Australian Medical Association

AMA Indigenous Health Report Card 2009

The eighth AMA Indigenous Health Report Card – The Health of Indigenous Males: Building Capacity, Securing the Future – was launched in Darwin today by the Minister for Indigenous Health, Warren Snowdon, and AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce.

Dr Pesce said the Report Card this year highlights the tragic state of health for Indigenous males in Australia today, and proposes solutions that will ensure longer and better quality lives.

“Indigenous males are much more likely to die earlier from preventable causes than non-Indigenous males and Indigenous females,” Dr Pesce said.

“At every age – from boyhood to manhood – Indigenous males experience higher rates of diseases and conditions that are totally preventable.

“We need to take action to change this.

The AMA Indigenous Health Report Card 2009 collates the tragic facts of the health of Indigenous males.

The Report Card details AMA proposals to improve the health of Indigenous males through primary health care services and workforce, quality care in all Australian health services, local community capacity building, health promotion and chronic disease prevention, strategies to keep Indigenous males out of prison, a focus on social and emotional wellbeing, and promotion of economic engagement and entrepreneurial opportunities.

The Australian Medical Association today released its seventh AMA Indigenous Health Report Card in Canberra – focusing on Indigenous children and the discrepancies in their health outcomes.

Ending the Cycle of Vulnerability: The Health of Indigenous Children reveals the plight confronting these most vulnerable of citizens.

This Report Card brings together the most recent available data and information about the health of Indigenous Australian children. The AMA recommends that access to Indigenous specific child and maternal services needs to be significantly improved, along with improvements to living environment conditions and enhanced capacity-building in Indigenous communities.

This Report Card includes a number of Good News Stories about relevant projects or initiatives that are having a significant impact on Indigenous people’s health. 

AMA Public Hospital Report Card 2008

An AMA analysis of Australia's public hospital system.

This Report Card focusses on the most important intervention to improve the long-term health of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population: giving every baby a healthy start in life. The AMA recommends improvements in primary health care servcies targeted to culturally apporpriate antenatal and post natal care, and care of Indigenous mothers and young children.

This Report Card includes a number of Good News Stories about relevant projects or initiatives that are having a significant impact on Indigenous people’s health.  

This Report Card presents data about the rates of morbidity and mortality among Indigenous peoples. It provides updated estimates of the funding needed to ensure all Indigenous people have appropriate access to essential health care.

This is the first AMA Report Card on Indigenous health, and focuses on the inequalities in health outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, and compares these with the situation in some other nations with comparable Indigenous populations. The AMA recommends improvements to primary care services and to living conditions and facilities, such as sanitation, clean water and electricity for all communities.

This Report Card addresses gaps in life expectancy and health outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The AMA recommends a range of improvements in access to primary care for Indigenous people.

This Report Card includes a number of Good News Stories about relevant projects or initiatives that are having a significant impact on Indigenous people’s health. 

This Report Card investigates the relationship between the imprisonment and poor health status of Indigenous people. The AMA recommends that health services for Indigenous prisoners be imporved, and that imprisonment be the action of last resort for Indigenous people with mental health or substance abuse problems.

This Report Card includes a number of Good News Stories about relevant projects or initiatives impacting significantly on Indigenous people’s health.