Indigenous Australians' Health Programme - Workforce and Maternity Services

Overview

The department’s key policy drivers in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health are the Health Plan, the Implementation Plan for the Health Plan and the National Agreement on Closing the Gap (National Agreement) that sets out seventeen targets and four priority reform areas. This grant opportunity builds on existing efforts to improve rates of healthy birthweight of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander babies. It aims to reach up to 3,000 women who may be at highest risk of having an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander baby born outside the healthy birthweight range. Outcomes will directly contribute to the National Agreement on Closing the Gap (CTG) Target 2 – Babies are born healthy and strong, with the target of ‘by 2031, increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander babies with a healthy birthweight to 91 per cent’. This grant will support organisations with projects, such as the Birthing on Country models of care, that deliver and/or research and develop programs that deliver maternal health services directly to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and help boost their participation in the maternal health workforce, including: delivery of culturally safe antenatal, birthing and postnatal care, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander midwife-led models of care and Indigenous birth companions; mechanisms to test and evaluate the impact of their models; community driven approaches; and where relevant, have appropriate support from state and territory governments to deliver the activity in a medical setting. To view the grant opportunity documents, please select the red "Grant Opportunity Documents" button on the left hand side.