The Australian Government and the Australian public were prompt and generous in providing assistance for the benefit of all casualties of the Bali bombings.
Much of the humanitarian assistance in the days following the bombings, including $300,000 in emergency assistance through AusAID, was used for the benefit of local people and to replenish stocks of medicines and other medical supplies that had been depleted or exhausted in the initial response. Bali's health system and Sanglah Hospital performed very creditably during the crisis, and many lives were saved as a result. Nevertheless, the disaster highlighted a number of areas of the health system where international assistance could make a difference.
On his recent visit to Indonesia, the Prime Minister announced that the Australian Government would fund a $10.5 million package of health initiatives for the Balinese people to provide a memorial to those 88 Australians killed in the atrocity.
The package recognises the close bond felt by many Australians with Bali and honours the memory of those killed with a living, practical memorial.
The assistance, which will be delivered through the Australian aid program to Indonesia, comprises:
- An upgrade to Sanglah Hospital, focussing on a new intensive care centre, upgrading the burns unit and other hospital facilities; and a program of emergency care capacity building (est. $4.5 million)
- The construction of a community eye treatment centre in Bali, including two mobile outreach clinics, expanding the scope of existing work of restoring eyesight to Indonesians free of charge undertaken by the John Fawcett Foundation in Bali since 1989 (est. $2.94 million)
- The creation of an on-going Bali memorial medical and health scholarship program and short course training, covering a broad range of health and medical disciplines for candidates from within the Balinese health system (est. $3 million over 5 years).