In November 2008, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) – which includes the Prime Minister, Premiers and Chief Ministers – committed $4.6 billion to closing the gap on Indigenous disadvantage.

This money will be spent on Indigenous health, housing, early childhood, economic participation, and remote service delivery.

However, while the direct health funding is generally well-targeted, there are serious flaws in COAG's broader strategy:

• COAG has overlooked evidence of what works, including key determinants of health inequality and disadvantage critical to achieving its closing the gap targets.
• To date, COAG has not worked in partnership with Indigenous people to develop or implement its closing the gap strategy.

This approach goes against the Prime Minister's commitment to a new partnership with Indigenous Australians, as well as his government's commitment to act on the basis of evidence.

Instead, the government is shutting Indigenous people out of decision-making, and forcing top-down solutions that significantly reduce opportunities for Indigenous control over their lives and communities.

COAG's approach is also inconsistent with its closing the gap commitments and will limit the impact of the money committed in November last year.

Has your state government committed?

The federal, Queensland, Victorian and Western Australian governments have signed the Close The Gap Statement of Intent. This statement commits signatories to improve Indigenous health by adopting a set of health equality targets.

Other state and territory governments have made various commitments to improving Indigenous health but have not signed the Close The Gap Statement of Intent.

We need all state and territory governments on board to achieve success - find out what each state has committed to ...

What COAG needs to do

The upcoming COAG closing the gap meeting is a crucial opportunity for COAG to address the serious flaws in its strategy by:

1. developing a comprehensive, long-term plan for addressing both the direct health needs and the social and cultural determinants of Indigenous health inequality and disadvantage;

2. ensuring that this is done in true partnership with Indigenous communities and their representative organisations.

Why is this so important?

The social and cultural determinants of health are the socio-economic and cultural factors that affect the living circumstances, quality of life and in turn the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities.

For Indigenous peoples there are particular factors that evidence tells us are critical to achieving successful outcomes for individuals and communities. These include:

• Facilitating individual and community control over their affairs;
• Supporting strong culture and identity;
• Protecting traditional connection and access to land; and
• Tackling racism and social exclusion.

Research suggests that addressing the social and cultural determinants is as important in improving the health status of individuals and communities as the provision of direct health services.

If not addressed properly, they will continue to negatively impact on Indigenous lives and communities and limit or undermine gains made through direct health service provision.

These issues are also some of the most significant contributors to the discrimination and injustice faced by Indigenous people today. So getting this right is a fundamental issue of justice as well as a responsibility of our nation to uphold its international obligations, including those under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

We're only asking governments to do what they've already committed to:

"Today's apology...is aimed at building a bridge between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians -- a bridge based on a real respect...Our challenge for the future is now to cross that bridge and, in so doing, embrace a new partnership between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians." - Kevin Rudd PM,

"We will engage Indigenous people in developing solutions. That's not code for some ideological agenda. What it means is that solutions can't be imposed on people. It just doesn't work. To work and to be sustainable, the solutions have to be developed on the ground and driven by the communities that own them." - Jenny Macklin, Minister for Indigenous Affairs, 27th February 2008

"We commit: To working collectively to systematically address the social determinants that impact on achieving health equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples." - Closing the Gap Statement of Intent (Signed by the Australian, Queensland and Western Australian Governments)

What you can do

The Prime Minister and Premiers are influenced by public opinion. You can help demonstrate to their governments that Australians expect them to ensure that the significant closing the gap investment is directed in an effective manner.

Write to your state Premier or territory Chief Minister. Ask him or her to do the following to maximise the impact of the money COAG committed in November last year:

Further information

For further information about this issue, please download Dr David Cooper's paper for ANU's Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR).