News

MDAS partnership brings traditional healers to the Mallee

Thu, 26 Mar 2020 03:06:00

Traditional Aboriginal healing practices and western medicine are coming together in an exciting new partnership at Mallee District Aboriginal Services clinics in Mildura and Swan Hill.

For the first time last month, a Ngangkari Traditional healer from remote South Australia, practiced at MDAS Mildura and Swan Hill clinics, and the healers will continue to offer their services in Mildura and Swan Hill every two months.
The partnership between MDAS and the Aṉangu Ngangkaṟi Tjutaku Aboriginal Corporation (ANTAC) is the first ongoing collaboration of its kind in Victoria.
MDAS Health Manager (Mildura) Samantha Brennan said the relationship was a breakthrough in health service delivery in the Mallee.
“Traditional healers look after physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing and have done for tens of thousands of years – the Ngangkari are highly-respected and highly sought-after for their expertise and for what they’ve achieved with people across Australia,” Ms Brennan said.
The ancient practices of Aboriginal traditional healing are handed down by from generation to generation.  Today there are 14 Ngangkari descendents who are healers, offering treatment through bush medicine, smoking ceremony and re-aligning the spirit.
“As health services, we generally focus primarily on the physical, but this partnership recognises that there is a whole separate element to health and wellbeing, that is around the spirit,” Ms Brennan said.
“While western medicine focuses on the science and the biological model of care as practitioners, we’re coming to understand that we need to take a more holistic and integrated appraoch – and this partnership is the result of MDAS putting that priority into action.
“There’s a huge level of excitement and interest in the community about what it might mean for health service delivery. For me, as we strive to achieve better outcomes for our community, it’s one of the most exciting projects I’ve been a part of.”
ANTAC is the first organization of Aboriginal traditional healers in Australia – a not-for-profit social enterprise formed with a vision to support, maintain and practice the 60,000 year-old Aboriginal traditional medical knowledge system in the 21st century.
Its service delivery model aims to make Aboriginal traditional healing accessible to the general public, and the healers are now working with an increasing number of Aboriginal Health Services and communities across Australia.

Pictured: Traditional healer Debbie with members of the MDAS Swan Hill team