Army Aboriginal Community Assistance Programme (AACAP) is a joint initiative of the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) and Australian Army. Its objective is to:
- improve the environmental health and living conditions of Indigenous Australians
- contribute to the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
Each year the AACAP works with a remote community on:
- construction – improving infrastructure and facilities
- health – supplementing local providers and improve access
- training – empowering community members and improving employability
- community engagement – two-way learning and improving benefits
- deployment and force projection – supporting Army objectives.
These activities greatly improve the health and living standards in the community.
In 2022, AACAP marked its 25th Anniversary Army Aboriginal Community Assistance Program (AACAP) 25th Anniversary Ceremony address | Australian Army. Celebrations were held on 14 October 2022 in Gapuwiyak, NT, a previous AACAP recipient.
In 2017, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and Australian Defence Force (Australian Army) undertook a joint review of the AACAP to assess its efficiency and effectiveness. The review found AACAP is a highly regarded and effective means of achieving positive environmental and primary health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities while providing valuable training outcomes for Army.
Read the 2017 joint review of the Army Aboriginal Community Assistance Programme.