by Dr Francesca Panzironi
Publication details:
Title: Hand-in-Hand. Report on Aboriginal Traditional Medicine
Author: Francesca Panzironi
Publisher: Aṉangu Ngangkaṟi Tjutaku Aboriginal Corporation
ISBN: 978-0-9875311-0-0
Publication date: 20 September 2013
Format: Paperback, A4
Pages: 207
Weight: 1,090g
Content: 1. Introduction 2. Traditional Medicine 3. Aboriginal Traditional Medicine: Legislative and Policy Framework 4. Ngangkari services in South Australia 5. Western medical practitioners and ngangkari in clinical settings 6. Stories of healing 7. Ngangkari 8. A new statewide policy framework
Hand-in-Hand. Report on Aboriginal Traditional Medicine provides a comprehensive analysis of the status of Aboriginal traditional medicine in Australia from a legal, policy and clinical perspective. The Report denounces the disregard of Aboriginal traditional medicine in current Australia’s Indigenous health policy frameworks, strategies and implementation plans. A new terra nullius has emerged: the creation of a temporal linear progression from a ‘primitive’ Aboriginal traditional medicine to the modern science-based biomedical model has crystallized, invalidated and relegated Aboriginal traditional medicine to a place of non-existence.
However, the findings of this Report demonstrate that Aboriginal traditional healers continue to practice their traditional medicine both in their communities and within clinical settings across South Australia. Evidence from a wide range of primary and secondary data reveals a complex and multilayered interface between western health practitioners and ngangkari - the Aboriginal traditional healers from Central Australia.
The Hand-in-Hand report identifies the key issues, challenges and benefits of current ad hoc arrangements for the provision of ngangkari services across South Australia. It proposes a new statewide policy framework which establishes a two-way health care model to guarantee the systematic provision of Aboriginal traditional medicine hand-in-hand with western medicine. The newly formed Anangu Ngangkari Tjutaku Aboriginal Corporation, the first self-determined association of Aboriginal traditional healers in Australia, stands at the core of this policy frameworks as the central body for the coordination, administration and delivery of ngangkari health care services.
