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This section provides details of water supply publications related to policies and strategies of relevance to Indigenous environmental health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander environmental health practitioners.
The Environmental Health Needs Survey was conducted over 2007 and 2008 and is the third survey in a series which surveyed housing, services, utilities, community infrastructure and the immediate living environment in discrete Aboriginal communities in Western Australia. Data collected related to over 15,000 residents from 232 communities. This publication reports the outcomes of this survey and provides a comparison with the outcomes of the 1997 and 2004 surveys.
The survey was conducted by environmental health practitioners who work with and in discrete Aboriginal communities. The practitioners visited the communities to survey existing infrastructure. Information was also collected about levels of community satisfaction and any concerns with the provision of essential, municipal and allied services which influenced and affected environmental health in the communities.
The core environmental health and infrastructure issues covered in the report were:
The report provides an evidence base which highlights the continued environmental health issues faced by many of the communities who participated in the survey. It is the foundation for the future direction of service plans and delivery in discrete communities.
Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract
The Council of Australian Governments commissioned the Steering Committee for the Review of Commonwealth Service Provision in 2002 to provide regular reports against key indicators of Indigenous disadvantage. In 2007, the Council reaffirmed its commitment to 'closing the outcomes gap between Indigenous people and other Australians over a generation'. This report (third in the series) provides indicators of Indigenous disadvantage, with a focus on areas where governments can make a difference.
This publication reports on seven strategic areas for action:
The report consists of three parts:
The report documents that some outcomes have deteriorated, including Indigenous people's involvement with the criminal justice system. Many environmental and behavioural risk factors that contribute to poor health outcomes have not improved. There were improvements reported in some of the economic indicators, such as home ownership and employment rates and in some child health outcomes. For some indicators where there have been improvements outcomes for non-Indigenous people have also improved, meaning a gap in outcomes persists.
Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract
This report presents the results of the 2004 Environmental Health Needs Survey (EHNS) of Indigenous communities in Western Australia. In total, 274 Indigenous communities participated in the EHNS and 2801 dwelling forms were completed on individual households. In the report, data on core environmental health indicators are analysed for Western Australia's ATSIC regions, and comparisons are made with data from the 1997 EHNS. The indicators include water, electricity, housing, sanitation, solid waste, dust, dog control, and emergency management. Since the 1997 EHNS, progress has been made in larger communities on the indicators for water, electricity and sewerage. In smaller communities less progress has been made. Overall, more dwellings can be classified as 'adequate', but repairs and maintenance on housing need more attention.
Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract
The Council of Australian Governments has commissioned the Steering Committee for the Review of Commonwealth Service Provision to provide regular reports against key indicators of Indigenous disadvantage. The aims are to inform Australian governments about whether policy programs and interventions are achieving positive outcomes for Indigenous people and to identify where further work is needed.
This is the second report produced by the Steering Committee. It documents the indicator framework and reports on various indicators of Indigenous disadvantage and seven strategic areas for action:
The report documents some improvements in indicators since the last report in 2003 (although caution is needed in some data comparisons), but for many indicators there has been little or no movement. The Steering Committee will continue to document the development of the indicator framework, and produce a regular report against key indicators of Indigenous disadvantage as part of the process of continuing improvement.
Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract
This is the first of a series of regular reports designed to identify whether policy programs and interventions are achieving positive outcomes for Indigenous people and help guide future work. The Steering Committee was commissioned by the Council of Australian Governments to report against key indicators of Indigenous disadvantage. Content of the report includes information on:
Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract
