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Launch of Parliamentary Friends for Ending Rheumatic Heart Disease

NACCHO and the RHD Alliance

Media alert

Media are invited to the launch of the Parliamentary Friends for Ending Rheumatic Heart Disease, hosted by Co-Chairs Matt Smith MP, Julian Leeser MP and Allegra Spender MP.

The event will amplify Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices and leadership in the effort to end rheumatic heart disease. A preview of Take Heart: Songlines will also be shown, the third film in a documentary series highlighting the impact of RHD on First Nations communities and the strength of community-led solutions, followed by a panel discussion with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders, and clinical experts.

Presented in partnership with the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) and the RHD Alliance.

When: 
Wednesday 25 March 2026 
5.30pm for a 6.00pm start

Where: 
Theatre, Australian Parliament House

Who:

  • Parliamentary Co-Chairs

  • Representatives from NACCHO and the RHD Alliance

  • Community leaders and health experts

 

Drinks and light refreshments will be available.

RHD is entirely preventable yet continues to disproportionately affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The Parliamentary Friends group provides a bipartisan forum to support community-controlled, evidence-based solutions to eliminate RHD in Australia.

Media contact: Chris Wagner 0434 378 939

 

ARF and RHD have been uncommon in non-Indigenous Australians since the 1960s, yet they continue to disproportionately affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. 

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), in 2024:

  • 93% (n = 506) of ARF diagnoses were for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, including 211 children aged 5-14

  • 78% of the 7,510 people living with RHD on jurisdictional registers were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

  • 65% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people recorded on a jurisdictional RHD register are women

  • 53% were under 35 (n = 6,251) and 82% live in remote or very remote communities (n = 9,671)

  • There were 410 new RHD diagnoses

  • 76% of RHD‑related surgeries were for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (n = 111)