Acknowledgements

This is the second edition of the AMSANT Administration Manual for Aboriginal Primary Health Care Services in the NT. The process of developing this manual involved discussions with Aboriginal health leaders and consultations with health service administrative and other staff.

The development of the manual has been made possible particularly by the generosity of the health services listed below who provided us with their policies, procedures, job descriptions and other documents that they use internally in their health service. These were modified to develop a standardised approach and form the bulk of the draft policies and procedure in this manual. These services were:

The NTDHCS and OATSIH also provided us with information about their programs, funding guidelines, polices and procedures.

The first edition of the Manual was informed significantly by a number of resources including:

• Bartlett, B & Duncan, P Board of Directors Training Course - Illawarra Aboriginal Medical Service, PlanHealth, Wollongong, 1998.
• CHASP (Community Health Accreditation & Standards Program) Manual of Standards for Community and Other Primary Health Care Services. Australian Community Health Association, Sydney, 1993.
• CHASP Manual of Standards for Remote/ Rural Community and Other Primary Health Care Services. Australian Community Health Association, Sydney, 1994.
• Gevers, L Keeping Books for a Small Community Organisation, Community Management Services, Perth, 2000.
• Gevers, L Managing a Community Organisation in Australia, Community Management Services, Perth, 1999.
• Gevers, L Policy and Procedures , Community Management Services, Perth, 1997.
• Just Change: The Cost Conscious Manager's Toolkit South Australian Health Commission, Adelaide, 1993.
• VCOSS Community Employing Handbook VCOSS, Melbourne, 1996.
• VCOSS Policy & Procedure Manual VCOSS, Melbourne, 1997.

In developing the manual as a web resource, a survey of users was conducted that demonstrated the difficulties of accessing hard copies of the manual or PDF versions alone. Given that most services now have access to fast internet services, it was decided that a web-based resource would provide most efficient access, and would be much easier to keep up-to-date

The first edition of the manual was funded by the NT Remote Health Workforce Agency. This updated and transformed version was funded by the Office of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Health (OATSIH) of the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing. AMSANT oversaw both projects which were conducted by PlanHealth Pty Ltd. AMSANT CEO, Pat Anderson and her staff were invaluable sources of advice and support.

Angus Fraser developed the architecture for the site, whilst Morgan Gregory was responsible for the design and art work. Without their wizardry and creative flare we would have failed to balance the demands for accurate and detailed information with ease of navigation and an appealing look.

Claire Gerson assisted with editing text, whilst Jenny Hardy and Fiona Hussin from the NT Legal Aid Commission provided us with sound advice on the legal section.

 

We look forward to your feedback to facilitate future updating and to make the site as user friendly as possible.

Pip Duncan & Ben Bartlett.

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