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24 September, 2001 MEDIA RELEASE

PROVIDING A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR ABORIGINAL CHILDREN

The New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council and the Royal Far West Children's Health Scheme have formed a financial partnership aimed at helping children from remote and rural communities.

Forwarding a cheque for 10 thousand dollars to the Health Scheme, NSWALC Chairman Rod Towney said the Council had been delighted to extend its financial support for the organisation, to assist its work with remote and disadvantaged children.

"We've doubled our donation to the Royal Far West Children's Health Scheme this year, and have decided to make it an annual contribution because we are so impressed with the organisation's services to remote communities, and particularly with its efforts to help Aboriginal kids," Chairman Towney said.

The money will fund research by Clinical Psychologist Kerrie Powell into the intellectual functioning of Aboriginal children in the Bourke area and the cognitive differences between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children.

Welcoming the news, Ms Powell said Aboriginal children had been testing poorly on standard western measures of intelligence.

"What we've discovered is that the standard Western Psychometric Test being used for Aboriginal children does not provide an accurate indication of the child's IQ. That makes treating behavioural problems in Aboriginal children very difficult," Ms Powell said.

"So, we've purchased the Universal Non-verbal Intelligence Test (UNIT), using mime and activities, which is proving much more effective. We hope to publish the results of the test and allow for more accurate assessment of children of Aboriginal descent."

UNIT is designed to provide a fair and comprehensive assessment of general intelligence. The test ensures fairness for all, regardless of their ethnicity, language, sex and hearing ability. Each component of the test is completely non-verbal.

The Royal Far West Children's Health Scheme is a charity, which relies heavily on donations and sponsorships to deliver its free services to the State's remote and rural children and their families.

Alongside the treatment provided at its Manly Centre in Sydney, Royal Far West provides outreach services to Wellington, Cobar, Walgett, Lightning Ridge, Collarenebri and Goodooga. 30 per cent of children seen at these clinics are of Aboriginal descent.

"Those outreach services are crucial to rural communities. We've only recently extended them to Bourke after identifying a growing need there," Chief Executive Alan Godfrey said.

"And while a significant number of the children we treat are Aboriginal, it's important to note that we provide care to any child in need."

Congratulating the Royal Far West Children's Health Scheme, NSWALC Chairman Rod Towney said the Land Council was proud to be able to help.

"We'd urge other organisations, black and white, to join us in providing funds for the Scheme. It's about caring for our kids… all of our kids," Chairman Towney concluded.

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