The Australian Government is committed to reducing the current gap in health outcomes and life expectancy between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and non-Indigenous Australians.
Australia is not seeing sufficient progress nationally on Closing the Gap targets, with only one of the seven on track to be achieved in
2017. Only through collaborative partnerships can change be achieved in priority areas of health, education and employment.
In the fifth report Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework, 2014 which monitors progress against health outcomes, health system performance and the broader determinants of health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, it is clear health is improving for a number of measures but many areas require a concerted effort to achieve improvements
in health outcomes.
Partnering for Good Health and Wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples is a collaboration between the
Australian Government, the Council of Presidents of Medical Colleges (CPMC), Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association (AIDA) and the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) to Closing the Gap in health outcomes between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and non-Indigenous Australians. The parties agree to work in partnership to deliver the Government’s National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2013-2023, and to be active parties in the current revision of the Implementation Plan.
The parties will work together with their respective members to develop measurable improvements that focus on continuing action to
address ongoing improvements at the Tier 1 Health Status and Outcomes, Tier 2 Determinants of Health, and Tier 3
Health System Performance.
This Collaboration Agreement will focus on issues including improving the way the health system works with Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Peoples ranging from enhanced cultural awareness training for staff through to reducing any form of institutionalised
racism. In addition, this collaborative partnership will aim to;
- reduce the barriers to accessing health care due to cost, remoteness, or cultural safety reasons;
- enable earlier access to antenatal care;
- integrate mental health care;
- increase access to prescription medicines;
- train more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in the health workforce including medicine,
nursing, allied health and Aboriginal health workers, and - for medicine, enhance mentorship support to enable career pathways through to advanced specialism.
All the parties are committed to reducing the current gap in health outcomes and life expectancy between Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Peoples and non-Indigenous Australians.
This Collaboration Agreement is signed on Wednesday 31st May, 2017.
