Table 1.

Characteristics of participating community health centres compared to all health centres in the Top End of Northern Territory, Australia

Characteristics	Participating health centres (N = 12)		All health centres (N = 53)
	n	%	n	%
Health service models
Indigenous community controlled*	2	17%	4	7%
NT government funded/operated	4	33%	38	72%
Health Board managed†	6	50%	11	21%
Sizes of populations served
< 500	5	42%	27	51%
500–999	5	42%	10	18%
≥ 1,000	2	17%	16	31%
Access to the community
All year by road	4	33%	18	34%
Part year by road‡	6	50%	26	49%
All year by air or sea (islands)	2	17%	9	17%
Kilometres to the nearest hospital
< 20 km by road	3	25%	6	11%
20–100 km by road	2	17%	6	11%
101–300 km by road	2	17%	18	34%
301–600 km by road	3	25%	14	27%
By air (islands)	2	17%	9	17%

* Refers to health centres legally incorporated and governed by a board elected by the Indigenous community. Most of their funds are from the Commonwealth government through the Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health in the Department of Health and Ageing.

† Refers to a model established through the NT Aboriginal Coordinated Care Trials, in which Commonwealth and NT health funds were provided to an incorporated health board that purchased health services for their community.

‡ Road is often cut off by flood in the wet season (between December and April).