Chief Executive's Foreword image: "annual Report_A4_Back_ Cover.jpg"
Download Full Version: DHF Annual Report 2007-2008 (Adobe PDF document - 1387KB)
The past year has held many exciting opportunities and developments for the department. The Little Children Sacred report, the government's Closing the Gap commitments, replacement of the child protection legislation with a new Care and Protection of Children Act and the Australian Government Intervention all come on the top of a year in which the demand for services had continued to rise across almost all service sectors of the department. The moves to reorganise the department to give greater emphasis to the needs of Northern Territory families and children is a particular case in point. The department has advanced many reforms and enhancements in this area and these are well described in the section reporting on our efforts to promote healthy safe kids in strong families. I am especially pleased to welcome the Children's Commissioner, Dr Howard Bath and the department looks forward to this contribution to our efforts to look after kids in care.
The report also paints a strong picture of our efforts to improve Aboriginal health and well-being in the Northern Territory. Our efforts to grow and mature our partnership with the community controlled health service sector and the Australian Government have increasingly meant that we have been able to improve, focus and optimise the use of resources and consequently the outcomes in this important area. The continuing improvement in life expectancy for Aboriginal women is both reason for satisfaction, but also reason to ask why we are not seeing the same improvements in the outcomes for Aboriginal men. This is an area that the department will address more deliberately in the coming year and beyond.
The report takes the reader through the journey of the last 12 months, outlining the work and in many cases the changes, these new developments have brought to the fabric of our services and our staffing. The increased level of activity in the department generally is also reflected in this report.
These developments and the increasing demand for services have required policy and service areas of he department to open themselves up to greater reform and innovation that has perhaps been the case in recent years. It is reassuring for Territorians that the quality and scope enhancement of our focus and effort, but has also in many cases contributed to a growing national appreciation of the complexity in the needs of Territorians. This has had a favourable impact on our relationship with Canberra and has meant that the two governments have been able to work closely together with great effect.
This report provides an accurate picture of the department's performance in these exciting and busy times.
Dr David Ashbridge
Chief Executive
September 2008