Indigenous Summit Bigger Bolder Solutions Needed

Dr Haikerwal said that the funding for an upgraded law and order presence in troubled communities is welcome, but the Government must now turn its attention to the greater policy failures in addressing Indigenous health and living conditions.

"Law and order is just one of many important parts of the equation, but it will not produce long-term improvements on its own," Dr Haikerwal said.

"We have to restore purpose, a sense of belonging, and a sense of worth to the people living in troubled Indigenous communities, and it will need a whole-of-Government approach and an 'all governments' approach, working cooperatively with the States and Territories.

"There must be a massive input of funding and goodwill in the vital areas of health, education, housing, sanitation, water quality, work and training programs, physical activity and mentoring to provide some social infrastructure in the communities.

"Putting a heavy-handed emphasis on law and order alone will only hamper the implementation of programs and services that promote better health, education and social values.

"But we will only get results if we include Indigenous people directly in the process of discussing the problems and working out solutions. The AMA urges the Government to make Indigenous health and living standards a priority at the July COAG meeting."

Dr Haikerwal said COAG should use as the starting point for their discussions in July the latest Indigenous health data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), which includes:

• 12.9 per cent of Indigenous babies are born with low birth weight compared to 6.0 per cent in the rest of the population
• Perinatal mortality (death at birth and in period shortly after birth) in Indigenous babies is 21.4 per 1000 births compared to 9.6 per 1000 births in the rest of the population
• The rate of deaths from birth to four years of age in Indigenous population is three times the non-Indigenous rate
• In the age group, 15-24 years of age, Indigenous young people are four times more likely to die than a non-Indigenous young person
• 70 per cent of Indigenous people are dead by 65 compared to 20 per cent of the rest of the population at the same age.

"Putting more police in Indigenous communities will not change these statistics," Dr Haikerwal said.