Giving Compass' Take:

• Madeleine Keck explains how a proactive, Aboriginal-led response to COVID has resulted in minuscule infection rates among Indigenous Australians.

• How can the rest of the world learn from the transparent, forward-thinking nature of the Aboriginal-led response to COVID-19? What does this show us about the importance of autonomy within Indigenous groups? How can you help Indigenous groups who are struggling from a lack of independence during the pandemic?

• Discover funds that support Indigenous groups during coronavirus.

Aboriginal-led responses to the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis have resulted in “extraordinarily” low infection rates among Indigenous communities, a feat that greatly outperforms infection rates in non-Indigenous Australians and inverts the belief that First Nations peoples are at higher risk from the virus.

According to a range of Indigenous-health experts, three methods have proved most effective in reducing transmission.

Epidemiologist Professor Fiona Stanley said the expected health gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians “completely reversed” thanks to increased training within Aboriginal-controlled health services, Indigenous-tailored media messaging and the promotion of consistent, culturally appropriate health literacy.

During a panel discussion on the success of the Aboriginal-led health response, hosted by The Australia Institute think tank, Stanley said the health outcomes among Indigenous Australians are “better than any other Indigenous nation internationally.”

Various Aboriginal-controlled health services used social media platforms to convey Indigenous-tailored health messaging.

The health promotion team at Derbarl Yerrigan Health Service, meanwhile, featured regularly on Noongar Radio, an Aboriginal community station, to inform individuals on appropriate hygiene practices.

According to NITV, Aboriginal-controlled services across the country also succeeded in limiting transition by observing and responding to failures by mainstream health systems. Some remote communities, including the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands and communities in Far North Queensland, also quietly closed their borders ahead of government advice.

The Australia Institute’s chief economist Richard Denniss said much can be learnt from the Aboriginal-led response.

Denniss highlighted how health, social and policy frameworks are continuously implemented without consultation from Indigenous voices — which often prove to be ineffective and costly.

It is far more effective from an economic, democratic and evidence point of view, Denniss added, to give Indigenous Australians the power to take control of the policies that affect them.

Read the full article about the Aboriginal-led response to COVID-19 by Madeleine Keck at Global Citizen.