A new partnership between Community Enterprise Queensland and the Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service is set to support healthier choices in Torres Strait, Northern Peninsula Area and Cape York communities.
Community Enterprise Queensland (CEQ) and the Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service (TCHHS) have signed a three-year Heads of Agreement focused on improving social, economic, health and wellbeing outcomes.
The agreement establishes a framework for the organisations to develop programs supporting healthy lifestyles and preventive healthcare across the region.
Kabi Kabi man and CEQ Board Member, Dr Mark Wenitong, said nutrition education and access to healthy food would be central to the partnership.
"By collaborating with Torres and Cape HHS and using health data to inform nutrition education, we can ensure healthier options are available in our stores and support our customers to make healthy choices every day," Dr Wenitong said.
"This builds on CEQ's Healthy Ways campaign, which celebrates the strength and wisdom of traditional practices that have supported health and wellbeing for generations.
"The campaign highlights the power of whole foods, drinking water, cooking and eating with family, growing strong kids, active living, and nourishing ourselves from the land and sea."
CEQ operates remote stores across Northern Queensland and the Torres Strait, providing communities with access to food and other essential goods.
The partnership will build on the Healthy Ways campaign by connecting CEQ's work with health services and activities delivered through TCHHS primary healthcare centres.
Dr Wenitong said the organisations would work with the communities they served to improve access to health support.
"We are excited to work with Torres and Cape HHS and the communities we both serve to provide better health support to our customers across Northern Queensland and the Torres Strait," he said.
Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Board chair, Renee Williams, said the agreement was already supporting the delivery of health messages in communities.
"We are already seeing it have a positive impact, with Torres and Cape HHS teams amplifying CEQ's Healthy Ways campaign through our primary healthcare centres and activities in community," Ms Williams said.
"By leveraging our combined resources and expertise, we will work together to implement innovative strategies and programs that address both immediate and long-term health challenges across our regions.
"We want the communities of Torres and Cape to be the healthiest they can be, and partnerships such as this are vital to improving health outcomes and forging a better future for the Far North."
The agreement supports the strategic objectives of TCHHS, the CEQ Strategic Plan 2023-2027 and the CEQ Health and Nutrition Strategy 2023-2027.
The initial agreement will remain in place until July 2, 2029, with provisions allowing it to be reviewed and extended.