Healthy lives

Cardiac Outreach Clinics

The Indigenous Cardiac Outreach Clinic program is empowering people to be proactive in caring for their health.

Read how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are making positive health changes through the Indigenous Cardiac Outreach Clinics.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples experience significantly more ill health than other Australians. They typically die at much younger ages and are more likely to experience disability and reduced quality of life because of ill health.

The Queensland Government is taking action to address the gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in health and longevity.

Targets, strategies and progress measures

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) and the Queensland Government have set targets to improve the health and well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Council of Australian Governments (COAG) targets

• close the gap in life expectancy within a generation
• halve the gap in mortality rates for Indigenous children under 5-years-old within a decade

Q2 (Tomorrow's Queensland) targets

• cut obesity, smoking, heavy drinking and unsafe sun exposure by a third

Progress measures

• life expectancy
• causes of death
• disability and chronic disease (diabetes and end-stage renal disease, circulatory system disease, cellulitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)

Strategic directions

The Queensland Government's actions and projects will support the following strategies:

• ensure effective primary care services that deliver on their objectives
• increase access for Indigenous Australians through culturally appropriate, integrated service delivery arrangements
• improve access to health services for Indigenous children and mothers
• encourage healthy lifestyles at all ages through good nutrition, physical activity, reduced use of alcohol, drugs and tobacco products
• expand and develop innovative, evidence-based programs for difficult to reach groups, including Indigenous men, disconnected young people and the homeless
• improve quality of, and access to, mental health services for Indigenous Queenslanders
• improve quality of, and access to, services for Indigenous Queenslanders who are frail or have a disability
• encourage use of preventative health initiatives

More information

Download detailed information about the Queensland Government's actions to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people:

• Closing the Gap Report: healthy lives section (PDF 504 kB)
• Closing the Gap Report: Full report (Word 754 kB)

Related information

• quarterly reports on key indicators in Queensland's discrete Indigenous communities

Other sites

• Closing the Gap clearinghouse: evidence based research

Last reviewed: 12 November 2009

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