Home

The new National Agreement on Closing the Gap came into effect in July 2020 upon agreement by all Australian Governments and the Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peak Organisations.

Since 2006, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework (HPF) reports have provided information about Indigenous Australians’ health outcomes, key drivers of health and the performance of the health system.

The age-standardised rate of deaths from cardiovascular disease among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people fell from 323 per 100,000 population in 2006 to 229 per 100,000 in 2018.

The age-standardised rate of deaths from cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people increased from 205 per 100,000 population in 2006 to 235 per 100,000 in 2018.

The imprisonment rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults increased from 1,337 per 100,000 in 2006 to 2,088 in 2019.

The proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 20–24 who had a Year 12 or equivalent qualification increased from 45% in 2008 to 66% in 2018–19.

The rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care increased from 35 per 1,000 at 30 June 2009 to 54 per 1,000 at 30 June 2018.

In 2018–19, 85% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15–17 reported that they had never smoked, compared with 72% in 2008.

The rate of Medicare health checks for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people increased from 68 per 1,000 population in 2009–10 to 297 per 1,000 in 2018–19.

In 2018–19, 3 in 10 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who needed to go to a health provider did not go—the same proportion as in 2012–13. Barriers included cost, and health services being unavailable, far away or with long waiting times.