Equipped with the most comprehensive suite of Brisbane Broncos Deadly Choices Health Check shirts ever produced in the near 10-year history of its partnership with the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Health Service providers from throughout Queensland will be able to maintain strong and essential connections with the people that matter most.
The 2021 Broncos Deadly Choices preventative health campaign, instigated by IUIH, represents a calculated response to the global, COVID-19 pandemic.
“There has never been a more important time to ensure the ongoing health and vitality of our Indigenous communities,” confirmed Brisbane Broncos CEO Paul White.
“At the Brisbane Broncos we’re proud to play our part in building a health consciousness among all communities, particularly as we await the anticipated roll out of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“There’s a great deal of misinformation circulating, so our players know the important role they can fulfill, by encouraging communities to protect themselves and their families against a potential spread.
“Vaccinated communities make for safer communities.”
To that end, the empowerment of individuals and families to take control of their own health through the maintenance of regular health checks remains a top priority.
“Our Deadly Choices partnership with the Brisbane Broncos has netted some amazing health successes over the last decade and we see the club’s role in the anticipated delivery of the COVID-19 vaccination as an evolutionary shift forward,” said IUIH CEO Adrian Carson.
“The impressive array of new Broncos Deadly Choices health check shirts are bound to create added interest among communities from right across Queensland.
“Connection with Community Controlled Health Services was limited last year due to the pandemic, so we look forward with great anticipation to servicing the needs of our clients from right across the State throughout 2021.
“The Brisbane Broncos and Deadly Choices have created a formidable partnership which is ensuring healthy, positive futures for Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations.
Indicative of the direct impact Deadly Choices is having in communities, Queensland has the highest number and the highest rate of use (40%) of 715 heath checks of any State or Territory in Australia.
This statistic isn’t lost on the CEO of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service (ATSICHS) Brisbane, Jody Currie who is already excited by the New Year acquisitions.
“The Broncos-Deadly Choices partnership provides a very strong community engagement tool to enhance positive health messaging and continue to encourage health checks among Indigenous communities right from right across South East Queensland, confirmed Ms Currie.
“Our health service provision extends from Logan and throughout the Greater Brisbane area so we’re already seeing solid health check bookings and a likewise uptake of Broncos shirts among community members.
“With the NRL season fast approaching we encourage all our local families to get in touch and book an appointment to ensure they don’t miss out on these deadly additions to our health check incentives.”
All Queensland NRL clubs are united behind the Deadly Choices preventative health initiative supporting the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders.
Deadly Choices shirts have played a key role in driving demand for preventative health care, contributing to an incredible 4000% increase in Health Checks in South East Queensland and leading to the expansion of Deadly Choices right across Queensland.
Through the Deadly Choices Healthy Lifestyle Program, we’re making a real difference in closing the health and life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
Deadly Broncos artwork story by Elaine Chambers-Hegarty:
Elaine Chambers-Hegarty is an Aboriginal Graphic Designer and Artist - her links to country are Koa (Guwa) nation of Winton area, and Kuku Yalanji (North QLD). Elaine feels blessed to have inherited her Dad’s creative genes, with her artistic ability and love of computers prompting a career in Graphic Design straight out of school. For the bulk of her 30-year professional career, Elaine has worked with News Media, winning Newspapers’ highest achievement award - a PANPA Award for Creative Excellence, and in 2015 won Australia’s NAIDOC poster design competition. Elaine has also designed for her favourite NRL team, the Brisbane Broncos for their Indigenous jerseys in 2019 and 2020, plus AFL teams - Collingwood and the Brisbane Lions.
2021 BRONCOS DESIGN STORY: Starting with the football shape in the centre, different areas venture out into different sections. Line markings show journeys through life, circle meeting places are represented to acknowledge those people we meet along the way that build us as a person. Communities representing our homelands that we go back to and have our stories from. Throughout the artwork there are stars to represent ‘excellence’ and ‘achievements’ and there are 6 main white stars to represent 6 Premiership wins. Handprints to show where we came from, and markings represent communities; our tracks, our aim to lead a better lifestyle, our aim to be active and healthy, and goal posts in the corner represent us “kicking goals” in life as well as the sport. All pathways to a new beginning, and a new start - which represents Broncos and Deadly Choices working together in the “Beyond Broncos” program.