Close the Gap facts for kids

Close the Gap (CTG) is an important campaign in Australia. It's all about making sure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have the same health opportunities as everyone else. Many different groups work together on this. These include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health groups, other health organisations, and human rights groups. Their goal is to achieve health equality in Australia. The campaign started in April 2007. Every year since 2009, there has been a National Close the Gap Day (NCTGD).

Why Close the Gap Started

The Close the Gap campaign began because of a report. This report was written by Professor Tom Calma in 2005. He explained that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people faced many health challenges. For example, Aboriginal babies died more often than non-Indigenous babies. Also, Aboriginal people generally lived shorter lives. They also got sick more often.

Professor Calma's report showed that these health differences were unfair. He challenged the government to fix these problems. He wanted them to achieve health fairness within one generation. Australia's health differences were worse than in similar countries like the US or New Zealand.

Campaign Launch and Goals

The first meeting for the campaign was in March 2006. The campaign officially launched in April 2007. Famous Australian athletes Catherine Freeman OAM and Ian Thorpe OAM were its patrons. At first, it was called the National Indigenous Health Equality Campaign. It became "Close the Gap" in December 2007.

More than 40 different groups joined forces. They wanted to achieve health equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Their main goal was to make life expectancy the same by 2030.

Government Steps Towards Equality

In 2007, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) set goals. These goals were to track progress in health and wellbeing. They aimed to achieve health equality within a generation. They also wanted to halve the death rate gap for children under five within ten years.

In February 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made a special speech. It was called the Apology to Australia's Indigenous peoples. In this speech, he promised the government would help. He said they would close the gap in health, education, and living conditions. He also said they would respect the rights of Indigenous people to make their own decisions.

The Statement of Intent

On March 20, 2008, something important happened. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson signed a document. It was called the Close the Gap Statement of Intent. They signed it at a special summit.

This Statement of Intent made the government promise to:

• Create a long-term plan. This plan would be based on facts and needs. It would fix health service inequalities. The goal was to make health status and life expectancy equal by 2030.
• Make sure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were fully involved. Their leaders and groups would help decide how to meet their health needs.

The Statement of Intent became a key guide for the Close the Gap campaign.

Campaign Leaders Over Time

Many important Indigenous leaders have helped lead the campaign. Some of them include:

• Jody Broun and Mick Gooda in 2013.
• Kirstie Parker and Mick Gooda in 2014.
• Jackie Huggins and Pat Turner AM in 2017.

Who is Involved in Close the Gap?

As of 2020^[update] the current leaders of Close the Gap are June Oscar AO. She is the Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice. The other leader is Rod Little. He used to lead the National Congress of Australia's First Peoples.

Many organisations are members of the Close the Gap campaign. They all work together for better health.

As of March 2020^[update], almost 200,000 Australians had shown their support for the campaign.

The Government's "Closing the Gap" Strategy

The Australian government took on the goals of the Close the Gap campaign in 2008. They created their own plan called Closing the Gap. In 2009, they promised to tell Parliament every year how they were doing. This report would show the progress of the Closing the Gap strategy.

In 2020, the government's Closing the Gap plan was changed a lot. It now focuses more on working together. This means governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people work as partners.

Each year, the Close the Gap Steering Committee writes a report. This report explains how the government is doing with its goals.