Inroads made in closing the gap

Relationships with community are vital to closing the gap: (from left) Adela Mirrirri Yunupingu, the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and Maryanne Yalmakany Yunupingu nursing Latoya Banbirrngu Gurruwiwi, Yirrkala, NT, June 2011.

Inroads are being made in tackling Indigenous disadvantage, as outlined in the Closing the Gap Prime Minister’s Report 2012.

The Closing the Gap report, which will be tabled by the Prime Minister in Parliament on 15 February 2012, shows that the foundations are now in place to build lasting change across the country. Progress made so far, as outlined in the report, includes:

• We are on track to meet the under-five mortality target with a continued decline in mortality rates for Indigenous children — falling by 48 per cent from 1991 to 2010 across the three jurisdictions in which long-term comparison is possible (Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory).
• Overall Indigenous mortality rates have declined by 36 per cent from 1991 to 2010 in the three jurisdictions for which reliable data are available for this period (Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory).
• Indigenous children are doing better at school including strong improvements in National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) results for Indigenous students. In seven of the eight areas in which we can assess progress at the national level, the gap with non-Indigenous students narrowed from 2008 to 2011.

The Australian Government is working with Indigenous people to improve services in areas such as health, education and housing, as part of an unprecedented effort to improve life expectancy and opportunities for Indigenous people.

Ending this unacceptable disadvantage will take time. It will also require a sustained effort by all governments, businesses, not-for-profit organisations, Indigenous Australians and the wider community.

• Read the joint media release.
• Download the 2012 Closing the Gap Report.
• Find out more about Closing the Gap.

 

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Find out more

Health is one of the building blocks in the Closing the Gap strategy, agreed by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG). It recognises the importance of good health, both in itself and to help people achieve in all areas of life.

Two of the Closing the Gap targets set by COAG in 2008 relate to health:

• to close the life-expectancy gap within a generation
• to halve the gap in mortality rates for Indigenous children under five within a decade.

The National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health Outcomes is tackling chronic disease in the Indigenous community by targeting risk factors, expanding primary health care and building the capacity of the Indigenous health workforce.

Closing the Gap in Indigenous health involves partnerships across sectors, including the Indigenous community-controlled health network:

• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare – Indigenous Australians
• National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Equality Council
• Australian General Practice Network – Indigenous Health
• Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet
• Australian Indigenous Health Promotion Knowledge Network
• Lowitja Institute
• National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation.

Alcohol abuse is also being addressed as part of the Australian Government’s Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory legislation.

The Australian Government’s Health Heroes campaign aims to attract more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to jobs in Indigenous health. 

The Australian Government’s Break the Chain campaign supports smokers in their attempts to quit and promotes strategies to help them stay nonsmokers.

Through the Petrol Sniffing Prevention Program the Australian Government is working closely with regional and remote communities to prevent petrol sniffing and volatile substance abuse.

A book on social and emotional wellbeing Working Together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Wellbeing Principles and Practice can be dowloaded from the Kulunga Research Network’s website. The resource was developed by the Australian Council for Educational Research and the Kulunga Research Network, with funding through the Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health.

For more information on Indigenous health, go to:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health at the Department of Health and Ageing
• Indigenous Chronic Disease at the Department of Health and Ageing.