Working towards a 10-Year Aboriginal Health Plan: the Centre for Aboriginal Health initiatives.

TheCentre forAboriginalHealthwithin theNSWMinistry of Health is responsible for policy development and strategic planning aimed at improving the health of Aboriginal people in NSW. The work of the Centre is guided by both national and NSW policies. In 2007, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to a partnership between all levels of government with the aim of addressing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health disadvantage through the National Indigenous Reform Agreement (NIRA). The Agreement includes objectives, outcomes, outputs, performance indicators and performance benchmarks agreed to by COAG, and links to other national agreements such as the $1.58 billion National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health Outcomes. The NSW Government committed $180.38 million over 4 years towards this agreement, to be implemented through the Centre for Aboriginal Health, including coordinating the delivery of a range of initiatives involving Local Health Districts, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services and the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council NSW (AH&MRC).