Community building: a strategy to address inequality of health in Australia

Abstract

Given the improvements in the health of Australians in recent decades, not all sectors of populations have benefited equally. Inequality and poverty are major problems. Traditional hierarchical, top-down governance seems ineffective to address these complex problems. An innovative and more participatory community-based approach is called for to address these issues. Community-building approaches, characterized by wide-ranging community involvement, emphasizing strength and collaboration, can be a good vehicle and intervention strategy to address the poverty problem by empowering both the individual and the community. The relevance of the community-building approach to the poverty issue and Australian context is discussed.