disease. Wherever I travel, right across the country, in my role as Assistant Minister for Indigenous Health, this is an issue that troubles me deeply. I see people on dialysis chairs in hospitals, in units across the country—and the patients are getting younger.

The good news is that the Albanese government is delivering on our election commitment to improve access to renal dialysis services. The Coober Pedy clinic is the first to open under our $73.2 million initiative to see 30 units across the country. The Coober Pedy clinic will see approximately eight patients per week, with the potential to increase to 16 at times of high demand. I got to meet Tommy, who has been living in Adelaide for two years. He told me he'd not been coping too well with being down there. I was glad to be able to see him get home for this life-saving treatment.

I also want to commend Sarah Brown and the staff and board of Purple House. They have worked tirelessly for two decades across so many communities in northern Australia, working passionately to ensure that those who needed these dialysis chairs had them. Thank you, Sarah, and thank you to your staff and the board for your guidance and your expertise in what we're trying to do in allocating these dialysis units across the country. Thank you also to the steering committee, through the Department of Health, and the work that every member on that is doing.

On a personal note, I had to care for my mum for the 10 years that she was on renal dialysis. She had to move from Borroloola, which is around a thousand kilometres from Darwin, to be on dialysis. Mum always wanted to go home to country, and those visits home would be very limited, because she'd have to return to Darwin after three days, maybe four at a stretch, and she would be quite unwell, to receive the treatment. But at least she got home for a couple of days. I think it's places like Borroloola where we want to see more renal dialysis units. We've already announced one for there and certainly for Ti Tree and Harts Range, as well as a couple more in Western Australia and certainly one more at this stage for South Australia. I'm looking forward to seeing the decision of the committee about further dialysis units. Sadly, my mum passed away in Darwin and was never able to return home to officially dialyse on country, and there are so many patients across the country who do go through this same situation. I know that families who look after family members on dialysis know this story only too well.

The good news is that those who have the opportunity to now dialyse on country closer to home with their families do have a better chance. We know that providing dialysis treatment closer to a patient's home increases the likelihood of regular treatment, and continued support and care, while remaining on country and connected to community and the love of family.