House of Representatives Committees

Health is life: Report on the inquiry into indigenous health

Terms of Reference

Discussion Paper (PDF) (published September 1999)

Final Report: Health is Life (PDF 400KB) - The Committee tabled its final report on 5 June 2000. Copies of the full report are available in PDF. To view or print the PDF documents, you will require the Acrobat PDF Reader, which can be downloaded free of charge from Adobe®.

Terms of Reference

In view of the unacceptably high morbidity and mortality of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family and Community Affairs was requested, during the Thirty-Eighth Parliament, to conduct an inquiry into Indigenous Health.

The Committee was unable to complete its work due to the dissolution of the House of Representatives on 30 August 1998. Consequently, on 12 January 1999, the Committee was asked by the Minister for Health and Aged Care to complete this inquiry in the Thirty-Ninth Parliament, reporting on the same terms of reference as follows:

a) ways to achieve effective Commonwealth co-ordination of the provision of health and related programs to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, with particular emphasis on the regulation, planning and delivery of such services;

b) barriers to access to mainstream health services, to explore avenues to improve the capacity and quality of mainstream health service delivery to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the development of linkages between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and mainstream services;

c) the need for improved education of medical practitioners, specialists, nurses and health workers, with respect to the health status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and its implications for care;

d) the extent to which social and cultural factors and location, influence health, especially maternal and child health, diet, alcohol and tobacco consumption;

e) the extent to which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health status is affected by educational and employment opportunities, access to transport services and proximity to other community supports, particularly in rural and remote communities; and

f) the extent to which past structures for delivery of health care services have contributed to the poor health status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The Committee published an Inquiry Discussion Paper in September 1999. Copies of the paper are available in PDF (125KB) or from the Committee Secretariat.

(To view or print the PDF document, you will require the Acrobat PDF Reader, which can be downloaded free of charge from Adobe®

 

Transcripts of evidence

10/12/99 Canberra
01/12/99 Sydney
30/11/99 Brisbane
29/11/99 Cairns
10/11/99 Darwin
09/11/99 Alice Springs
25/06/99 Canberra
22/02/99 Canberra
17/08/98 Darwin
19/06/98 Melbourne - no transcript available
12/06/98 Newcastle - no transcript available
11/06/98 Sydney
08/05/98 Cairns
20/04/98 Alice Springs
18/03/98 Townsville
17/03/98 Brisbane
19/02/98 Perth
17/02/98 Adelaide
09/02/98 Hobart
06/02/98 Canberra

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