Closing the Gap in Aboriginal health disparities: is there a place for Elders in the neoliberal agenda?

Objective: In light of concerns surrounding neoliberal government approaches to addressing Aboriginal disadvantage, this project examined how Elders consider the Closing the Gap programs for improving community health outcomes.

Methods: A participatory action research project was undertaken in collaboration with eight Elders from a remote Aboriginal community in Australia’s island state of Tasmania. The findings emerged from thematic analysis of individual interviews and yarning circles.

Results: The Closing the Gap programs were seen by Elders as having instrumental value for addressing Aboriginal community disadvantage. However, the programs also represented a source of ongoing dependency that threatened to undermine the community’s autonomy, self-determination and cultural foundations. The findings emerged to represent Elders attempting to reconcile this tension by embedding the programs with cultural values or promoting culture separately from the programs. Ultimately, the Elders saw culture as the core business of community well-being and effective program delivery.

Conclusion: The findings are reflective of tensions that arise when neoliberal policies are imposed on Aboriginal ways of knowing, being and doing. The Elders premised cultural well-being as the key determinant of Aboriginal community health.