The Federal Government has urged indigenous Australians to take more responsibility for dealing with their health problems caused by smoking, drinking and poor diets.
Health Minister Nicola Roxon announced the members of the National Indigenous Health Equality Council yesterday.
She said the council would provide advice and support as the Government worked to close ''the appalling life expectancy gap and unacceptably high rates of child mortality in the indigenous population.
''We know that smoking and excessive consumption of alcohol and poor diet are the three biggest risk factors for many of the chronic diseases that indigenous people are dying from, at an early age,'' Ms Roxon said.
''So really my challenge is: we want to invest more in this area, we want to turn around the big gap in life expectancy but we need indigenous Australians to do it with us and their health service providers.''
Indigenous Australians are likely to die 17 years earlier than their non-indigenous compatriots.
The Government was committed to ''closing the gap'' within a generation but indigenous Australians needed to play their part too.
''I think that the indigenous community is well aware that going to funerals of their loved ones and family members 10 and 20 years before non-indigenous communities do so is a reason to do this,'' Ms Roxon said.
''We will work with them to help change the other pressures that might make it more tempting to smoke and drink, but we need them also to be prepared to take some responsibility.''
Ms Roxon announced yesterday that Professor Ian Anderson a leading researcher in indigenous health would chair the council.
Dr Mick Adams who heads the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation would serve as deputy.
The council has nine other members with expertise in a areas including nursing, vascular disease, medical anthropology, nutrition and rural medicine.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma said this was ''another milestone'' on the way to closing the gap but more funds were required.
Inequality could be overcome if health spending were increased by 1 per cent annually over a decade.
''If appropriate funding is committed to indigenous health now, the expenditure required over time is likely to decline,'' Mr Calma said.
''However, if we wait in the vain hope the problem will solve itself, the cost of closing the gap will just continue to grow.''
The executive officer of the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health, Mick Gooda, welcomed the Government's decision.
''The continuing appalling state of Aboriginal health is an enormous challenge facing this nation and we need the best Aboriginal leadership possible to drive the response,'' Mr Gooda said.
''One of the keenest challenges facing us is the way we address the social issues, or determinants, which affect health.''