Aboriginal Community Controlled Health

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What are Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services?

Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS) are services devoted to the primary healthcare of Aboriginal people.

Primary health generally means healthcare provided by a health care professional when a patient first has contact with the health system.

For Aboriginal people, primary health is about a whole community working together to achieve and maintain well being.

Why?

Because it’s in a community that an individual is able to achieve their full potential as a human being and as a consequence, the whole community’s wellbeing improves.

There are more than 150 ACCHS across Australia.

Some are multi-functional practices with various medical practitioners and others are smaller and rely on Aboriginal Health Workers and/or nurses to carry out most primary health care services.

Primary health care services often have a preventative and health education focus in the following areas:

• Child and maternal health

• Oral and dental health

• Men's and women’s health

• Health checks

• Eye and ear health

• Preventative programs that focus on quitting smoking and healthy eating