Assessing the health service use of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

Commission (NHHRC) made a number of recommendations about the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It pointed to their high level of morbidity and the 17 year gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. It noted that although health service expenditures per person for Aboriginal people were about 17 per cent higher than for other Australians, that level was still inequitable because of the higher burden of illness from which they suffered. However, published assessments of what ‘should ’ be spent have varied considerably. Amongst other things, the NHHRC recommended ‘an investment strategy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians that is proportionate to health need …’, with particular reference to primary care. The Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) would continue to be supported and measures put in place to strengthen them. However, access to mainstream services should also be improved. To that end, it recommended the establishment of a National Torres Strait Islander Health Authority which would act as a purchaser of health services for Indigenous people in a way similar to the Department of Veterans Affairs programs for the vetera