Closing the Gap: Addressing Health Inequalities among Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders

Running head: CLOSE THE GAP
CLOSE THE GAP
Name of the Student:
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1CLOSE THE GAP
The people of Australia are varied and have different cultural diversity across the
country. Nursing across this region plays a crucial role maintaining the livelihood of the
people around the country. Hence, there are specific needs and requirements of certain people
that the nurses have understand in order to give patient centred assistance and help. Such
requirements are needed by the Aborigines and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It is because
these people are continuously facing inferior standards of health and facilities, when
compared to non-Indigenous people of Australia (Baba, Brolan, & Hill, 2014). In the given
scenario Matt’s situation and Closing the Gap has been has been discussed further in the
following paragraphs.
Matt had been admitted to the hospital, and “Closing the Gap” fund enabled Matt’s
mother to travel to meet her son and also get food in aboriginal hostel. There are various
kinds of socio economic determinants of health, and Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islander
peoples face certain diet related health issues which could lead to greater prevalence of heart
attack and could also double the risk of in hospital mortality in relation to coronary heart
disease (Browne et al, 2013). There persists a wide gap when it comes to the health of
Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. There are complex factors which lies in this
scenario for example: underemployment, inadequate education and limited access to better
healthcare services and health promotion (Gracy, 2014). “Closing the Gap” Strategy has been
developed by the Government of Australia in order decrease the inequities among
Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islander people so that gap between the Aboriginals and non-
Aboriginals is completely reduced within 25 years which is by 2030. The Closing the Gap
Strategy was built in response to the Social justice report that and “Close the Gap” justice
campaign also had begun. The “Closing the Gap”, initiative provides several benefits and
policies related to this like availing training, funding as well as jobs. With respect to “Closing
the Gap” fund Matt’s mother got the travelling allowance and also had sufficed the

2CLOSE THE GAP
accommodation as well as the meal (Australian Indigenous-HealthInfoNet, 2019). However,
“Close the Gap” foundation is comprised of non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), health
professional bodies, and human right activists who operate the Close the Gap Campaign.
Basically, “Close the Gap”, main objective is to minimise or close the gap between
Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islander health gap via functioning and implementation of
human rights on the basis of Commissioner’s Social Justice Report 2005. This campaign has
been supported by the Government of Australia. Access to equal primary health care is a
basic human right, and hence, “Close the Gap” campaign aims to avail the Aboriginals and
Torres Strait Islander peoples basic human necessities and rights.
According to the Australian Human Rights Commission Close the Gap report enlisted
fifth major finding which has been referred to as ‘funding myth’ (Australian Human Rights
Commission, 2019). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples face so called The
“Funding Myth” which is basically a misconception that the health expenditures and
expenses are the wastage of the taxpayer’s funds. It is to be understood that Aboriginal
Australians suffer from reduced and deprived overall health in comparison to the non-
Indigenous Australians. In a cohort study, by Zang and Hoy (2013) life time risk of Coronary
heart diseases has found to be high as one in two Aboriginal males and females and it was
also observed that the Coronary heart diseases occurred in the Indigenous people under the
age of 50 years. This report shows that the risk of heart disease are higher in Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander peoples than that of non-Indigenous people of Australia. According to
Atruso et al., (2013), the Aboriginal Australians utilize the health care services at much lower
rates than the general population. The health care needs of the Aboriginals is not restricted to
the physical health but also mental health. It is due to the reason that there is varied
amalgamation of complex culture and health needs (Dudgenon et al., 2014). According to the
Australian Human Rights Commission, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population