Baptie said she hoped the inquest highlighted “the insidiousness and perniciousness of ear disease,particularly within the Indigenous communities in Australia”.
“Given the high,and disproportionate rates of Indigenous incarceration in NSW,it is reasonable to conclude that there is a high incidence of otitis media,chronic suppurative otitis and related difficulties among Aboriginal persons in custody in NSW,” she said.
She recommended that the Justice Health network,which provides healthcare to prisoners,should advocate for Aboriginal inmates to access Medicare on a trial basis,potentially by liaising with prison medical services in other states.
Inmates in NSW cannot receive Medicare benefits because the Health Insurance Act prevents a health service from receiving Commonwealth funding if it also receives state funding.
This means inmates are blocked from receiving a yearly Aboriginal health assessment,a screening that is intended to pick up chronic issues before they progress. No similar screening operates outside the Medicare system.
Jeremy Styles from the Aboriginal Legal Service,who represented the family during the inquest,said any one of these Aboriginal health assessments would have documented,recorded and discovered Mootijah’s ear disease.
He said this inquest was the second inquest this year that had raised the Medicare issue,describing it as a large structural problem that could be easily remedied and make “a major difference to outcomes for Aboriginal prisoners” including reducing deaths in custody.
“This was a simple medical tragedy,and it was the death of a man – a brother,a son,a father – which should not have happened,” Styles said.
“The Aboriginal Legal Service,for the family,shares the family’s horror that this occurred at all.”
After the findings were handed down,Mootijah’s family including his cousin Ruby Dykes held a smoking ceremony outside the Coroners Court in Lidcombe,to allow his spirit to finally rest.
Aunty Ruby said Mootijah – whose name means “strong one” – had endless love and affection for his family,and it was hard to accept that an ear infection killed him in the 21st century.
“We want prisoners to have access to Medicare,because healthcare is a human right,” she said. “A prison sentence should not be a death sentence.”
During the ceremony children helped to pile greenery on top of a smouldering wooden vessel and smoke soon wafted over a small crowd who gathered to watch. Aunty Ruby sobbed,wiping her eyes with a tissue and hugging her loved ones,as a song was sung and a didgeridoo was played.
The ashes from the small fire were then placed into a billycan,to be taken to Mootijah’s grave where they will be mixed with the soil.
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