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The poor health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is no secret – and something can be done about it. Since 2006, Australia’s peak Indigenous and non- Indigenous health bodies, NGOs and human rights organisations have worked together to secure the support of Australian governments for a human rights based approach to achieving health and life expectation equality for Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This is known as the Close the Gap Campaign.

Family violence and abuse is causing untold damage to the cultures and fabric of Indigenous societies. It is damaging our communities, our families, our women, our children and our men. All Indigenous people are entitled to live their lives in safety and full human dignity - without fear of intimidation, family violence or abuse. This is their cultural and their human right. Like all Australians, Indigenous peoples are also entitled to the full and equal protection of the law.

Learn how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls face challenges with their health, wellbeing and education and how this is being addressed.

State and Territory legislation, programs and policies in the areas of child welfare, adoption and juvenile justice are intended to provide a non-discriminatory framework for the administration of services. In many cases, programs are designed with the objective of reducing the extent of contemporary removals of Indigenous children and young people. In spite of this, the over-representation of Indigenous children among children living separately from their families and communities, temporarily or permanently, remains high.

In my 2005 Social Justice Report1, I argued that it was unacceptable for a country as rich as ours, and one based on the notion of the ‘fair go’ and the ‘level playing field’, to tolerate the gross health inequality that has existed between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians for at long as records have been kept. I called for action, and I made recommendations that set out a broad path to bring it to an end as soon as practicable.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Overview Committee (Queensland), 1996: First Report (Department of Families, Youth and Community Care, Brisbane).

I begin by paying my respects to the Jagera and Turrubual peoples, the traditional owners of the land where we gather today. I pay my respects to your elders, to the ancestors and to those who have come before us. And thank you for your generous welcome to country for all of us.

Australia's peak Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous health bodies, health professional bodies and human rights organisations operate the Close the Gap Campaign. The Campaign's goal is to raise the health and life expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to that of the non-Indigenous population within a generation: to close the gap by 2030. It aims to do this ...

One of the deaths in this section has now been acknowledged by the South Australian Government in its 1994/95 implementation report as a death in custody (A2SA). The prisoner in the case was 'released' from custody on his deathbed.