Ngak Min Health and Djarragun College present at Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health Forum
On Gimuy Country (Cairns), Audrey Deemal, Chairperson of Ngak Min Health, Charmaine Nicholls, General Manager of Ngak Min Health and Dr Michael Barton Executive Principal of Djarragun College joined voices at the Closing the Gap on Indigenous Health Conference 2025. The gathering brought together community leaders, health professionals and Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCHOs) to share grassroots solutions, digital innovations and culturally safe practices centred on culture, people and place.
For Ngak Min Health, it was a chance to show what happens when education and health walk together. Born in 2016 to meet the needs of Djarragun College students, Ngak Min has since grown into a nationally recognised example of school-based healthcare with educators, health staff and families forming a ‘Team Around the Family’ to tackle chronic illness, trauma and barriers to learning.
Each year, their on-campus clinic delivers over 2,200 episodes of care, has achieved a one hundred percent National and Queensland immunisation compliance rate and a one hundred percent annual health check (715) completion for all boarding students, manages complex and chronic conditions and provided over four hundred counselling sessions. The results ripple through classrooms: stronger attendance, calmer learning environments and students more ready to engage.
Ngak Min Health shared both the hard numbers and the lived experiences that show the difference their model makes. They talked through stories of resilience; cultural safety and the trust built through relationships. They showed that the model is working, but needs stronger, longer-term investment to continue to thrive.
Charmaine Nicholls finished their presentation saying that closing the gap means walking alongside community-led solutions that are already proving their worth and staying true to culture.
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