| In August 1997 the Australian Health Ministers' Conference endorsed a set of National performance Indicators (NPIs) and targets that commonwealth, state and territory governments should report against to monitor improvements in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. These NPIs were refined in March 1998 and again in early 2001.
There are currently 58 NPIs. These NPIs cover a wide range of measures of Indigenous health status and factors that have an impact on the delivery of health services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. They can be broadly grouped in the following way:
life expectancy, mortality, morbidity and risk factors;
health service impacts;
access and quality of service provision; and
community involvement, intersectoral issues, and workforce development.
Specific targets have been set, particularly in relation to health issues. These targets relate to an increase in life expectancy, a reduction in mortality rates across the main causes of death (being heart disease, injury and poisoning, pneumonia and cervical cancer) together with a reduction in the incidence of diabetes and the death rate for infants.
The commonwealth, state and territory governments are required to report annually on performance against the NPIs to health ministers through the Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council. |
