Thursday, 20 March 2008
Formal alliance between government and Indigenous Peoples critical to eliminating the gap in life expectancy
Today’s Statement of Intent between the Australian Government and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples represented a milestone in the long road towards achieving equality in health status and life expectancy for Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma said today.
“This partnership between the Australian government, Indigenous and non-Indigenous health experts and the reconciliation movement, means we are well on the road to making health equality a reality for Indigenous Australians by 2030,” Mr Calma said.
The government and Indigenous health leaders today signed a Statement of Intent in the Great Hall of Parliament House to work together to achieve equality in health status and life expectancy between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians by the year 2030.
“Since 2005, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) has been working with peak Indigenous health bodies and the non-government sector to achieve commitment from the governments of Australia to achieving equality of health status and life expectation between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous people within 25 years.
“This Statement today means that benchmarks and targets for achieving these fundamental human rights for Indigenous Australians are not only possible but are now firm commitments.
“Let us hope that an Indigenous baby born in 2030 has the same life expectation, the same access to quality health services and the same life outcomes as non-Indigenous Australians,” he said.
“There is still much work to be done and this Statement of Intent gives each key player an agreed framework to work within to ensure we achieve our aim.”
Mr Calma said the $19 million over three years announced today by the government to tackle high rates of smoking in Indigenous communities, and $14.5 million over four years to fund a national Indigenous Workforce Training plan was a concrete example of the Statement of Intent in action. This was in addition to the $261 million in Indigenous health initiatives already promised.
The Statement of Intent signing was the culmination of the first ever two-day Indigenous Health Equality Summit held in Canberra from March 18-20 and attended by more than 100 experts across the Indigenous and mainstream health sector and related fields.
The Summit has developed working targets and benchmarks to be used to close the gap in Indigenous life expectancy by 2030.
Media contact: Louise McDermott 0419 258 597
