Perhaps the most important initiative has been the development of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Information Plan, which was commissioned by the Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council in 1996. The Plan was finalised in 1997, following extensive consultation with a broad range of stakeholders. It includes recommendations in three broad areas: the development of an appropriate infrastructure for the collection and maintenance of Indigenous data; technical improvements required to support the collection of high quality statistics on Indigenous health; and effective national leadership and coordination to progress issues and strategies across all jurisdictions. Lack of national leadership was recognised as a critical problem in the many previous attempts to improve Indigenous statistics, and the Plan was therefore subtitled "...This time let’s make it happen". A lead agency has been assigned for each of the Plan’s 42 recommendations, and progress is being monitored regularly. Data development activities have subsequently begun in other areas, such as housing, disability and community services. (Copies of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Information Plan are available from the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Statistics. Send a request by email to: ncatsis@abs.gov.au).