Architecture for Indigenous healthcare in the regions

he health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people compared to that of non-Indigenous Australians is one of the more disturbing and enduring measures of inequality in Australia. Compared to those in urban centres, measures of Indigenous health decline in remote and very remote regions, where access to health services is more haphazard and factors that determine health – housing, education, unemployment and poverty – vary with place. The most recent “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework Report” to address the gap in Indigenous health identifies a need for readily accessible, culturally supportive healthcare services, but the design of hospitals and clinics is ignored in this otherwise comprehensive set of recommendations. By comparison, we recognize that culturally appropriate design matters in Indigenous housing and that sociocultural imperatives should influence prison and courthouse architecture. Given accepted practice in these