Close the Gap

Close the Gap (CTG) is a social justice campaign focused on Indigenous Australians' health, in which peak Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous health bodies, NGOs and human rights organisations work together to achieve health equality in Australia. The Campaign was launched in April 2007. National Close the Gap Day (NCTGD) has been held annually since 2009.

Not to be confused with Closing the Gap.

History

The Close the Gap campaign arose in response to Professor Tom Calma’s Social Justice Report (2005),[1] in which he described the social factors underlying the health inequality in Australia, and challenged governments to bring parity within a generation. In Australia, Aboriginal infants die more often than non-Indigenous infants, Aboriginal people's life expectancy is shorter, and they suffer more than double the rate of illness. Although these types of disparities exist in comparable countries such as the US and New Zealand, Australia has the worst figures.[2]

The Steering Committee first met in March 2006. Their campaign was launched in April 2007 by patrons Catherine Freeman OAM and Ian Thorpe OAM.[3] It began as the National Indigenous Health Equality Campaign, being formally introduced as Close the Gap in December 2007. More than 40 Indigenous and non-Indigenous health and human rights organisations collaborated to achieve health equality (measured as life expectancy) for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by 2030.[4]

In 2007 the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) set measurable targets to track and assess developments in the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. These targets include achieving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health equality within a generation and halving the mortality rate gap for children under five years old within a decade.[3]

In February 2008, his Apology to Australia's Indigenous peoples, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd pledged the government to bridge the gap between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australian health, education and living conditions, in a way that respects their rights to self-determination. He also proposed to establish a commission to "close the gap" between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in "life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity".[5][6]

On 20 March 2008, about a month Rudd and then Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson, signed the Close the Gap Statement of Intent at the Close the Gap Campaign’s National Indigenous Health Equality Summit.[7] The Statement of Intent committed the government to:[3]

  • Develop a comprehensive, long-term plan of action, targeted to need, evidence-based and capable of addressing the existing inequalities in health services, in order to achieve equality of health status and life expectancy between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians by 2030.
  • Ensure the full participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their representative bodies in all aspects of addressing their health needs.

The Statement of Intent became the point of reference for the Close the Gap campaign.[3]

Over the years, a number of prominent Indigenous leaders have co-chaired the campaign, including:

Description

As of 2020 the co-chairs of Close the Gap are June Oscar AO, Commissioner of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice, and Rod Little, who co-chaired the National Congress of Australia's First Peoples for many years.[3]

Member organisations include:[3]

As of March 2020, almost 200,000 Australians had pledged support.[3]

Publications

Close the Gap has produced 11 reports, including a 10-year review in 2018.[3]

Closing the Gap
Main article: Closing the Gap

The Australian government adopted the goals of Close the Gap in 2008,[12] in a strategy known as Closing the Gap,[13] and in 2009 committed to making an annual progress report to Parliament on progress with the Closing the Gap strategy.[3]

In 2020, the Closing the Gap framework and strategy was significantly overhauled, with a "greater focus on partnership between governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people".[14]

Each year, the Close the Gap Steering Committee publishes a report detailing the Government's progress in achieving its targets.[3]

References
  1. Calma, Tom (22 November 2005). "Social Justice Report 2005: Home". Australian Human Rights Commission. Retrieved 3 August 2020. PDF
  2. Cleary, Paul; Ring, Ian; Garay, Alex (24 June 2015). "Back Indigenous medical services to close the gap". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  3. "Close the Gap: Indigenous Health Campaign". Australian Human Rights Commission. 18 March 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. (Details here.)
  4. "Close The Gap Campaign". World Vision Australia. 28 July 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  5. "Govt promises action after apology". ABC News. ABC. 13 February 2008. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  6. Calma, Tom (24 September 2008). "UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Australia should sign". Koori Mail (435). Lismore, NSW: Budsoar. p. 27.
  7. "Close the Gap: Indigenous Health Equality Summit - Statement of Intent". Australian Human Rights Commission. 20 March 2008. Retrieved 3 August 2020. PDF
  8. Close the Gap Campaign Steering Committee for Indigenous Health Equality (2013). "Shadow Report 2013" (PDF). Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. "Close the Gap - Progress and priorities report 2014". Australian Human Rights Commission. 12 February 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  10. "Close the Gap - Progress & Priorities report 2017". Australian Human Rights Commission. 16 March 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  11. "Menzies School of Health Research on The Conversation". The Conversation. 31 July 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  12. "Australia marks 20-year anniversary of Sorry Day". SBS News. 26 May 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  13. "Closing the Gap". Australian Indigenous Health Infonet. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  14. "Closing The Gap". Closing the Gap. Retrieved 3 August 2020.

Further reading
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