Closing the Gap
The WA Government became a signatory to the National Agreement on Closing the Gap (CTG) (external site) when it came into effect in July 2020. The National Agreement is a 10-year commitment to policy making in full and genuine partnership with Aboriginal people.
The National Agreement contains:
The Department of the Premier and Cabinet (DPC) oversee implementation of CtG (external site) for WA.
Nine across-government Partnership Planning Groups have been established as part of this implementation to address the 17 targets in WA.
The Closing the Gap Implementation Plan 2023-2025 (external site) sets out key priorities for addressing the priority reforms and socio-economic targets.
WA Health and Closing the Gap
WA Health is the lead agency responsible for two of the targets:
Target 1 (external site): Close the Gap in life expectancy within a generation, by 2031.
Target 2 (external site): By 2031, increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander babies with a healthy birth weight to 91%.
WA Health leads and coordinates Partnership Planning Group 1, which includes representation from the Aboriginal Health Council of WA; WA Department of Health; Health Service Providers; Ngangk Yira Institute for Change (Murdoch University); the Mental Health Commission; Department of Education; and the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation.
Partnership Planning Group 1 strategies to address Target 1 (life expectancy) and Target 2 (healthy birthweight) include:
Target 1 (life expectancy) :
- Building strategic partnerships to influence better health and wellbeing outcomes.
- Embedding structures, policies, and processes to ensure a culturally respectful and non-discriminatory health system.
- Building and expanding the Aboriginal health workforce, using a variety of career pathways and employment opportunities.
- Improving access to high quality health care services, while supporting communities to take a preventive approach to optimising health and wellbeing.
- Enhancing health system performance and accountability.
Target 2 (healthy birthweight) :
- Building culturally secure antenatal services for all Aboriginal families.
- Investing in an Aboriginal maternity workforce to deliver antenatal and postnatal services.
- Providing early identification of, and education and support service for, maternal health risk factors during pregnancy.
Resources
Last reviewed: 05-06-2024