New Parliamentary group strengthens national leadership to end rheumatic heart disease

Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is an entirely preventable condition that should no longer exist in Australia. It has been almost eradicated in non-Indigenous communities and other high-income countries, yet more than 11,000 Australians are currently living with acute rheumatic fever or RHD.

RHD continues to have a devastating impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities — particularly among young people — and is closely linked to broader social and environmental conditions, including housing, access to healthcare and early treatment.

Snow Foundation has been committed to First Nation’s health since 2011, backing community-led solutions and working alongside partners to address both the disease itself and the systems that allow it to persist.

On Wednesday 25 March, leaders from across Parliament, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, the health sector and philanthropy came together at Parliament House for the launch of the Parliamentary Friends of Ending Rheumatic Heart Disease.

The group, co-chaired by Matt Smith MP, Julian Leeser MP and Allegra Spender MP, provides a bipartisan platform to strengthen national attention, coordination and accountability on RHD.

The launch marks an important milestone in a long-standing, collective effort to end RHD in Australia. It reflects years of advocacy and partnership — particularly with the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) — and reinforces a clear national message: community-controlled, community-led solutions are central to progress.

The event program included remarks from the Co-Chairs, a preview screening of Take Heart: Songlines, and a panel discussion convened by Snow Foundation CEO Georgina Byron featuring NACCHO CEO Dr Dawn Casey, Associate Professor Vicki Wade (Menzies School of Health Research), and paediatric cardiologist Dr Bo Remenyi. The discussion highlighted the importance of Aboriginal leadership, lived experience and sustained, practical action.

Strong engagement from across Parliament signals growing recognition of the need for long-term, coordinated national effort to eliminate RHD.

The event also brought together a number of First Nations–led and community partners, including directors from Deadly Hearts Ltd and representatives from Snow partners Wilya Janta, Orange Sky and Goods by A Curious Tractor. Their presence reflects the strength of long-term, trust-based partnerships and the importance of locally led, place-based approaches.

The Parliamentary Friends group will play an important role in maintaining momentum and supporting the sustained national leadership needed to end rheumatic heart disease as a public health issue in Australia.

Read the Media Release.

Media Coverage: NITV and National Indigenous Times