GPQ Programs

General Practice Queensland

Together we can build a better health system

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health

It is well known that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people suffer worse health than non-Indigenous Australians.

Non-communicable diseases which include chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, mental disorders and chronic respiratory diseases, were responsible for 70% of the observed difference in the burden of disease between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous population (Vos et al 2007).

Indigenous people had a higher prevalence of most types of long-term health conditions compared with non-Indigenous people. The differences were greatest for kidney disease, (where the overall age standardised Indigenous rate was 10 times the non-Indigenous rate) and diabetes/high sugar levels (three times higher).

Indigenous Australians suffer a burden of disease that is two-and-a-half times greater than the burden of disease in the total Australian population (Australian Bureau of Statistics. 4704.0 - The Health and Welfare of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, 2008).

The number of people identified as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin in the 2006 Census was 455,028, representing 2.3% of the total Australian population. More than half (61.0%) of Australia’s Torres Strait Islander population and a quarter (25.7%) of the Aboriginal population lived in Queensland. The total number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within Queensland is 146,400, or 3.6% of all Queenslanders.

Almost one third of the preliminary estimated resident Indigenous population resided in Major Cities (32%); 21% lived in Inner Regional areas; 22% in Outer Regional areas; 10% in Remote areas and 16% in Very Remote areas.

For more information regarding the Demographic Overview of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders, please click here.

Overview

Improving the health status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is a priority at all levels of the health system.

At the primary health care setting, General Practice Queensland (GPQ) and the Queensland divisions network are at the forefront of implementing this reform.

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has agreed to six targets for closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians across urban, rural and remote areas:
  1. to close the gap in life expectancy within a generation;
  2. to halve the gap in mortality rates for Indigenous children under five within a decade;
  3. to ensure all Indigenous four year olds in remote communities have access to early childhood education within five years;
  4. to halve the gap in reading, writing and numeracy achievements for Indigenous children within a decade;
  5. to halve the gap for Indigenous students in year 12 attainment or equivalent rates by 2020; and
  6. to halve the gap in employment outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within a decade.

Objectives

GPQ’s Policy on Indigenous Health

GPQ’s role in Indigenous health includes:
  • establishing and maintaining coherent relationships with relevant organisations at a State level;
  • providing information and resources to the Queensland Divisions Network to facilitate a better understanding of Indigenous health issues;
  • assisting Divisions to work collaboratively at the local level with Community Controlled Health Services;
  • participating at both State and National levels to increase Indigenous Australians’ ability to access quality health care.
(GPQ is currently reviewing the Position Statement on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and will update this section soon).

Achievements

Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council (QAIHC)

There is a significant partnership and engagement between GPQ and Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council (QAIHC). Both organisations will work together to ensure respective member networks (Divisions of General Practice and the Community Controlled Health Sector) continue to develop their affiliations.

GPQ and QAIHC will continue to collaborate as the CoAG initiatives are rolled out.

For more information, please click here.

Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Partnership (QATSIHP)

GPQ is also a member of the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Partnership (QATSIHP), providing statewide recommendations and input on behalf of the divisions network.

The QATSIHP brings together community health services, the Queensland Government, Commonwealth Government, Health Workforce Queensland and GPQ to maximise health system responses for the improvement of health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Queensland.

For more information, please click here.

Medical Specialists Outreach Assistance Program (MSOAP)

Through the Medical Specialists Outreach Assistance Program (MSOAP) there has been increased access for people living in rural and remote areas to medical specialist services. The services provided cover thirteen specialties (ranging from Gastroenterology, Endocrinology, ENT, to Paediatrics and Psychiatry) and were delivered to 54 communities throughout Queensland.

From 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009:
  • 12,315 patients benefited from receiving consultations and procedures from private outreach specialists funded by MSOAP.
  • 1,398 of these patients identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin.
COAG has also agreed to a new national partnership on Indigenous Remote Service Delivery to improve the delivery of health services in twenty-six remote Indigenous locations. Four of these are located in Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula: Aurukun, Coen, Hope Vale and Mossman Gorge.

This initiative is known as the Cape York Welfare Reform Initiative which aims to restore social norms and local authority, and change behaviours in response to chronic levels of welfare dependency, social dysfunction and economic exclusion in certain communities.

GPQ is currently communicating with individual specialists to engage them in delivering services to these communities.

For more information, please click here.

Closing the Health Gap Updates

GPQ initiated a fortnightly Closing the Health Gap Update to inform the Queensland divisions about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.

The aim of the Update is to:
  • Show GPQ’s support and endorsement of the importance of improving the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people throughout Australia, and to promote this importance through the Update, entitled Closing the Health Gap;
  • Provide timely, accurate data and information concerning the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to the divisions network and other external stakeholders;
  • Encourage collaboration between divisions, Community Controlled Health Services, Government sectors and other organisations who also have a focus on Indigenous health;
  • Increase awareness and knowledge of the complexity of Indigenous health.
For more information, please click here.

Resources


Further Information

Please contact: 
Thea Watson
Program Officer
twatson@gpqld.com.au


Together we can build a better health system

Last updated: 04/09/2009 Print this page