New South Wales

Chris O’Brien

My name is Chris O’Brien and I am a Yorta Yorta Aboriginal man from the country of Cummeroogunja which is located on the inland of the Murray River in the Riverina region.

I am an undergraduate at the University of Wollongong studying a BA in Health Science majoring in Indigenous Health.

I have been employed with the Illawarra Aboriginal Medical Service for a bit over four years and currently hold the Health Services Managers position.

I commenced employment with the Illawarra Aboriginal Medical Service in mid 2005 as the Enhanced Primary Care Aboriginal Health Worker then went over to the Male Aboriginal Health Worker’s role and then progressed to the Health Service Manager.

I have been involved with the Quality Assurance for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Medical Services (QAAMS) for approximately three years. I was initially a QAAMS participant for NSW in the Illawarra in 2006 then progressed to become the Deputy Leader in 2007 & 2008 and then became the Leader for NSW in 2009.

I have been very productive and proactive within the QAAMS Management Team ensuring that QAAMS future directions and ways forward are viewed for the benefit of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, health and medical services. I strongly believe that Point of Care Testing (PoCT) is the way forward for better diabetes management and health outcomes for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across the nation. The true potential that PoCT can achieve is only as far as we allow them to reach.

I believe that eventually there will be a PoCT device that will be able to complete up to five individual tests which will give a great outcome for better chronic care management for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia. I also believe that PoCT Devices such as the DCA 2000 and Vantage should be utilised as a screening tool.

I look forward to my duration in office with the QAAMS Management Team and collaboratively consulting with the NSW participants to work towards efficient and effective outcomes for the PoCT processes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

“So to all you NSW mob out there if you have any queries, concerns or dramas please feel free to contact me, you will be able to do so on”…
cobrien@illawarraams.com.au