National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2013-2023: A Critical Analysis

SOCIAL POLICY

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Formal Briefing Letter.....................................................................................................................3
Proposal.......................................................................................................................................3
Background..................................................................................................................................3
Discussion....................................................................................................................................4
Recommendations........................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

Formal Briefing Letter
To Mr. Kenneth George Wyatt AM
Minister for Indigenous Australians
(Commonwealth Government of Australia)
Proposal
It is proposed that following changes be made to the National Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2013-2023 for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
People in relation to health targets of the policy, as the policy has been ineffectively and
partially implemented and has not brought any relevant changes in the condition of the
health and well-being of the indigenous community.
Background
Indigenous community refers to the people who lie within a geographically
distinct ancestral territory and are identified as a part of a traditional cultural group
descended from the areas before colonisation or occurrence of modern borders (Head and
Crowley, 2015). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People refer to indigenous
community from Torres Strait Islands in Queensland, Australia. (Shakespeare and et.al.,
2020).
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2013-2023 was
established by the Australian government for the achievement of equality in health of the
non-indigenous Australians and indigenous community by the year 2023 (Browne and
et.al., 2017). It is built on the United Nations based rights for indigenous people and
consists of principles like human rights approach-based health equality, community
engagement and control, accountability and partnership (Spolander, Engelbrecht and
Pullen Sansfaçon, 2016). The social policy focuses on empowering the marginalised
community and provide them a right to live a safe and healthy life apart from a
connection to country and culture. This health plan is being implemented as a part of
closing the gap initiative. As per the current developments in the policy since inception of