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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and primary health care
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 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and primary health care
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Access to culturally responsive, high-quality and timely primary health care throughout life that acknowledges the impact of social, cultural and historical determinants is essential to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This report brings together Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s own lived experiences of primary health care use and their unmet needs as reflected in national survey data with an analysis of the locations of primary health care services relative to where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people live. The results are used to identify geographic areas with service gaps and subgroups within the population who have the highest levels of unmet need.
The findings show that most Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a usual source of care, but are not always able to use the type of primary health care service they prefer. A significant preference for care from Aboriginal Medical Services / community clinics highlights the importance of Aboriginal Controlled Community Organisations (ACCO) in achieving health equity for remote and regional communities.
Key findings
- 60% of those in very remote areas had access only to an Aboriginal Medical Service / community clinic (AMS/CC).
- 45% of those in major cities reported only mainstream GPs in their local areas.
- Among those who had both an AMS/CC and a mainstream GP in their local area, 72% reported using an AMS/CC as their usual source.
- 131 of 412 Indigenous Areas were identified as service gap areas, in which where more than 200 people lived outside a one-hour drive to one or more service types.
- In 14 of these, more than 200 people lived outside a one-hour drive to any of the included primary health care services.
- Co-payments for consultations with GPs were higher for those whose usual source of health care was a mainstream GP compared with those whose usual source of care was an AMS/CC (5.9% to <1%)
- Co-payments for specialists and other health providers between those whose usual source of care was a mainstream GP and those whose usual source of care was an AMS/CC (29% and 6.0%, respectively).
- Satisfaction with primary health care is high, but Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people still have unmet needs for primary health care services (especially dental care).
