Aboriginal Health

Health is the social, emotional, and cultural wellbeing of the whole community. There is a clear relationship between the social disadvantages experienced by Indigenous people and their current health status. These social disadvantages, directly related to dispossession and characterised by poverty and powerlessness, are reflected in measures of education, employment, and income.
Closing the gap is a strategy that aims to reduce Indigenous disadvantage with respect to life expectancy, child mortality, access to early childhood education, educational achievement and employment outcomes. Endorsed by the Australian Government in March 2008, closing the gap is a formal commitment developed in response, to the call of the Social Justice Report 2005 [1] to achieve Indigenous health equality within 25 years.

Targets of Closing the Gap Initiative are,

• To close the life expectancy gap within a generation;
• To halve the gap in mortality rates for Indigenous children under five within a decade;
• To ensure access to early childhood education for all Indigenous four year olds in remote communities within five years;
• To halve the gap in reading, writing and numeracy achievements for children within a decade;
• To halve the gap for Indigenous students in year 12 attainment rates by 2020;
• To halve the gap in employment outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within a decade.

Granada medical practice is committed to provide better health for indigenous communities in Maddington and surrounding suburbs.
If you are an indigenous Australian and need to know more information about closing the gap program please contact practice staff or talk to your doctor.
You can register for CTG after consulting your regular GP.
Under the closing the gap program, you will be offered annual health check and chronic disease management plan by your GP.

Bentley Armadale Medicare Local offers aboriginal patients transport to their GP and for other health services when they need. We can also arrange home visits for health checks via the aboriginal health care worker.