Healing Hands
Indigenous Health Rights Statement

The Healing Hands Indigenous Health Rights Statement which appears below, has been developed by ANTaR to enable individuals and organisations to register their support for urgent action on the health crisis facing Indigenous Australians. It is part of ANTaR's Healing Hands Indigenous Health Rights Campaign.

PLEASE READ THE STATEMENT BELOW AND SEE INSTRUCTIONS FOR SIGNING AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE

"The health of Indigenous Australians is the worst in the developed world. Indigenous infants die at nearly three times the rate of other Australian infants; their lives will, on average, be twenty years shorter: and they are much more likely to suffer chronic disease.

In a wealthy country like Australia such gross inequality and neglect is shameful and abhorrent. It is also preventable. In similar countries, such as Canada, New Zealand and the United States the health of Indigenous people has been rapidly improved by determined and concerted government action.

The necessary first step in resolving the present crisis in Australia is to recognise that it is not inevitable.

Australia must acknowledge that the crisis began with colonization and dispossession and became endemic when social and economic disadvantage became entrenched. The crisis will not end until these conditions are changed.

If the health of Indigenous Australians is to be improved all Australian governments must resolve to provide:

• primary health care on the basis of need, through Aboriginal community controlled health services and better access to mainstream services
• a significant increase in the health workforce, particularly of Indigenous background
• comprehensive early intervention and prevention programs
• significant improvements in educational and employment outcomes, and housing and infrastructure provision.

Health refers not only to the physical well-being of individuals, but also to the social, emotional, spiritual and cultural well-being of the communities in which they live. It is a commonplace of medical knowledge that poor health is related to social disadvantage; to stress, social exclusion, unemployment and discrimination. Drug use, alcohol dependence and domestic violence are familiar and inevitable parts of the same cycle.

It follows that measures to improve the health of Indigenous Australians must include the application of principles of self-determination on which durable and resourceful communities absolutely depend. Governments must adopt an enabling role in relation to Indigenous governance.

Australia must recognise that the health of Indigenous organisations and communities and the health of Indigenous people are inseparable. It is equally true that improvements in health depend on overturning the destructive legacies of dispossession, including those that relate to land and culture; and the attainment of a secure and valued place for Indigenous peoples in the life of the nation."

I commit my support to the Indigenous Health Rights Statement and Campaign:

Signed......................................................................................................

Name.......................................................................................................

Address*..................................................................................................

Suburb.....................................................................................................

State..................................... Postcode..................................................

Email*.......................................................................................................

Instructions: Please print out, fill in details and post to:
ANTaR, PO Box 1176 Rozelle NSW 2039;
OR,
copy to an email, type in your details and email to : antar@antar.org.au

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* Providing your postal and email address will allow ANTaR to keep you informed of developments in the campaign. ANTaR will not disclose these details to third parties without your consent or prior approval. Please indicate NO INFORMATION if you do not want to receive any further information from ANTaR.