Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health: current status and recent initiatives. Health and Community Development Branch, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission.

Against a background of the appalling health problems experienced by indigenous Australians, the following discussion details the current status of health services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and recent government and non-government initiatives to address these problems. In many localities, health services are overwhelmed by the tasks confronting them. State and Territory governments, having primary responsibility for the health of all citizens, must act in close cooperation with local communities, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), regional councils and Aboriginal health services to ensure inequalities are addressed in health service provision to Australia's indigenous people. The Federal government, through ATSIC and the Department of Human Services and Health, has implemented a range of initiatives in order to make a significant contribution to indigenous health and welfare. A primary task remains to implement broader scale changes relevant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within the mainstream health services. Mainstream services have the primary responsibility, and are funded on behalf of the whole population, to address health problems in a working partnership with the communities they serve. The Australian Hospital Association and its membership can help to improve the health of indigenous peoples by actively and sensitively working with them in the localities where they live, and through advocacy in the policies and plans that shape the whole of our health system.