Whole of Government Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation Strategy

Activity details

The Whole of Government Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisation Strategy, released in May 2024, sets the policy direction to support Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) to take on delivery of services for Aboriginal people and empower Aboriginal people in Western Australia to be able to access place-based, community-led and culturally secure services that are planned, designed and delivered by strong and sustainable ACCOs. The key rationale behind the ACCO Strategy is that when ACCOs are involved in planning, designing and delivering services, Aboriginal people are more likely to engage with those services and likely to experience better outcomes. This is because, ACCOs are connected and accountable to their communities and Aboriginal people make the key decisions.

In alignment with Priority Reform Two of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap (National Agreement), the Western Australian Government partnered with the Aboriginal Health Council of WA to establish a new peak body to represent the Aboriginal community-controlled sector. The Council of Aboriginal Services WA (CASWA) was formally established in March 2023 to strengthen and increase the capacity of ACCOs involved in service delivery to Aboriginal people in Western Australia across priority sectors identified under the National Agreement.

The whole-of-government ACCO Strategy and the establishment of CASWA fulfill 2 key commitments under the WA Closing the Gap Implementation Plan 2023 -2025. The WA Government is developing the Closing the Gap Implementation Plan 2026 to 2028, focused on the Priority Reform Areas, partnership making and capturing the unique data, governance and context of Western Australia’s regions.

Implementation progress update

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