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Freeman concerned by poor state of Aboriginal health
By Sarah Price
Cathy Freeman has described the state of indigenous health in Australia as
"really, really scary" and believes Aboriginal people have to try to turn
the problem around.
The former champion athlete, who attended a Koori women's health day in
Bankstown yesterday, said:
"I think we should feel a responsibility to ourselves and to our status in
this country to change those [health] statistics. Obviously, there are deeper issues involved that have led us to where we
are today, but we have to look at what we're able to do today and look
"It's not just about our health physically but it's about our emotional
health as well."
The Bankstown Koori Women's Fun Olympics was the first such event in the
area.
It attracted members from the local community and even a group of 12 women
from the Wiradjuri people of Narromine in the state's central west.
Freeman said she saw herself as a positive role model for promoting health
in her community.
"Our health is probably the most important and most precious thing we own,"
she said.
When asked about reports that she had rekindled her relationship with
Australian actor Joel Edgerton, she politely declined to answer.
"Ask him," she said.
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