The Health of Aboriginal Australia

Improving the health status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is a longstanding challenge for governments in Australia. While there have been improvements made in some areas since the 1970s (notably in reducing high rates of infant mortality1) overall progress has been slow and inconsistent. The inequality gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and other Australians remains wide and has not been progressively reduced. With a significant proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in younger age groups, there is an additional challenge to programs and services being able to keep up with the future demands of a burgeoning population. Unless substantial steps are taken now, there is a very real prospect that the health status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples could worsen. A steady, incremental approach will not reduce the significant health disparities between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and other Australians. There is a need for commitments to a course of action, matched with significant funding increases over the next 20-25 years, if there is to be real and sustainable change. This chapter outlines a human rights based campaign for achieving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health equality within a generation. Such a goal is achievable through building on existing approaches to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, by seizing opportunities that currently exist through the new arrangements on Indigenous affairs at the federal level and by capitalising on the overall healthy economic situation of the country. Ultimately, the purpose of such an approach is to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, along with all other Australian citizens, are able to enjoy ‘the highest attainable standard of health conducive to living a life in dignity.”

Publisher: Harcourt Brace

Date Published: 1998

Book Condition: Very good soft cover showing minor surface, creasing and edge wear to covers.

ISBN: 0729503852