Together we can end the Indigenous health crisis
In the Social Justice Report 2005, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Tom Calma, called for Australian governments to commit to achieving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and life expectation equality within 25-years. From the Social Justice Report, the Close The Gap campaign was born.
The Close The Gap campaign calls on federal, state and territory governments to commit to closing the life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within a generation.
The campaign is supported by more than 40 Indigenous and non-Indigenous organisations, and seventy-five thousand Australians have already pledged their support to Close the Gap.
The Rudd government in 2008 - what the Close The Gap coalition thinks
"The Federal Government has made some significant initial commitments over the past 12 months to close the 17-year gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, and I expect it deserves an 'A' for overall effort in this regard," Chair of the Close the Gap steering committee and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Tom Calma said.
"However, we need to consolidate last year's efforts through a real partnership with Indigenous people, the health sector and state governments to develop and implement a comprehensive National Action Plan to ensure equality in health and life expectancy between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous Australians by 2030." Read more...
COAG's funding committment - what the Close The Gap coalition thinks
The Close The Gap coalition congratulated the Council of Australian Governments on taking substantial steps towards making health equality for Indigenous Australians a reality.
At the COAG meeting in late November 2008, the Federal government committed an additional $806 million over 4 years, with the states and territories also contributing matched funds of $772 million totalling $1.6 billion.
The Federal and state governments' announcement constitutes the biggest single injection of new funding by a government to improve Indigenous health outcomes.
"This is a watershed moment in our efforts to close the life expectancy gap. Never have we seen such concentrated and determined effort from all governments working together. We applaud the emphasis from COAG on preventative health and access to primary care," Chair of the Close the Gap steering committee and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Tom Calma said.
About the campaign
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have a life expectancy 17 years less than other Australians. Yet this is a situation that can be changed. Many successful community run health programs are making a difference: the Townsville Mums and Babies Program has increased child birth weights and cut the perinatal death rate by half. And Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander controlled health services have some of the highest vaccination rates in the country.
There is no quick fix but with a long-term commitment to work with Indigenous communities we can bring about change.
Help us by taking action today.