Feds announce closing the gap funding
The Federal Government has announced it will deliver $777 million to fund its share of the renewed National Partnership on Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health Outcomes for a further three years ending in June 2016.
In a statement earlier this week, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said that the funding provided by the Federal Government would be predominately used to close the gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within a generation, and to halve the gap in mortality rates for Indigenous children under five within a decade.
Ms Gillard said that she will request States and Territories to continue their investment in the program.
Under the current National Partnership Agreement, due to expire on 30 June 2013, governments provided $1.58 billion over four years to improve access to health services for indigenous families and communities.
The Australian Government provided $805.5 million over four years for this initial agreement.