The primary objective of health programs relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders is to improve health levels so they are commensurate with the wider community. There is an appalling disparity in health status between indigenous and non indigenous Australians 5.56 The unacceptably high rates of infant mortality, significantly lower average life expectancy and high rates of hospitalisation and disability is likely to continue until the underlying socioeconomic causes are redressed effectively. 5.57 Aboriginal health has been subject to extensive scrutiny in recent years. The National Aboriginal Health Strategy was established in the late 1980s as the basis of a combined response by Australian Governments to pressing health needs of indigenous peoples.
Politicians continue to recognise that much more needs to be done.
Funding, however, is not commensurate with need. A review of the Aboriginal Health Strategy was completed in December 1994. The Committee established to evaluate the National Aboriginal Health Strategy, however, found little evidence of it. The review recommended that provision of further Aboriginal health funding by the Commonwealth to the States and Territories needs to be contingent upon bilateral agreements developed between States and Territories and the Commonwealth pursuant to the National Commitment to Improved Outcomes in the Delivery of Programs and Services for Aboriginal Peoples and Torres Strait Islanders. The review also made specific recommendations about approaches to program provision in the area of housing and infrastructure noting that adequate links are yet to be established between capital provision and employment, education and training objectives.