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  • National action to reduce Indigenous smoking rate
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  • Subsidising PBS medicine co-payments
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  • Workforce education and training
  • Expanding the outreach and service capacity of Indigenous health services
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Closing the Gap - The Indigenous Chronic Disease Package in 2009-10 - Annual Progress Report on the Australian Government’s contribution to the National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health Outcomes - November 2010

The Indigenous Chronic Disease Package – Key achievements and outcomes in 2009-10

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The prevention of chronic disease and associated risk factors is critical to closing the gap in life expectancy. The Indigenous Chronic Disease Package is helping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to adopt healthy lifestyles by reducing smoking rates, improving awareness of lifestyle risk factors and increasing access to services which promote better health and wellbeing.

2009-10 activity overview and key achievements

Tobacco smoking alone is responsible for 20% of all deaths for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.3 To address this, new initiatives began in 2009-10 to provide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with access to culturally appropriate smoking cessation services and support.

Getting the message out

In 2009-10, comprehensive market research programs were conducted as the first step in developing targeted communication activities for local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. These campaigns will encourage smoking attitude and behaviour change and increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ awareness and understanding of the risk factors for chronic disease. This includes the importance of making healthy lifestyle choices and knowing how local health services can help prevent or better manage chronic disease.

Tackling smoking workforce

In March 2010, Dr Tom Calma was appointed the National Coordinator for Tackling Indigenous Smoking. By 30 June 2010, funding had been provided in 20 regions and the ACT for the first wave of a new workforce that will establish a national network of regional Tobacco Coordinators and Tobacco Action Workers. Under the leadership of the National Coordinator, this workforce will operate in teams alongside Healthy Lifestyle Workers to implement a range of community-based prevention and cessation support activities tailored to the need and circumstances of local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Support for healthy lifestyles

Along with the tackling smoking workforce, funding was also provided for the recruitment of new Healthy Lifestyle Workers, who will focus on improving nutrition and physical activity for individuals, families and communities. They will work with the tackling smoking workforce as a team to reduce the key lifestyle risk factors that are the main contributors to the development of preventable chronic disease.

Next Steps: Looking forward to 2010-11

In 2010-11, the tobacco control and healthy lifestyle workforces will be expanded into a further 20 regions. Up to 200 existing health workers and community educators will also be trained to deliver interventions to reduce smoking. Locally-run Indigenous community campaigns to promote better health will also begin in 2010-11.

Meet Dr Tom Calma, the first National Coordinator for Tackling Indigenous Smoking

Dr Tom Calma is well known to many as a champion for Indigenous rights in Australia. Dr Calma was the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner from mid 2006 to February 2010. His passion and his determination are now being applied to tackling the challenge of tobacco smoking, having accepted the position as the first ever National Coordinator for Tackling Indigenous Smoking.

“A major focus of the Indigenous Chronic Disease Package is to cut smoking rates in Indigenous communities and my role as National Coordinator is to lead this initiative. The Package is providing the resources to make this work; we need to develop strategies to get the right messages out in a way that’s appropriate to the life experience of an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person. So that’s the first thing.”

Dr Calma described his role as being a coordinator and a leader, working to develop partnerships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, governments and the community.

“Things don’t change overnight because the Government says ‘let’s stop smoking’. It’s a mindset change and a societal change. It’s a change that’s going to take place over a lifespan…But to make it work, it requires everybody to work together and that’s what my role’s going to be – to try and facilitate that process,” he said.

Dr Calma is an Aboriginal elder from the Kungarakan tribal group and the Iwaidja tribal group whose traditional lands are south west of Darwin and on the Coburg Peninsula in the Northern Territory. He has been involved in Indigenous affairs at a local, state and national level and has worked in the public sector for more than 38 years.

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