Aboriginal Health Plan Consultation
It has been well over a decade since NSW has had a strategic plan to close the gap in health outcomes for Aboriginal people. The NSW Government’s election commitment to a new 10 year Aboriginal Health Plan is an ideal opportunity to rethink how we can best address the inequity in Aboriginal health and work together to achieve real change.
An initial consultation process was undertaken in late 2011 to hear the views of more than 250 health professionals and community members. The discussion paper is a result of their best thinking.
A clear message from these early consultations was the need to change the way we work – and work smarter together to more effectively target and use our resources to drive change. Although there are many examples of success, we won’t close the gap by continuing with a “business as usual” approach.
The Aboriginal Health Plan for NSW will be a catalyst to drive health system changes, which will be needed to ensure that in 10 years’ time health outcomes have improved and the health system is more effective in delivering health services to Aboriginal people.
The impending Plan’s 10-year timeframe recognises that change and health system reform will take time. We need to plan and reshape the health system in a way that will most effectively improve the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal people.
The 10 year Aboriginal Health Plan will be closely aligned with NSW 2021 and will also support NSW commitments nationally under a number of National Partnership Agreements, including Indigenous Health Outcomes, Indigenous Early Childhood Development and Indigenous Economic Participation.
The Plan is being developed in strong partnership with the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council (AH&MRC), which represents the Aboriginal community controlled health sector. The Aboriginal community controlled health sector plays a vital role in delivering comprehensive primary healthcare services to Aboriginal people and communities, and provides invaluable expertise in the development of policy and strategic planning.
The release of the discussion paper is another important step in the consultation process that will inform the development of the 10 year Aboriginal Health Plan. We encourage you to consider the consultation questions and provide a response that will help us to identify strategic opportunities for improving health outcomes for Aboriginal people over the next 10 years.