Health and Wellbeing

The Australian Government is committed to improving the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. This is one of our most important priorities.

The National Indigenous Australians Agency has an important role working across governments to help reduce the health gap between Indigenous Australians and other Australians.

We do this by adopting a strengths-based approach to ensure our policies and programs address a range of social and cultural determinants of health and contribute to improved outcomes in physical and mental health, social and emotional wellbeing, disabilities, child health and aged care. Respect for culture is at the centre of how we shape our policies and programs.  

Providing Indigenous children with a healthy start to life is fundamental to success in school and employment opportunities. Equally, our investment in school and employment, as well as a connection to land and culture and safe communities, help support better health and wellbeing outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

This complements the work of the Australian Government Department of Health, which provides culturally-appropriate primary health care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians through the Indigenous Australians’ Health Programme.

Key strategies that guide our approach, include:

• The Closing the Gap framework, which seeks to work in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to close the gap in health outcomes between Indigenous Australians and other Australians; and
• The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan (2013-2023) which is an evidence based policy framework led by the Department of Health, that is designed to guide policies and programs to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.
• The National Strategic Framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ Mental Health and Social and Emotional Wellbeing (2017-2023) sets out a comprehensive and culturally appropriate stepped care model that is equally applicable to both Indigenous specific and mainstream health services. This Framework is designed to complement the Fifth National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan and contribute to the vision of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2012-2023.

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