Closing the Gap

Issue

The Australian Government’s commitment to improving health equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

Response

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has agreed to a comprehensive national plan for closing the gap in Indigenous disadvantage. This plan is articulated through the National Indigenous Reform Agreement and the National Integrated Strategy for Closing the Gap in Indigenous Disadvantage. The plan recognises that strategies aimed at achieving improvements in one area will not work in isolation. Central to this plan is COAG’s investment in Indigenous-specific National Partnership Agreements to drive the fundamental reforms necessary to close the gap across the key areas of health, early childhood, education, economic participation and remote service delivery. This investment includes:

$564.6 million of joint Commonwealth/state/territory funding over six years to address the needs of Indigenous children in their early years, through the National Partnership Agreement for Indigenous Early Childhood Development;
$1.57 billion of joint Commonwealth/state/territory funding over four years to expand primary health care and targeted prevention activities to reduce the burden of chronic disease on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, through the National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health Outcomes;
$228.8 million of joint Commonwealth/state/territory funding over five years to assist up to 13,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians into employment, through the National Partnership Agreement on Indigenous Economic Participation;
$291.2 million of joint Commonwealth/state/territory funding over six years to improve the delivery of, and access to, services in remote Indigenous priority communities, through the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Service Delivery; and
$5.5 billion of Commonwealth funding over ten years to address significant overcrowding, homelessness, poor housing conditions and the severe housing shortage in remote Indigenous communities, through the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing.

To monitor all governments’ achievements in these areas, including progress against agreed COAG close the gap targets, the COAG Reform Council will review progress annually against key performance indicators.

The Australian Government is committed to meaningful and productive engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians in delivering its plan to close the gap in Indigenous disadvantage. At the national level, the Government has established the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Equality Council to provide advice on strategies to achieve health equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. The Government is also supporting the representative body, the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples, to provide a strong voice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

In 2012-13, the Australian Government will invest more than $382 million in approximately 280 organisations to deliver comprehensive primary health care and other health services tailored to meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Of the approximately 280 organisations, 178 (approximately 60%) are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Health Services. Funding for comprehensive primary health care has continued to increase since 2007-08, and demonstrates the Government’s commitment to Indigenous health equality.

The Indigenous Chronic Disease Package is the Commonwealth’s contribution to the National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health Outcomes. This Package commenced in 2009-10 and addresses chronic disease risk factors; encourages better management of chronic disease in primary health care services; improves follow-up health care; and increases the capacity of the primary care workforce to deliver effective health care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

Through the Package the Australian Government seeks to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians through both mainstream and Indigenous-specific programs. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Health Services are accessing funding specific for Indigenous health care services, as well as funding through new and enhanced mainstream incentive and program support arrangements.

The Package is also increasing the capacity of the primary health care workforce to deliver health care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Over 770 positions will be funded across the Package over four years, with many of these having a focus on employment and training of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

Under the Package, the Practice Incentives Program Indigenous Health Incentive is supporting accredited general practices and Indigenous health services to provide better health care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, including best practice management of chronic disease. Eligibility requirements for practices to participate include completion of cultural awareness training.

In 2011 the Australian Government announced it will progress development of a National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan (the Health Plan). The Health Plan will support the Australian Government’s efforts to close the gap in life expectancy and infant mortality between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and the broader population. The Health Plan will be comprehensive, targeting not only health-specific activity, but also the social determinants of health, such as education and employment.

The Health Plan is being developed in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives. State and territory governments have been invited to participate. A Stakeholder Advisory Group, co-chaired by Mr David Learmonth, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Ageing, and Ms Jody Broun, Co-Chair of the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples, has been established to develop a meaningful partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

A Discussion Paper was publicly released on 11 September 2012 to support the Health Plan's development process. This public release also marks the commencement of the consultation period, including the opening of the online submission portal. There were 16 consultations sessions held nationally, and an additional youth consultation was held in Sydney.

The Department has launched the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan web page for the purposes of providing readily accessible information about the development of the Health Plan.

The Australian Government has acknowledged that there is no greater challenge facing Australia than closing the gap in Indigenous disadvantage and that unprecedented effort is needed by all parts of the Australian community.