HEALTHY ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES

Improving the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populati ons is the greatest challenge facing public health in Australia today. The gains in the health of the population overall have not been match ed by gains among these communities. Much of the information about the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and peopl e is negative, and little information is available about what Aborigin al and Torres Strait Islander people themselves consider to be indicat ors of healthy people and healthy communities. This paper identifies s ome successful programs and highlights the need for community ownershi p of decisions about goals, services and programs. By looking to ways that Aboriginal people view their health (and its determinants), and t o the examples of successful action to date, it is possible to begin t o develop a vision of healthy Aboriginal communities in which the rela tionship between body, land and spirit has been restored. The need, no w, is to build the partnerships that will be necessary to turn the vis ion into reality.