An Interactive Workshop hosted by the Southgate Institute for Health, Society and Equity and SACOSS
On Monday 9 September the Southgate Institute for Health, Society and Equity, and the South Australian Council of Social Service (SACOSS) hosted an interactive workshop based on the draft research report
SA: The Heaps Unfair State. Why have health inequities increased in South Australia and how can this be reversed?
This workshop highlighted the growth in health inequities in South Australia since the mid 1980s, and encouraged discussion about the implications for future action designed to make health in SA more equitably distributed.
The report highlights the consequences of a perfect storm of challenging global, national and state factors on South Australia over the past 30-40 years. These factors have resulted in South Australia’s increasing health inequities despite continued increases in life expectancy and average income continuing to rise.
It was a lively and successful day which was attended by representatives from the SA government, NGOs, community members and academics. The workshop culminated in the Policy Futures Panel: How do we create the political will for equity? chaired by Ross Womersley, CEO of SACOSS and included panel members: Hon Mark Parnell MLC, Greens Member of SA Parliament; Mr Blair Boyer MP, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health and Wellbeing; Dr Stefania Velardo, President of SA Branch of Health Promotion Australia; and Pam Simmons, SACOSS Board Director.
A central aim of the workshop was to develop recommendations with the workshop attendees to include in the final report, which is due to be released in early 2020.
The companion report SA: The Heaps Unfair State – The Statistical Report provides a quantitative examination of potential underlying factors that might explain the increase in socio-economic health inequalities in SA and is available via this link.
The Southgate Institute research team is Prof Fran Baum, Dr Jo Flavel, Dr Connie Musolino, Dr Toby Freeman, Dr Helen van Eyk, and from SACOSS, Dr Catherine Earl, Policy Co-Director and Ross Womersley, CEO.
The research project was funded by a Flinders University Innovation Partnership Seed Grant for 2019.
