Joint supply of environmental and health services to remote Australia

The research

This research uses economic tools to identify how jointly delivering health and environmental services to desert Australia could produce improvements in health and environmental outcomes.

Why this research?

David’s work links two major challenges facing desert Australia - the poor health of Aboriginal people and the environmental degradation of arid lands. This research builds from other research that has recognised that:

• Aboriginal people can get health benefits from doing land management
• Benefits can be immediate, through improved diet and exercise
• Benefits can be longer term, through the way that meaningful employment on country can improve the psychosocial determinants of health.
  

The link between health and environment means that agencies and local people will achieve greater improvements in outcomes by linking the delivery of services in these two sectors, compared to addressing health and environment issues separately.

Expected Outcomes

This research can inform evidence-based policy for health and environmental service delivery from an economic perspective.

• Findings so far show that supporting Aboriginal involvement in land management activities can be a cost-effective way of jointly delivering health and environmental services in desert Australia.

Participants

• Centre for Remote Health, Alice Springs
• Charles Darwin University

Research Links