“The Closing the Gap challenge is often described as a problem to be solved – but more than anything it is an opportunity. If our greatest assets are our people, if our richest capital is our human capital, then the opportunity to empower the imagination, the enterprise, the wisdom and the full potential of our First Australians is an exciting one.
And when we focus on the gap to be closed and ending the disadvantage that entails, we should not overlook or fail to celebrate the many successes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
“It is equally important we listen to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people when they tell us what is working and what needs to change. It’s our role as government to provide an environment that enables Indigenous leaders to develop local solutions., it is time for Governments to ‘do things with aboriginal people, not do things to them’.
The Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull Closing the Gap 2016 speech
“Going forward, the Australian Government will continue to work in partnership with the Aboriginal community controlled health sector, including the National Health Leadership Forum, in delivering, reviewing and reporting on the Implementation Plan.
Overall this Government is investing $3.3 billion through the Indigenous Australians’ Health Programme, to support the continued delivery of services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, particularly through Aboriginal Community Controlled Health services. This is an increase of over $500 million when compared with the previous four years.
We are providing $1.4 billion over three years to enable the continued delivery of primary health care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
I must finish by congratulating Matthew Cooke and his team for their leadership and tireless hard work to drive the positive vision and outcomes of NACCHO during my time”
Senator Fiona Nash pictured above with NACCHO Chair Matthew Cooke at a recent Parliamentary event in Canberra
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In case you missed this is the list of all major parties
#HealthElection16 Aboriginal Health policy announcements this week
The Coalition Government is committed to closing the gap and achieving health equality between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous Australians.
We recognise that good health is both a key enabler and outcome that supports children to go to school, adults to lead productive working lives, and builds strong and resilient communities.
The Coalition Government has a proud record on Indigenous health. We are on track to meet the target of halving the child mortality rate by 2018. The gap has narrowed by 34%.
We have also seen a 19% decrease in chronic disease mortality; and there has been some progress on closing the gap in life expectancy.
Better health leads to improved school attendance and workforce participation.
The outlook for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health outcomes is improving. However, I will not shirk the clear fact that there is much more to do.
The passion and commitment which drove me to enter politics over 10 years ago has driven me as Minister responsible for Indigenous Health and will continue as we roll out The Implementation Plan.
We are providing $1.4 billion over three years to enable the continued delivery of primary health care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
We have recently announced further funding to the Tackling Indigenous Smoking Programme, and furthered our commitment to eradicate trachoma – Australia being the only developed nation in the world to still have this eye condition.
We are investing an additional $94 million over three years, commencing in 2015-16, to expand maternal and child health services to ensure Indigenous children have the best possible start in life and are able to succeed at school.
In the interests of continuity, the Coalition decided to adopt and build on the 10 year National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan (2013-2023), delivered when Labor was in power. That document was a high level, strategic document – the Implementation Plan now details actions and achievable goals.
The release of this Implementation Plan is an important milestone in Indigenous health and is the result of deep cooperation between the Government and indigenous stakeholders.
The Implementation Plan is a ten-year road map: a strategy to improve the health of Indigenous children, Indigenous youth and Indigenous adults. It is further evidence of the Coalition Government’s commitment to Closing the Gap.
It introduces strategies and actions to improve access of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to health care services.
The Implementation Plan also includes actions to improve the cultural safety of health services.
I worked extremely hard with Labor and the Greens to make sure the Implementation Plan had tri-party support, so that it will withstand the political cycle. The Plan won’t be ripped apart the next time the Government changes because it had the support of all parties
The Plan commits the sector and the Government to increasing the percentage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 0-4 who have had at least one health check a year from 23 to 69 per cent by 2023.
It also aims to increase the percentage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth who have never smoked from 77 to 91 per cent by 2023; and the percentage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who are fully immunised by age 1 from 85 per cent to 88 per cent by 2023.
Going forward, the Australian Government will continue to work in partnership with the Aboriginal community controlled health sector, including the National Health Leadership Forum, in delivering, reviewing and reporting on the Implementation Plan.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has made a fresh pitch to Indigenous Australians in the Northern Territory as he seeks to firm up votes ahead of Saturday’s poll.
Speaking on 105.7 ABC Darwin, based in the Coalition’s marginal seat of Solomon, Mr Turnbull was asked whether he would retain a focus on Indigenous affairs and retain the portfolio within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
The seat is currently held by a margin of only 1.5 per cent by incumbent Country Liberals party (CLP) politician Natasha Griggs.
Mr Turnbull said he had demonstrated his commitment to Aboriginal people by recently attending the Kenbi land title handover in the NT.
“It is my government that has set up the Indigenous procurement program which has now seen — we are moving towards — 3 per cent of all Commonwealth contracts, by number, going to Indigenous businesses,” Mr Turnbull said.
“That is the target and over $150 million in less than a year has gone to Indigenous businesses, many of them of course being businesses set up by Territorians from Indigenous people from the Territory,” he said.
Mr Turnbull also said he thought people in the NT would be wise enough not to confuse federal issues with the woes being experienced by the NT’s CLP government.
“The people of Darwin and the people of the Northern Territory more generally are politically wise enough to know the difference between Territory politics and federal politics,” he said.
