Closing the Gap Policy & Its Impacts in Australia

CLOSING THE GAP POLICY & ITS IMPACTS IN AUSTRALIA 1
CLOSING THE GAP POLICY & ITS IMPACTS IN AUSTRALIA
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CLOSING THE GAP POLICY & ITS IMPACTS IN AUSTRALIA 2
Introduction
Australia has its history surrounded by racial-based policies and that made the relation
between European origin people and that of Indigenous Australians both complex and
controversial for unambiguous and straightforward interpretations. Such policies obscured the
essence of equality in regard to social welfare and hence creating the disparity which has been
perceived for decades in regard to the health status of Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous
Australians (Pruett and DiFonzo, 2014, p.155). This paper scrutinizes “Closing the Gap” policy
which was enforced to counter the inequality in healthcare sector which faced the non-indigenous
Australians, the impacts of the policy on the health sector of the country, the policy benefits and its
relationship with other programs like the Aboriginal Medical Services and the Aboriginal Liaison
Officer.
In its launch, “Closing the Gap” policy was a government scheme whose main aim was to
take care of the disadvantaged among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in respect
to access to quality healthcare, educational and employment opportunities (House et al, 2016). It
was launched as a formal commitment in Australia to ensure equality in healthcare distribution
regardless of whether a person was an Aboriginal or a Torres Strait Islander. “Closing the
Gap” policy was put in place in response the social justice report of 2005 to close the gap on
health injustices which were rampant among the Aboriginals at the time. It’s however not until
March 2008 when all the governments in Australia collaborated with the Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander people to work together in order to ensure there was equality in matters
concerning health care between both in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the
non-Indigenous Australians in future (Dyer et al, 2017, p.1365).). To support the policy, Council
of Australian Governments (COAG) set some targets which were aimed at seeing improvement

CLOSING THE GAP POLICY & ITS IMPACTS IN AUSTRALIA 3
in health and wellbeing among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. Among
those targets were ensuring 95% of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young ones were
enrolled in school by 2025, closing the gap in life expectancy by 2031 and halving the gap in
mortality by 2018 (Hartog, 2016).
Closing the Gap policy has its history from the social justice report by Tom Calma who
was then a social justice commissioner representing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
community. The report required the Australian governments to work together to achieve
healthcare equality among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community (Krause et al,
2015, p.50). This report was furthered under the “Close the Gap campaign” whose main aim was
to ensure equality in healthcare among all the Australians. The campaign had begun as a
National Indigenous Health Equality Campaign in 2006 steered by organizations such as the
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Australian Indigenous Doctor’s Association
and the Indigenous Dentist’s Association of Australia.
Closing the Gap policy has contributed much in ensuring equality in matters of health
among all the Australians. Initially, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population in
Australia could not access quality healthcare like the rest of the Australians and that implied
suffering among the group (Douglas et al, 2016, p.100). However, with the launch of Close the
Gap initiative under Closing the Gap policy, Australia’s NGO’s, peak non-indigenous and
indigenous health bodies, as well as human rights organizations, have realized a uniting factor in
their efforts for health equality among all the Australians and especially among the Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander people. Close the Gap campaign goals have clearly shown the superb
contribution of Close the Gap policy especially among the poor population which could not
afford quality healthcare.