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The Morrison Government is investing $98 million in a series of innovative new programs to prevent vulnerable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families falling through the cracks as part of the first Closing the Gap Implementation Plan.
Minister for Families and Social Services Anne Ruston said the new Social Services programs would help address disproportionately high rates or family and domestic violence, and the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out of home care.
Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt said the programs would embed cultural competency and trauma responsiveness by ensuring Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations play a central role in service provision.
Department of Social Services measures address the Closing the Gap Targets on out-of-home care (12) and family violence (13) and include:
Strengthening service models
$49 million will be provided over five years to support states and territories to review and redesign frontline service models including family violence, mental and physical health, substance abuse and disability. The purpose is to improve how practitioners work together to plan support for families at risk of interaction with child protection authorities and focus on early intervention.
Redesigned service models are anticipated to bring together a range of professionals such as social workers, mental health and medical professionals, drug and alcohol specialists, domestic violence support, legal services, financial counsellors, child protection workers, disability support providers, teachers and child-care providers and police to support families in an integrated way.
Outcomes and Evidence Fund
$38.6 million over three years will be provided to support proposals identified by Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations that address targets 12 and 13. Through a co-design process with the Government, tangible service delivery and outcome targets will be agreed and payments made on the basis of demonstrated achievement against the targets.
Based on social impact investing funding models, the Fund will ensure accountability to the ultimate goal of changing the lives of the most vulnerable in our community in a real way. In order to achieve this and support a shift towards more outcomes focused funding, this investment includes resourcing for capacity building in Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and expert support.
Improve and develop Cultural Competency
$7.7 million over three years to develop the cultural competency and trauma responsiveness of the Indigenous and non-Indigenous child and family sector workforce through Department of Social Services grant funding in prevention and early intervention services in the child and family support sector.
Assess barriers identified by ACCOs
$3.2 million over two years to assess the needs, and increase the involvement of, Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations in the child and family sector.
“The rates of family and domestic violence, and children in out of home care among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are absolutely heartbreaking,” Minister Ruston said.
“We must make sure we are prioritising investments so that we are all responding to the evidence and doing the things that will make the most difference.
“These new Social Services measures demonstrate our commitment to shared decision-making in the design, implementation and monitoring of policies and programs because we know when we walk side by side we can and will improve outcomes for all Indigenous Australians.”
Minister Wyatt said the Implementation Plan builds on this year’s Budget announcements and recognises that improving the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people could only be done by working together.
“For the first time, all governments and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled sector share responsibility for achieving outcomes, embedding priority reforms and reporting their progress,” Minister Wyatt said.
“Sharing accountability acknowledges that all parties have a role to play in improving outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”
For more information read the Commonwealth Closing the Gap Implementation Plan.

Australians are set to have access to a new treatment for COVID-19, in addition to the continuously expanding vaccine rollout.
The Australian Government has secured an initial shipment of over 7,700 doses of the novel monoclonal antibody treatment sotrovimab. This treatment has been shown to dramatically reduce hospitalisation and risk of death in adults with mild to moderate COVID-19, who are at risk of developing severe COVID-19.
Sotrovimab will provide another tool in the ongoing challenge against COVID-19. It will provide an important new way to treat the disease and manage outbreaks across Australia.
Sotrovimab is currently being assessed by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and will be available for use in Australia this year once the TGA evaluations are complete. As with all medicines, TGA approval is necessary for supply in Australia and once approved, doctors will be able to provide it to patients with COVID-19 who meet the terms of use recommended by the TGA.
The advanced purchase of sotrovimab has been supported by the Science and Industry Technical Advisory Group (SITAG), which is the Australian Government’s expert group advising on COVID-19 vaccine and treatment purchases.
Antibodies are proteins produced by our own body’s immune system and are one of the main ways the body defends itself against diseases. Antibodies work by binding to a specific target – for example, a virus or a bacteria – and making them harmless. They block or slow down the action of the virus or bacteria, or they flag it as ‘foreign’ so that other parts of our immune system can clear the ‘invaders’ away.
Monoclonal antibodies work in the same way. They are laboratory-made proteins that mimic our body’s immune system to help fight off harmful pathogens and can be used to help to treat people who already have COVID-19.
Monoclonal antibodies have been safely and effectively used to treat a growing number of diseases, some of which were difficult to treat in the past.
Manufactured by GSK, sotrovimab will be the first COVID-19 monoclonal antibody treatment available for use in this country, with the complete treatment requiring just one dose administered via IV infusion in a healthcare facility.
To date, the sotrovimab treatment has been shown to reduce hospitalisation or death by 79 per cent in adults with mild to moderate COVID-19 who are at high risk of progression to severe disease.
The Australian Government’s agreement with sotrovimab’s supplier GSK includes delivery of more than 7,700 doses for the National Medical Stockpile, with an initial delivery this year upon TGA approval.
As with all products procured for the National Medical Stockpile, this treatment will be provided to states and territories as needed, to be administered to eligible patients in a healthcare facility.
Not all people with COVID-19 will require access to this treatment. Where a doctor prescribes this treatment for their patients with mild to moderate COVID-19, who are at risk of developing severe COVID-19, it will be made available free of charge through the public health system.
Physician estimates of the Australian patient treatment population range from eight to fifteen per cent of patients who are SARS-CoV2 positive that would be considered at high risk of disease progression and would be recommended for treatment with sotrovimab, based on past and current experience of managing COVID-19 patients.
The Australian Government is committed to providing all Australians with access to safe and effective COVID-19 treatments as soon as available. As Australia looks to managing existing outbreaks in 2021 and beyond, the sotrovimab treatment will provide further options to protect vulnerable Australians at risk of developing severe COVID-19. It will add flexibility, provide early access, and broaden coverage.
The Australia Government continues to engage proactively with developers of other promising treatments for COVID-19.
All COVID-19 medicine applications are being treated with the greatest priority as part of the Government’s response to the pandemic.

