The health status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is considerably poorer than any other social group in Australia.
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation recognises the nursing and midwifery professions play a significant role in improving the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and that addressing health inequality is a priority.
- View the ANMF Position Statement on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health
- Joint Statement - Cultural safety: Nurses and midwives leading the way for safer healthcare
- ANMF Protocol: Acknowledgement of Country
- ANMF Protocol: Welcome to Country
The Uluru Statement from the Heart
The ANMF has declared its national support for the historic Uluru Statement from the Heart calling for a ‘First Nations Voice’ enshrined in the Constitution.
The Uluru Statement from the Heart is an invitation to the Australian people to work with First Nations people to create a better future. It is a gift: a strategic roadmap to peace, where First Nations peoples take a rightful place in our own land. It is a moment where all Australians can come together to realise our nation’s true potential.
- Uluru Statement from the Heart website
- Read the full Uluru Statement from the Heart
- Why the ANMF supports the Uluru Statement from the Heart
Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives
The ANMF supports and works with our colleagues who form the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives (CATSINaM). CATSINaM exists to represent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses, midwives, and students undertaking nursing and midwifery courses leading to registration and enrolment.
For further information on CATSINaM, visit their website.
Closing the Gap
Close the Gap is a campaign for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Equality. The campaign's goal is to close the health and life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians within a generation.
The Close the Gap Coalition — a grouping of Indigenous and non-Indigenous health and community organisations — together with nearly 200,000 Australians is calling on governments to take real, measurable action to achieve Indigenous health equality by 2030.
The ANMF supports Australia’s commitment to closing the appalling 17 year life expectancy gap through implementation of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC*) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commissioner’s recommendations to achieve health equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within a generation.
Nurses and midwives provide frontline health services in many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and are committed to working in partnership with Aboriginal Health Workers, GPs and allied health professionals to deliver high quality, culturally appropriate health care services.
*HREOC - now known as the Australian Human Rights Commission.
For further information on the Close the Gap campaign go to: