Exclusion from access: this has stifled our development
The issues of self determination and comprehensive primary health care for Indigenous Australians are discussed in this paper, along with the work of the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations in their struggle for self determination. The paper discusses community control of health services as an important aspect of primary health care and lists six key principles that are important to the practice of comprehensive primary health care: universality; community control, participation and self reliance; provision of comprehensive primary health care; respect of Aboriginal culture; addressing social inequality to address health inequality; and employing multi disciplinary health teams. The paper looks at the effects of campaigning for health policy reform over the decades and the unwillingness to engage with the aspirations and realities of Aboriginal people.
