North Brighton Medical has officially endorsed the YES campaign in the 2023 referendum for the establishment of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament in the Australian Constitution.
In Brighton, life expectancy is 88 years, but for Indigenous Australians, life expectancy is just 73.6 years. The gap must be closed, an Indigenous people deserve a say in making that happen.
Our position is in line with that of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.
Read more about the RACGP’s position below:
The Voice to Parliament will help drive changes to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and address the inequity in our health system.
The RACGP’s position on the Voice builds on our previous advocacy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ health, including our endorsement of the Uluru Statement from the Heart recommendations, and our commitment to close the gap in health inequality.
It’s really important that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are part of the solution, that they are placed in a position where they are able to have a say on any laws or decisions that are going to impact their communities.
This is not a political issue, it’s a human rights issue, and it is about Indigenous peoples being able to have self-determination and a say in issues that affect their lives.
We remain respectful on whether people support the Voice to Parliament or not, but I think we can all acknowledge that what we’re doing at the moment is not leading to the health outcomes that we would want.
Despite Australia boasting some of the best health outcomes in the world, including being in the top five for life expectancy, little progress has been made regarding the health outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Child mortality is twice that of non-Indigenous children, the life expectancy gap remains at about eight years (and equivalent to developing countries like Palestine and Guatemala), and there is a burden of disease 2.3 times greater than that of non-Indigenous Australians.
Perhaps doing something different and a change to the status quo is what’s needed.
Research clearly shows the links between constitutional recognition and improved health outcomes. It makes recognition in health legislation easier, which leads to greater involvement in health policy making and service delivery.
There is evidence of this from the many other countries that have already established models for constitutional and treaty recognition, including New Zealand, Canada, the United States, and Norway, and it’s time that Australia followed suit.