Month: February 2018

The establishment of an Indigenous voice to parliament would help address key problems outlined in a 10-year review of the Closing the Gap strategy, says Reconciliation Australia CEO Karen Mundine. Reconciliation Australia echoes calls for the Federal Government to reset its approach to closing the gap in health outcomes, as outlined in a Close the Gap Campaign report released today. The review found that the government’s failure to base their policies on meaningful consultation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities is a core reason why the strategy failed to significantly improve health outcomes. The Referendum Council last year...

Around 12,000 people seeking asylum living in Australia are at risk of losing lifesaving services due to Government changes. Status Resolution Support Services (SRSS) are a base line support safety net that often is not enough to make ends meet, but keeps people from complete destitution. Government changes to SRSS impact case management, income support (89% of Newstart payment amount), which enables people to pay rent, and access to specialist medical care including torture and trauma counselling. This limited support has been standard practice for decades for people awaiting their final refugee status determination. Among recent changes, the Turnbull...