NAIDOC Week 2017 is a time to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, culture and achievements and is an opportunity to recognise the contributions that Indigenous Australians make to our country and our society. NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee.

“The theme for NAIDOC week 2017 is ‘Our Languages Matter’ aims to emphasise and celebrate the unique and essential role that Indigenous languages play in cultural identity.”

Celebrate this July by:

• Partaking in the festivities
• Hosting a fundraiser
• Holding a flag raising ceremony
• Volunteering
• Raising awareness on social media

For more information, visit: http://www.naidoc.org.au/

JulEye is a public campaign to raise awareness about eye diseases. JulEye aims to raise community awareness of eye health issues and raise funding for domestic and international vision research projects.

“Each year, 10,000 Australians go blind and approximately 200,000 Australians have visual impairment that cannot be corrected by spectacles.”

Get involved this July by:

• Making a $1 difference
• Volunteering
• Organising a fundraiser
• Showing support on social media
• Informing the community of the campaign

For more information, visit: https://www.eyesurgeonsfoundation.org.au/campaigns/juleye/

World Scleroderma Day

is an event to raise awareness about scleroderma.

This is a chronic connective tissue disease generally classified as one of the autoimmune rheumatic diseases. Scleroderma can cause serious damage to internal organs including the lungs, heart, kidneys, esophagus, and gastrointestinal tract.

“There are estimated to be over 5,000 persons with scleroderma in Australia.”

Get involved this June by:

• Donating
• Volunteering
• Organising your own fundraiser
• Joining a support group
• Raising awareness on social media

For more information, visit: http://www.sclerodermaaustralia.com.au/

World Scleroderma Day

World Drug Day is an opportunity to recognise the importance of addressing the disadvantages and harms of drug abuse and illicit trafficking around the world. It raises awareness of the threat to public health and safety that illicit drugs pose.

“247 million people used drugs in the last year. 29 million suffer from drug use disorders but only 1 in 6 people with drug use disorders are in treatment.”

Participate this June by:

• Volunteering
• Donating to the foundation
• Raising awareness on social media
• Educating community members
• Reading information to ensure awareness

For more information, visit: www.un.org/en/events/drugabuseday/

World continence week

World continence week is an international initiative to raise awareness about the issue of incontinence. Incontinence is a term that describes any accidental or involuntary loss of urine or bowel motion, faeces or wind. Incontinence is a widespread condition that ranges in severity from ‘just a small leak’ to complete loss of bladder or bowel control.

“Over 4.8 million Australians have bladder or bowel control problems for a variety of reasons”

Get involved this June by:

• Volunteering
• Making a donation to the foundation
• Organising a fundraiser
• Raising awareness on social media
• Informing the community

For more information, visit: https://www.continence.org.au/pages/world-continence-week.html

Motor – neuron disease is a nervous system disorder that weakens muscles and impacts physical function. This day marks recognition and awareness for the disease around Australia.

“MND is a disease that affects over 400,000 of the world’s population, and kills over 100,000 people every year.”

Get involved this June by:

• Donating to the foundation

• Raising awareness on social media

• Informing the community

• Volunteering

For more information, visit: https://www.mndaust.asn.au/Get-involved/Global-Day.aspx

Men’s Health Week 12-18 June

Men’s Health Week focuses on improving and maintaining the health of our men, boys and their families, and having those meaningful conversations about the factors that keep us healthy in body and mind. This year’s theme “HEALTHY BODY – HEALTHY MIND: KEEPING THE BALANCE” explores the different ways men and boys are managing to keep healthy, physically and emotionally, in a busy and sometimes challenging world.

“A boy born in Australia in 2010 has a life expectancy of 78 years while a baby girl born at the same time could expect to live up to 82 years. Right from the start, boys suffer more illness, more accidents and die earlier than their female counterpart.”

Be a part of this initiative this June by:

• Donating to the foundation
• Volunteering
• Organising a fundraiser
• Attending the workshops and events help by the organisation
• Raising awareness on social media

For more information, visit: http://www.menshealthweek.org.au/En/Pages/1611cf/2017-Theme-Healthy-Body-Healthy-Mind-Keeping-The-Balance.aspx

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day seeks to prevent elder abuse incidents by giving targeted information and encouraging community participation on a broad scale. The day is about all of us working together to bring greater recognition of the mistreatment of older people wherever they live, and to highlight the need for appropriate action.

“There is an estimated 167,000 older Australians experiencing some form of abuse in the past year.”

Take action this June by:

• Organising a fundraising event
• Passing out the information brochures
• Volunteering
• Donating
• Raising awareness in the community
• Showing support on social media

For more information, visit: https://elderabuseawarenessday.org.au/

World Blood Donor Day 

“What can you do?”

Every year, on 14 June, countries around the world celebrate World Blood Donor Day.

The event serves to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products and to thank blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood. This year’s campaign will focus on blood donation in emergencies. In any crisis or emergency situation, the natural human response is “What can I do? How can I help?” therefore, the slogan for the 2017 campaign is: “What can you do?” with the secondary message “Give blood. Give now. Give often”.

The campaign underlines the role every single person can play in helping others in emergency situations, by giving the valuable gift of blood.

“Blood donation is important as the lives and health of millions of people are affected by emergencies every year. In the last decade, disasters have caused more than 1 million deaths, with more than 250 million people being affected by emergencies every year.”

Get involved this June by:

• Donating blood
• Organising a fundraiser
• Volunteering with the foundation
• Raising awareness on social media

For more information, visit: http://www.who.int/campaigns/world-blood-donor-day/2017/event/en/

Infant Mental Health Awareness Week 2017

Infant Mental Health Awareness Week is an international initiative during 12th – 16th June that invites Government, industry and consumers to consider the distinct needs of babies and toddlers and to invest in the critical services that support the first thousand days (conception to age 2).

“This is due to the critical window of development that takes place in the first 1000 days where 80% of a child’s brain is developed. Relationships are crucial to babies during this period and are the building blocks for good mental health in childhood and throughout life.”

Take action this June by:

• Donating to the foundation
• Raising awareness on social media
• Showing support in the local community
• Organising your own fundraiser

For more information, visit: http://www.infantmentalhealthweek.org.au/