'From little things, big things grow'--a history of the development of cooperation between Aboriginal health services and the South Western Sydney Area Health Service.

Aboriginal people suffer from the worst health of any identifiable group in Australia due to profound disadvantages experienced by them since European colonisation of Australia. The Aboriginal community of south-west Sydney represents almost 25 per cent of Sydney's Aboriginal population. Since 1990 the Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation, the South Western Sydney Area Health Service and staff of the Office of Aboriginal Health (NSW Department of Health) have been cooperating to improve the health of Aboriginal people in south-west Sydney. The Working Group on Aboriginal Health has produced a Strategic Plan for Aboriginal Health in South Western Sydney. This cooperation has come from the development of trust, the identification of local needs and the elaboration of local solutions.