Lessons from the WA Aboriginal Child Health Survey
A good healthy breakfast is not just a vital foundation for a productive day but can lay the groundwork for a community to pull together to overhaul its health and wellbeing.
WA's remote Warburton Aboriginal community showed exactly how, through widespread changes that flowed on from its school breakfast program Milyirrtjarra Kuurl Mirrka Palyalpayi (Making Good Food at Warburton School).
The locally driven program has attracted the attention of the nation for improving not only student attendance and literacy rates over the past decade, but forming strong links between families and the school and inspiring community change.
It was The Kids Research Institute Australia's groundbreaking WA Aboriginal Child Health Survey that provided the "hard statistics" on worryingly low academic attendance and performance and increased risk of behavioural difficulties that the local Warburton Council members needed to successfully lobby to get their breakfast project off the ground.
The women used the data to argue their point, to motivate and win over others and to set up an invaluable community consultation process.
Then at the invitation of Warburton, The Kids Research Institute Australia staff became actively involved on the ground, 1540 kilometres northeast of Perth, in aiding locals in their efforts to make a difference. In 2008, they formed a collaboration with Ngaanyatjarra Council, the Goldfields District Education Office and the Warburton Remote Community School that was successful in obtaining Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY) seeding grants to establish the breakfast program and trigger the development of other health initiatives. Foodbank WA then provided long-term support which led to a raft of changes.
The research team supporting the Warburton project, comprised of The Kids Research Institute Australia's adjunct Associate Professor Ernie Stringer and Associate Professor Roz Walker and Menzies School of Health Professor Sven Silburn (formerly from The Kids Research Institute Australia).
All believed fresh, innovative locally driven projects were needed, as the WA Aboriginal Child Health Survey had concluded that WA education stakeholders needed to stop and reconsider "the types of strategies and programs to overcome disparity".
This survey, the State's largest investigation of its kind, involved Professor Stephen Zubrick and his team interviewing 5,300 indigenous children across WA. It highlighted significant concerns for Warburton. It found that in the Warburton region 73% of students had poor school attendance and 87% of children from Kindergarten to 10-years-old had low academic performance. Also, a higher proportion of Aboriginal students in Warburton were at risk of clinically significant emotional or behavioural difficulties than other indigenous children in WA.
These findings were used by Warburton's key community leaders and elders to galvanise action among the locals.
At the same time, a summary of survey findings and recommendations were presented to key Department of Education policy, administrative and teaching personnel to gain support to revise practices.
At community meetings then held in Warburton to "talk it all through", it was identified that Warburton needed a dedicated place for parents to establish a link with the school and run language, art and cultural programs. These early consultations led to a "Family Place" being built on school grounds.
"For the past six years the Breakfast 'Minyma' (ladies) have continued to extend their activities to provide a range of services and enhance their skills in many ways - demonstrating their ability and capacity to provide for the children's needs and for the wider community," said Associate Professor Walker.
"Community reports confirm that the children's behaviour has improved as a consequence of seeing greater family and community involvement in everyday affairs.
"The men's and women's groups have grown and the importance of meaningful engagement is being perpetuated throughout the community. And the men and women have been able to demonstrate the strength of Ngaanyatjarra families and their continuing successes."
"The Warburton story is a great case study example of translating the WA Aboriginal Child Health Survey research results with communities and relevant government sectors to make a genuine difference in the lives of Aboriginal children and families," she said.
What's next?
"We would like to secure funding to continue to support the community through documenting the evidence of their successes," said Associate Professor Walker.
"Such a study would be able to show how the development of effective relationships between the school and family members has improved student academic outcomes and social well-being as well as increases in health, employment and income, and decreases in substance abuse, violence, imprisonment and mental health problems."