What is ‘Closing the Gap’?

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have many strengths, but also face many challenges.¹

This includes complex barriers to achieving health and wellbeing.¹

In 2007, the Council of Australian Government developed a strategy to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.²

The Closing the Gap strategy includes a commitment to:

• take action on health inequalities
• ensure the full participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the development and implementation phases.²

Seven ‘targets’ focused on health and education were created to achieve Indigenous health equality by 2030.²

Is Australia on track to close the gap?

Some progress has been made, but there’s still a long way to go.

The strategy was refreshed in 2020 after results showed only two out of seven targets were on track.²

It now includes four priority areas for Indigenous community participation and ownership, to:

• strengthen partnerships and shared decision-making
• build the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community controlled sector
• transform government organisations so they work better to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
• improve access to information so Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities can make informed decisions about their health and wellbeing.²

The updated strategy also contains seventeen targets. Some of these new targets focus on broader factors affecting health, like criminal justice and land rights.²

In 2021, three targets were on track and four were off track. Ten couldn’t be evaluated due to a lack of data.³

One target, focusing on Indigenous incarceration (imprisonment), is now even further from its goal.³

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people now make up 30 per cent of all prisoners, even though they make up only three per cent of the population.⁴

Alcohol and other drugs, health and wellbeing

Harmful AOD use contributes to the health gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous people.

In fact, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people suffer from the harms of alcohol and other drug use more than other Australians.^{5, 6}

Disconnection from cultural values, poverty and lack of access to culturally safe services may also contribute to these harms.⁶

Health and racism

Racism can have a major impact on people’s health and wellbeing.⁷

It can occur between people, within systems, and as internalised racism.⁸

Personal and community impacts of racism may also be linked to harmful AOD use.⁶

This video from the Closing the Gap campaign explores Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s experiences of health, wellbeing and racism.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience healing as a collective process involving social, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.⁹

So, approaches that address racism are important to improving Indigenous health.^{7, 10} This includes:

• involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in decision-making
• changing laws and policies that discriminate against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
• ensuring access to culturally safe services
• tackling racism and discrimination in the Australian community.¹⁰

Closing the health ‘gap’ won’t be achieved without effective action against racism.

It will require governments, organisations and everyday Australians to acknowledge the wrongs of the past and challenge racism at all levels of society.

National Close the Gap Day takes place each year on the third Thursday in March. This year’s theme is ‘Transforming Power: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led Transformation, Gender Equality and Equity, Allyship’. To read more or get involved, visit the campaign website.