Towards Cultural Security 2009 to 2013 (superseded by Koolin Balit)
During 2007/2008, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to six ambitious targets in order to close the health gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. This included a commitment to reduce the 17 year gap in life expectancy within a generation and halve the gap in mortality rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged less than five years of age within the decade.
The Victorian state-wide implementation plan under the COAG’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health National Partnerships Agreement endorsed by Cabinet in May 2009. Following this, the Victorian Department of Health established the Grampians Indigenous Reference Group to develop a regional plan that addressed the following five state-wide priorities in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health:
- tackle smoking
- primary health care services that can deliver
- fixing the gaps and improving the patient journey
- healthy transition to adulthood
- making Indigenous health everyone’s business
During 2009/2010, the Wimmera Primary Care Partnership (WPCP) held several strategic planning workshops with their partner agencies where it was evident there was a strong commitment to making services more culturally appropriate and inclusive for Aboriginal people. In 2010, WPCP received funding from the Victorian Department of Health to facilitate a project that focused on organisational change within mainstream agencies to become more culturally competent to better provide for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This project entitled Towards Cultural Security, fitted within both the state and federal reform priorities of:
- primary health care services that can deliver
- making Indigenous health everyone’s business
Closing the Gap in Aboriginal Health in the Wimmera supported by the Wimmera PCP’s strategic priority of reducing health inequalities. The goal of Towards Cultural Security was to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s access, experience and outcomes of mainstream services. The project began in July 2010 and concluded in December 2012.
- Click here for the Project Plan
- Click here for Evaluation Report