Partnerships Queensland: future directions framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander policy in Queensland 2005-2010: Baseline Report

Description

There is an urgent need to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ standard of living. This report demonstrates that by almost every indicator of wellbeing, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders are significantly more disadvantaged than other Queenslanders. The Queensland Government believes that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander disadvantage cannot be overcome without robust performance measurement and management, and is determined to place Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander policy on a stronger evidence footing. Partnerships Queensland is therefore supported by a performance framework which will measure whether key indicators of social, physical and economic wellbeing are improving. The performance framework forms the basis of rigorous and unprecedented performance management in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs. It will be used by government and communities as the baseline against which future reports will measure changes in outcomes and progress in reducing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander disadvantage. Monitoring trends in key indicators of wellbeing is one of the keys to developing targeted and prioritised programs and interventions to address disadvantage in any population. This baseline report reinforces the need for concerted and sustained action to reduce the disparity between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders and other Queenslanders in all life stages. The information in the report will provide an important resource to assist in developing priorities at the community level through the negotiation table process, a key strategy of Partnerships Queensland used to engage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and develop appropriate solutions to local problems. Negotiation tables and community engagement are instruments by which responsibility for change can be shared by communities and all levels of government. (Foreword, overview, edited.)