Study finds closer ties to country benefit Indigenous Australians
New research due out this month has found a strong link between indigenous health and a connection to traditional lands. The report, Healthy country: health people, has found that while sustained pressure has seen a centralizing of communities and services, a greater connection to traditional lands ? through natural and cultural resources management – can deliver significant health benefits to Australia’s indigenous population. The report also found that supporting remote communities that are in touch with their cultural land practices will deliver significant savings to the federal health budget. One of the reports author’s, Steve Garnett, Professor of Tropical Knowledge at Charles Darwin University, spoke with Erica Vowles earlier about the initial outcomes of the study.