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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 1 Hansard (17 February) . . Page.. 234 ..
MS TUCKER (continuing):
Of course, this Government could argue that we are mainstreaming and that this works, and that this is why this expenditure would be different, but obviously it is arguable to say that this is working when you look at the figures that are available on Aboriginal health. Also, of course, there are always responses about federal funding, but I think we need to be very careful about going down that track, if what we are actually interested in is addressing the issues of indigenous health and not just trying to get out of difficult political situations.
This leads me to the motion I am putting to the Assembly today, requesting that the Standing Committee on Health and Community Care examine the state of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health in the ACT, and report on strategies for improvement. The motion is deliberately broad in scope, as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health should not be discretely boxed. It is linked to a lot of other economic and social indicators, such as unemployment, homelessness and incarceration rates. It is linked to contemporary and historical government policies, and to a whole range of issues around which services are delivered and how they are delivered.
These links have been acknowledged in ACT government reports, including the report I previously mentioned, "The Health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People in the ACT", by the epidemiology unit of ACT Health and Community Care, June 1997. This report states:
The link between educational achievement, employment and income are well documented. In addition, studies have shown that improving educational status improves health status independently of income.
It later says:
Studies have shown that there is an association between unemployment and health. People who are unemployed or are poorly paid are at greater risk of sickness, mental illness and premature death.
The last quote is:
Much of the poor health of Aboriginal people in Australia can be explained by their low income status.
There are obviously important links between health, wellbeing and economic and social issues. Two major inquiries on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander disadvantage over the last decade, the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the inquiry by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission into the stolen generation - the Bringing them home report - have made significant links between physical and mental health, wellbeing, education, employment, government policies and continuing Aboriginal disadvantage.
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