Together we can end the Indigenous health crisis
The Close The Gap campaign was launched on 4 April 2007 at Sydney's Telstra Stadium by Olympic champions Catherine Freeman and Ian Thorpe.
They joined more than forty Indigenous and non-Indigenous organisations to urge the Federal, State and Territory governments to commit to closing the life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within a generation.
Information about Indigenous health
Reports on Indigenous health
- The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's report The health and welfare of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples 2008. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the health and welfare of Australia's Indigenous population, presenting the latest information on population demographics, housing circumstances, disability and carers, health status, and the provision, access and use of health and community services. Some of the links between education and health and between selected risk factors and health are also explored.
- The Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health's report The Impact of Racism on Indigenous Health in Australia and Aotearoa: Towards a Research Agenda (PDF 2.9mb). The report summarises findings from a symposium on racism and Indigenous health held in November last year. It presents clear evidence that racism has a detrimental impact on the health of Indigenous peoples in Australia and New Zealand and highlights the need for further research to understand the extent and nature of racism, and to determine how it can be effectively addressed.
- The Medical Journal of Australia's report Lower than expected morbidity and mortality for an Australian Aboriginal population: 10-year follow-up in a decentralised community - a study made in Utopia, NT
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine's An Overview of Current Knowledge of the Social Determinants of Indigenous Health (PDF 1.18mb) report, with Chapter 9 focussing specifically on Australia and New Zealand.
- Solutions to the Indigenous Health Crisis facing Australia - A policy briefing paper from the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) and Oxfam Australia
- Success Stories in Indigenous Health - ANTaR's booklet shows Indigenous-led health care initiatives often get the best results. The stories demonstrate that progress in improving Indigenous health is achieved when there is significant engagement with the Indigenous communities concerned and appropriate funding and support provided.
- Australian Indigenous Health - Within an International Context (PDF) - This report considers published peer reviewed and government accounts of health outcomes for Aboriginal people over the past decade. It particularly focuses on the Aboriginal peoples of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA. It places the reports in the context of the history, structure and data quality of the countries considered. The report also includes selected case studies that outline Indigenous programs that have had an impact in improving the health and wellbeing of Indigenous people.
- Achieving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health equality within a generation - A human rights approach - In the Social Justice Report 2005, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner called for Australian governments to commit to achieving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and life expectation equality within 25-years.
- Australian Medical Association report card series on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health - 2007 | 2006 | 2005 - summary reports on issues and progress in Indigenous health
- Australian Bureau of Statistics National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey, 2004-05
Further information about Indigenous health
- COAG's Working Group On Indigenous Reform
- HREOC's statistics and facts on Indigenous health
- Tom Calma's speech from the Close The Gap campaign launch
- ANTaR's Healing Hands campaign
- Fred Hollows's Central Australian Eye Health Program
- Australian Indigenous Health infonet
- National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation
- Australian Indigenous Doctors' Association