That was one of the messages to come out of a special regional forum last Thursday.

Shellharbour City Council hosted the forum at The Links, Shell Cove in conjunction with National Close the Gap Day.

The day recognises that the average life expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is 17 years less than that of other Australians.

Mt Warrigal’s Norman Hamilton, 39, is currently undertaking a Certificate III in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander - Primary Health Care at Shellharbour TAFE.

He said there needed to be continuous funding to support indigenous health workers.

Mr Hamilton said a shortage of funding and therefore a lack of available jobs didn’t help.

“There needs to be ongoing funding, because they’re ongoing issues we’re talking about,” he said.

“It could be diabetes, mental health issues, or just guys that are lost and looking for their cultural background. If they don’t have that connection where they can turn to an Aboriginal health worker and feel confident about going to a health practitioner, it’s not being addressed and there’s that gap not being closed.”

Aboriginal Elders, Uncle Gerald Brown, 65, of Barrack Heights and Uncle Reuben Brown, 71, of Berkeley said support through long-term government funding and job creation was needed to break down barriers and help indigenous people communicate about health issues.

Uncle Gerald underlined the need to secure funding to assist existing support networks such as the Illawarra Koori Men’s Support Group.

“A lot of our young fellas do have mental health issues,” he said.“A mental health worker to come and talk to our Aboriginal youth groups (would help).”

Uncle Reuben said areas discussed at the forum such as employment, education, housing and infrastructure needed to be addressed.

“You need specialist people in their fields, working with us as well as our younger people,” he said.

Federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs Jenny Macklin was represented by Geoff Thomas to speak about the Regional Partnership Agreement.

The Illawarra RPA was endorsed by the Federal Government in 2010 and has been working with the community to address areas of service requiring more focus and support.

Other speakers included Illawarra Shoalhaven Medicare Local representatives discussing the role of ISML’s Aboriginal Health Team to help Aboriginal people navigate the health system and coordinate care.

Health Project Officer Estela Gimenez discussed how the team, based in both Bomaderry and Wollongong, was helping to close the gap.

The team includes Aboriginal outreach workers and Aboriginal care co-ordinators.