Understanding Health: Victorian Government's Strategic Directives for Aboriginal Health

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Understanding Health
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Understanding Health
Introduction
This report focuses on the Victorian government’s strategic directives for the health of
Aboriginal people living in Victoria over the next decade. The government together with other
service providers is committed to improving the Aboriginal community health through the health
department.
It provides an overview of the outlined vision and set objectives for improving Aboriginal health.
There has been a big gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians as reaffirmed by
the National Indigenous reform agreement (NIRA) in 2008(Stewart, Hardcastle and Zelinsky,
2014).
The following at-risk – groups that are targeted are indigenous pregnant women, young and
vulnerable children and ageing or old people of the Aboriginal community. Three social
determinants of health that include education achievement, employment, and economic
development will then be critically analyzed.
Overall Plan Description
The overarching goal of this plan shall focus on;
 To increase the life expectancy of the Indigenous people of Australia.
 To improve health outcomes of the Aboriginal people and the general population.
 To make health services accessible to the Indigenous people.

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The government has six key priorities that focus on key stages of life as well as continuous
healthcare. These priorities include:
 a healthy start to life,
 a healthy childhood,
 a healthy transition to adulthood,
 caring for older people,
 addressing risk factors and
 Managing illness better with effective health services.
The government is determined to increase the health of Indigenous people. This plan
acknowledges that determinants of health contribute to the broader wellbeing of the Aboriginal
people in their good physical and mental health.
Determinants of health such as educational achievement, employment, social and community
context and economic development are key issues targeted by the Victorian government together
with Victoria’s Aboriginal communities, service providers, other departments, the
Commonwealth, professional bodies and research organizations. They all focus to ensure that
Aboriginal health becomes everyone’s responsibility (Lopuszanska-Dawid, 2018).
Priority Area: A healthy beginning to life.
It’s an indication of good health throughout life for the Victoria’s young and rapidly growing
Aboriginal population. The VIAF sets out the Victorian Government’s goals to significantly
reduce the rate of Aboriginal perinatal mortality in Victoria as it contributes to lower life
expectancy.