Aboriginal health restored to its proper priority

The former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd acknowledged the responsibility that governments bear for the appalling state of Indigenous health. He described Indigenous health disadvantage as a “product of failed policy”, the result of “decades of underinvestment, buck-passing, confused responsibilities within a Federal system, and piecemeal and poorly targeted investments”.

If the new Gillard Government is to break away from this legacy of failure, it is vital that Warren Snowdon and Nicola Roxon co-ordinate their efforts with other ministers in key Indigenous portfolios, including Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin and the new Indigenous Employment and Economic Development Minister, Mark Arbib.

Without affordable and accessible housing, adequate income support, effective and flexible employment and training schemes and better education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, we will not be able to significantly improve Aboriginal health outcomes. Health services are essential, but not enough.

There is, remarkably, broad bipartisan consensus on an Indigenous health policy framework, with the leaders of government and the Opposition having both signed the Close the Gap statement of intent in 2008.

The statement commits them to achieving Indigenous health equality by 2030. Under this broad target, the government has committed to a range of more specific targets, including halving the gap in infant mortality rates within a decade.

In its first term, the Labor Government delivered historic additional investment in Indigenous health, with $1.6 billion over four years dedicated to tackling chronic disease. However, even with this additional investment, Indigenous specific health funding still represents less than 2 per cent of total health spending. The high burden of disease suggests funding for Indigenous health should be closer to 5 per cent. Of the additional $7.3 billion investment in the National Health and Hospital Reform Agenda, none of the funds are specifically designated for Indigenous health.

The campaign for sustained and increased funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health will continue. The immediate challenge is to ensure that the additional funding that has been allocated to Aboriginal health ends up where it’s most needed, including by building the capacity of the Aboriginal community-controlled health sector.

Aboriginal and mainstream health organisations, human rights and reconciliation groups and government representatives met in June to discuss the next steps in the process to Close the Gap. The emerging consensus was that a partnership with Indigenous people is critical. Within this partnership, a national plan needs to be developed, including a strategy to strengthen the Indigenous health sector.

It is difficult to generate media or public excitement around a plan. Yet this is critical to ensuring the new funds end up where they’re needed - including in health services which local communities feel comfortable accessing and which respond to health issues in their broader social context.