Australian Aboriginal children are approximately three times more likely to be involved in road related fatalities and hospitalisations compared to that of non-Aboriginal children. Research shows that with the correct use of child seat restraints, these injuries can be greatly prevented, however, the use of correct child seat restraints still remains low.
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Subsequently the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council of NSW (AH&MRC) has been funded by Transport Roads & Maritime Services to develop and deliver the AH&MRC Aboriginal Child Seat Restraint Project.
At WACHS Denise Barwick and Cherie Colliss said while a lot of people were conscious about using child restraints these days, it was still important to get information out there on tips for usage such as the importance of attaching the restraint to a proper anchorage point.
The pair did a two day workshop in Sydney and from there they had a fitting day where families who came in for health checks or were part of the mothers' group could come along and have restraints properly fitted in their cars.
They said that while some families might not even have a car, when it came to using a taxi, or having their children travel with family, it was important to have a child restraint available and so they gave fifty away to families which they thought could benefit from the project.
The project began in July 2014 and continues until 2015 as part of the AH&MRC public health team, overseen by the Public Health Program Manager & a Senior Project Officer.
The project aims to promote, facilitate and support the effective use of motor vehicle child restraints by Aboriginal families in selected areas of NSW and has the objectives of:
Raising awareness among ACCHS staff and Aboriginal community members about the road safety benefits of the appropriate use and fitting of child restraints in motor vehicles
Increasing the number of ACCHS staff and Aboriginal community members skilled in correctly fitting child restraints to motor vehicles
Increasing access to affordable child restraints for Aboriginal families
Developing and use tools and resources to promote, facilitate and support the effective use and fitting of child restraints within ACCHSs and by Aboriginal families
Supporting ACCHS to develop and implement safe driving policies for use within their services
