Close the Gap and Closing the Gap – what’s the difference?
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Version 0 of 1. Close the Gap Close the Gap is a public awareness campaign focused on closing the health gap. It’s run by numerous NGOs, Indigenous health bodies and human rights organisations, including the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC). The campaign was formally launched in 2007, after the release of the social justice report by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner, Dr Tom Calma. Close the Gap gained support from state and federal governments when the Council of Australian Governments (Coag) set two health aims among their six targets in 2008: achieving health equality within a generation and halving the gap in mortality rates for children under five within a decade. In 2008 then prime minister Kevin Rudd and then opposition leader Brendan Nelson also signed the Close the Gap statement of intent. Closing the Gap Closing the Gap is the name given to Coag’s 2008 national strategy to tackle Indigenous inequality, which includes the Indigenous Reform Agreement, a commitment to closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within a specific timeframe, with six key targets. Annual reports on the progress of Closing the Gap are released in early February by the prime minister. |