What are the priority
issues for improving
Australia’s Health
Groups Experiencing
Health Inequities
ATSI
What is Inequity?
• Inequities refer to situations or actions that
lack fairness or justice.
• Inequalities refer to social or economic
differences between people or groups.
Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander
People
No greater contrast in the extremes of health
status can be found in Australia than that
between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
(ATSI) peoples and the rest of the Australian
population.
ATSI peoples die at a much younger age and
are more likely to experience disability and
reduced quality of life because of ill-health.
Aboriginal and Torres
Straight Islander People
 Life
Expectancy 10 years less
than non ATSI
 Higher Infant mortality 3
times higher than non ATSI
Leading Cause of death
•
•
•
•
•
Likely cause of death
Heart Attack – 5 times more likely to die
Cancer – 2 times more likely to die
Diabetes – 18 times more likely to die
Suicide – 2 times more likely to die
What disease kills ATSI
•
•
•
•
•
Cause of Death
23% from CVD
12% from Diabetes
12% from Mental Disorders
9% from Respiratory Disease
ATSI are more likely to die from injury
Intentional Self Harm
Intentional Self Harm
Transport Accidents
Transport Accidents
Assaults
Assaults
Other
Other
Males
Females
Major Health Issues
•
•
•
•
•
Mental Illness
Diabetes
Kidney Disease
Asthma
Communicable Disease (TB, influenza,
meningococcal, syphilis, gonorrhoea,
HIV/AIDS)
Causes of the Inequities
To explain the extreme inequities in Indigenous Australian
health status simply in terms of lifestyle and risk factors
ignores the socio-cultural factors that limit their access to
better health.
The contributors to the poor health status of many Indigenous
people are:
• social factors, such as dispossession, dislocation and
discrimination
• disadvantages in education, housing, income and employment
• physical environmental factors.
Lack of access to appropriate health services is another
problem.
The roles of individuals, communities and governments
in addressing the health inequities
Government
There are two peak agencies which coordinate Indigenous health services at
the federal government level, while a third peak body in New South Wales
oversees Indigenous health at a state level.
The Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (OATSIH )
delivery of mainstream health services
administering and funding ATSI community controlled health services.
The National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation
(NACCHO)
autonomous body that advocates for improvements to ATSI health.
The Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council of NSW
(AH&MRC)
body for Aboriginal health in New South Wales
Community
Indigenous Australians do not access primary healthcare services.
Mainly due to:
*lack of availability of services,
*transport and distance to services,
*cost and language or cultural barriers.
OATSIH, NACCHO and the AH&MRC all aim to improve the access.
their strategies working in partnership with community
Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHSs)
To deliver holistic, comprehensive and culturally appropriate healthcare
to the community that controls it.
Services include clinical care, health education, promotion, screening,
immunisation and counselling, as well as specific programs such as
men’s and women’s health, aged care, transport to medical
appointments, hearing health, sexual health, substance use and mental
health.
Individuals
* An individual’s capacity to reduce their risky health behaviours
and to increase their protective health behaviours or promote
good health in others is influenced by a variety of factors; these
include age, family
history, community support, education, role modelling, access to
health services and socioeconomic status.
* Education and access that appear to have the greatest impact.
* Health services focus on improving the knowledge and skills of
community members.
Women and mothers are often targeted as custodians of health
knowledge and practice.