Close the Gap health commitments producing results in Cairns and Cape York

Federal government investment in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health programs through the Closing the Gap National Agreement is producing measurable improvements in Cairns and the Cape York Peninsula, with the latest health data showing improvements in child mortality, chronic disease management, and maternal health outcomes for First Nations communities in the region.

The data, published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in its annual Closing the Gap tracker, shows a 12 per cent improvement in chronic disease hospitalisation rates among First Nations people in the Cairns catchment over five years, and a 9 per cent reduction in child mortality for the same group — progress attributed to increased investment in community-controlled health organisations and preventive care programs.

Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy, who holds the Queensland seat of Arnhem and has strong connections to Cape York, said the improvements were real and significant but the gaps remained unacceptably large. Life expectancy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men in the Cairns region remains 8.4 years below the non-Indigenous average. "We are moving in the right direction but we need to move faster," she said.

Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service has established dedicated First Nations health services at the Cairns Hospital and across its network of community health centres, with a comprehensive model of care co-designed with the Gimuy Walubara Yidinji and Yirrganydji peoples. Cultural security training for all clinical staff is now mandatory across the health service.

Cairns Aboriginal and Islander Health Service, the largest community-controlled health organisation in the region, received a $28 million Commonwealth funding increase in the last budget.

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