Our story
Our journey traces back to a gathering in Albury in 1974. Since then, we have advocated for Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) nationwide, to ensure our health is firmly in our hands.
The first ACCHO was established in Redfern in 1971 and put the wheels in motion for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, to build a community-led health sector providing a model of health care that puts culture and community at the centre.
Read our story, below.
The first ACCHO – Aboriginal Medical Service Redfern – was established.
The Aboriginal Tent Embassy was established in Canberra,
outside the former Parliament House on January 26.
First census to include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The Racial Discrimination Act was introduced.
Medibank was introduced.
Almost 20 ACCHOs are in operation.
The Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP)
scheme began in a handful of remote Indigenous communities.
The social determinants of health are recognised as fundamental to improving health outcomes by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs.
Commonwealth funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health was consolidated within the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, with a plan to fund ACCHOs directly.
The final report was delivered in 1991.
A ‘National Aboriginal Health Strategy’ was drafted by an Aboriginal-led health working group.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) was established by the Hawke Government, bringing many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programs and policies under the one portfolio.
NACCHO was established, replacing the National Aboriginal and Islander Health Organisation (NAIHO) as the national peak body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.
Eddie Mabo’s seminal victory in the High Court, where it was recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanderrights to land had continued after the British Crown acquired sovereignty, and that the international law doctrine of ‘terra nullius’ (or land belonging to no one) was not applicable to Australian domestic law.
Paul Keating’s ‘Redfern Park Speech’. This was a ground-breaking admission of the negative impact of white settlement on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, culture and society. It was also the first acknowledgement by the Australian Government of the dispossession of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The Native Title Act was enacted.
NACCHO established a permanent secretariat in Canberra with funding from the federal government.
The Bringing Them Home Report was published. Bringing Them Home is the 1997 Australian Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families. This separation became known as the Stolen Generation.
Special arrangements were put in place to allow for the supply of pharmaceuticals covered by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) to clients of remote ACCHOs.
By 2003 the national footprint of ACCHOs, numbered 140.
The Productivity Commission’s first Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage report was released.
ATSIC was decommissioned by the Howard Government.
The short-lived Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination was established.
National Indigenous Television (NITV) was launched.
The Howard Government initiated the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER).
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered the National Apology to the Stolen Generation.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd signed the Closing the Gap Statement of intent, committing to a sound evidence-based pat to achieving health equality. A path supported by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health sector.
The Liberal Government, led by Prime Minister Tony Abbott decreased funding to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programs by $500 million.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders come to together to issue the Redfern Statement, calling for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander autonomy, and community-control.
The Uluru Statement from the Heart was an invitation from a group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians, to support them in substantive government reforms to help realise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights, through the establishment of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament and a Makarrata Commission.
The Coalition of Peaks, spearheaded by NACCHO, formed to strengthen the Closing the Gap process and ensure genuine community engagement.
See: https://www.coalitionofpeaks.org.au/our-story
The World Health Organization declares COVID-19 as a worldwide pandemic.
A new National Agreement on Closing the Gap 2020–2030 was signed by all Australian Governments and the Coalition of Peaks.
of The Uluru Statement from the Heart.
On 14 October 14 2023, Australians participated in a referendum to decide on amending the Constitution to acknowledge the First People of Australia through the establishment of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. This marked the first referendum of the 21st century, but ultimately, it did not succeed.
The first ACCHO – Aboriginal Medical Service Redfern – was established.
The Aboriginal Tent Embassy was established in Canberra,
outside the former Parliament House on January 26.
First census to include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The first national ‘Ten Year Plan for Aboriginal Health’ was developed by the Whitlam Government.
Meeting in Albury results in the formation of the national Aboriginal Medical Services umbrella organisation, the National Aboriginal and Islander Health Organisation (NAIHO).
The Racial Discrimination Act was introduced.
Medibank was introduced.
Almost 20 ACCHOs are in operation.
The Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP)
scheme began in a handful of remote Indigenous communities.
An Aboriginal delegation travels to Kazakhstan to present the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communitycontrolled model of care which influences the World Health Organisation’s Alma Ata Declaration on Primary Health Care.
The social determinants of health are recognised as fundamental to improving health outcomes by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs.
Commonwealth funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health was consolidated within the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, with a plan to fund ACCHOs directly.
The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody was established.
The final report was delivered in 1991.
A ‘National Aboriginal Health Strategy’ was drafted by an Aboriginal-led health working group.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) was established by the Hawke Government, bringing many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programs and policies under the one portfolio.
NACCHO was established, replacing the National Aboriginal and Islander Health Organisation (NAIHO) as the national peak body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.
Eddie Mabo’s seminal victory in the High Court, where it was recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanderrights to land had continued after the British Crown acquired sovereignty, and that the international law doctrine of ‘terra nullius’ (or land belonging to no one) was not applicable to Australian domestic law.
Paul Keating’s ‘Redfern Park Speech’. This was a ground-breaking admission of the negative impact of white settlement on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, culture and society. It was also the first acknowledgement by the Australian Government of the dispossession of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
NACCHO established a permanent secretariat in Canberra with funding from the federal government.
The Bringing Them Home Report was published. Bringing Them Home is the 1997 Australian Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families. This separation became known as the Stolen Generation.
Special arrangements were put in place to allow for the supply of pharmaceuticals covered by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) to clients of remote ACCHOs.
By 2003 the national footprint of ACCHOs, numbered 140.
The Productivity Commission’s first Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage report was released.
ATSIC was decommissioned by the Howard Government.
The short-lived Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination was established.
National Indigenous Television (NITV) was launched.
The Howard Government initiated the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER).
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered the National Apology to the Stolen Generation.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd signed the Closing the Gap Statement of intent, committing to a sound evidence-based pat to achieving health equality. A path supported by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health sector.
The Liberal Government, led by Prime Minister Tony Abbott decreased funding to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programs by $500 million.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders come to together to issue the Redfern Statement, calling for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander autonomy, and community-control.
The Uluru Statement from the Heart was an invitation from a group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians, to support them in substantive government reforms to help realise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights, through the establishment of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament and a Makarrata Commission.
The Coalition of Peaks, spearheaded by NACCHO, formed to strengthen the Closing the Gap process and ensure genuine community engagement.
See: https://www.coalitionofpeaks.org.au/our-story
ACCHOs are delivering 3.1 million episodes of care each year.
The World Health Organization declares COVID-19 as a worldwide pandemic.
A new National Agreement on Closing the Gap 2020–2030 was signed by all Australian Governments and the Coalition of Peaks.
On 14 October 14 2023, Australians participated in a referendum to decide on amending the Constitution to acknowledge the First People of Australia through the establishment of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. This marked the first referendum of the 21st century, but ultimately, it did not succeed.