The Australian Government is supporting primary care COVID-19 vaccination providers to offer vaccinations to residential aged care and disability support workers through dedicated workplace-based clinics.
As part of ensuring residential aged care workers can access a COVID-19 vaccine ahead of
17 September 2021 – when COVID-19 vaccination becomes mandatory for these workers – the Government is offering additional vaccination payments to primary care vaccination providers who set up clinics at the relevant facilities.
Until 31 October 2021, the general practices, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS) and Commonwealth Vaccination Clinics (CVCs) which prioritise workplace vaccinations for aged care and disability support workers will be able to access additional payments for every dose administered.
The additional incentives are offered in recognition of the importance of vaccinating workers against COVID-19 to support the wellbeing of the vulnerable people they care for.
The incentive payment will be made available to general practices, ACCHS and CVCs where a minimum of 50 cumulative COVID-19 vaccination doses are provided to aged care and disability support workers across facilities as part of on-site vaccination clinics.
To ensure a coordinated approach, 31 Primary Health Networks (PHNs) across Australia will play a key role in supporting primary care providers conducting vaccination clinics for residential aged care workers. Disability support workplace clinics may be coordinated directly between disability support providers and primary care providers.
Only practices participating in the Practice Incentives Program (PIP) or which operate as a CVC are eligible to participate.
The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) has recommended the mandatory vaccination of workers in residential aged care and this has been endorsed by National Cabinet.
AHPPC has now approved the framework for which workers the mandate applies to, enabling states and territories to progress with the development of the public health orders.
COVID-19 vaccination will be mandatory for full time, part-time and casual residential aged care workers, volunteers engaged by the facility, and students on placement. This includes anyone employed or engaged by a residential aged care facility who works on-site in a facility. Medical practitioners, such as general practitioners and consulting specialists, are also covered by this scope. All other workers who provide in-reach services or who attend on a visiting basis are strongly encouraged to get a COVID-19 vaccination.
A limited range of exemptions will also be available, including for pregnancy or a medical exemption, as well as a temporary exemption where access to a vaccine has not been available prior to the 17 September deadline.
A further exemption may apply where compliance with the mandatory vaccination requirement will undermine the quality of care available to residents – for example, high rates of community transmission has exposed multiple RACFs with high numbers of staff furloughed requiring immediate deployments of workforce to provide care.

The Morrison Government is investing $14.3 million to provide additional mental health support for Australians living in rural and remote communities in Western NSW and the Northern Territory.
Australians living in rural and remote areas deserve the same access to mental health services as those living in our major cities. We know that remoteness and loneliness are contributing to suicide amongst our young people, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people are particularly vulnerable.
Announced as part of the 2021-22 Budget, the $14.3 million will be used to engage more mental health workers and create locally tailored and culturally safe services for young people aged 12-25 years living in rural and remote areas.
Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt MP, said the Government is profoundly committed to safeguarding the mental health and wellbeing of young people across Australia, including those in rural and remote communities.
“We want to ensure that our young Australians, especially in rural and remote communities know that they are not alone, which is why we’re putting more health professionals on the ground and providing more support,” Minister Hunt said.
The Western NSW Primary Health Network (PHN) will receive $8.7 million to recruit, train, and support Aboriginal Wellbeing Workers to deliver culturally safe mental health outreach services to young people across 10 rural and remote communities with populations of less than 5,000.
The Northern Territory PHN will receive $5.6 million to establish a new headspace satellite service in Palmerston; provide co-designed outreach support services to the Yulara and Mutitjulu communities from the existing headspace Alice Springs service; and engage Arrernte Angankere (traditional healers) to improve equity of access for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in the region.
The PHNs will work with local communities and key stakeholders to co-design the services to ensure they meet the needs of young people.
Minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt AM MP, said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are nearly twice as likely to die by suicide and Indigenous Australians are nearly three times more likely to be psychologically distressed than non-Indigenous Australians.
“These new services, including a new headspace satellite service in Palmerston will ensure that young Indigenous Australians living in rural and remote communities can access culturally tailored mental health support when they need it,” Minister Wyatt said.
Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention,
David Coleman MP, said the Morrison Government continues to make mental health and suicide prevention a national priority.
“This investment is part of our record $2.3 billion investment for the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan to lead landmark reform of the mental health system, which includes $6.5 billion in mental health and suicide prevention services and supports in 2021-22, doubling since 2012-13,” Assistant Minister Coleman said.
As part of the 2021-22 Budget, the Morrison Government has invested $278 million to strengthen, enhance and expand the national headspace network.
Australians looking for support throughout the COVID-19 pandemic can access the Beyond Blue Coronavirus Wellbeing Support Service anytime via telephone at 1800 512 348 or online at coronavirus.beyondblue.org.au.
Anyone experiencing distress can seek immediate advice and support through Lifeline (13 11 14), Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800), or the Government’s digital mental health gateway, Head to Health.
If you are concerned about suicide, living with someone who is considering suicide, or bereaved by suicide, the Suicide Call Back Service is available at 1300 659 467 or www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au.