House of Assembly Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2) 52 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Answers to Questions Aboriginal Health Survey ABORIGINAL HEALTH SURVEY Mr MARSHALL House of Assembly Norwood Leader of the Opposition ABORIGINAL HEALTH SURVEY 483 Mr MARSHALL (Norwood—Leader of the Opposition) (4 December 2012). How will the absence of APY lands data from the South Australian Aboriginal Health Survey affect SA Health's capacity to measure progress made under the Council of Australian Government's National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health Outcomes? The Hon. J.J. SNELLING House of Assembly Playford Minister for Health and Ageing Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Minister for Defence Industries Minister for Veterans' Affairs ABORIGINAL HEALTH SURVEY The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for Defence Industries, Minister for Veterans' Affairs): I am told: The Council of Australian Governments agreed to six targets for closing the gap in indigenous disadvantage, as specified in the Closing the Gap: National Partnership Agreement. Two of the targets are to close the life expectancy gap within a generation and to halve the gap in mortality rates for indigenous children under five within a decade. These are both aimed at improving indigenous health outcomes. Neither of these indicators rely on data from the Aboriginal Health Survey for measurement. They use data from other sources. The Aboriginal Health Survey was designed to produce stable population estimates on several health topics, including disease and risk factor prevalence, for aboriginal people living in metropolitan, rural and remote areas of the state. Many remote communities participated in the survey. Examples include Yalata, Oak Valley, Coober Pedy, Ceduna and Koonibba. The survey provides an accurate reflection of the experiences of remote communities.