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Our health in our hands
Congress continues to be necessary because many things have not changed for Aboriginal people.
We still have by far the worst health of any group in Australia. Diseases almost unknown in white Australia for fifty years are still relatively common in our communities.
Life expectancy for our people is up to 20 years less than for non-Aboriginal Australians.
Death rates are up to three times those for Australia in general.
And although Aboriginal infant mortality has declined, it is still over three times the national average) and adult mortality in the Aboriginal population has increased.
Congress knows that there are no simple solutions to these problems. However, for the health of Aboriginal people to improve, we must gain more control over our lives. Congress enables us to determine how we wish to tackle the problems we face.
Under community control, the people who use the health service, control the health service. They decide what programs are appropriate, and how, when, and where to deliver them. They employ non-Aboriginal people with expertise where necessary, and those people work under the direction of the Aboriginal community.
This model is recognised as the most effective and most efficient way of delivering health services to Aboriginal people.