PPA and
SHPA Joint Statement in Support of Yes in the Voice to Parliament Referendum Professional Pharmacists Australia (PPA) and the Society of Hospital Pharmacists Australia (
SHPA) would like to take this opportunity to reiterate our organisations’ support for the Yes campaign in the historic Voice to Parliament Referendum this coming Saturday.
Our members, which comprise pharmacists and pharmacy technicians across the country, witness firsthand the disparity in health outcomes for First Nations peoples compared to non-Indigenous Australians. Despite the best efforts of successive governments at all levels, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples continue to have an average life expectancy that is 8.2 years less than that of other Australians.
We are already a divided nation in terms of these health outcomes, which not only cost our First Nations people in terms of their quality of life, job and financial opportunities and life expectancy, but also contribute to the ever-increasing cost burden on Australia’s healthcare system.
With the Uluru Statement of the Heart, our First Nations people have invited Australia to help make a practical difference in closing this 'divide' and many others by establishing the Voice to Parliament.
As health professionals, let us honour this invitation, and consider the possible health and wellbeing benefits that the Voice to Parliament would have for First Nations peoples.
Just as a good clinician listens to their patient, a Voice to Parliament is about listening to the voices of First Nations peoples.