Anthony Albanese faces renewed pressure to introduce consequences for states – and in particular the Northern Territory (NT) – for their failures to comply with the Closing the Gap agreement as new data shows that governments around Australia are still “falling well short” on their promises to improve the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Australians. New data from the Productivity Commission (PC) measuring progress against 10 of the 19 targets in the decade-long Closing the Gap agreement shows just four targets are on track to be met by 2031. This is worse than a year ago when five targets were on track and the PC published a scathing report urging the commonwealth to make bureaucracies accountable for failures to act in accordance with the agreement they all signed in 2020. As the Prime Minister prepares to meet Indigenous leaders, the PC has published data that shows results going backwards in key areas.
Nationwide in 2024, more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and youths were in detention than in 2023, more Indigenous six-year-olds were developmentally behind their peers and more Indigenous children were in out-of-home care. The data shows pockets of extreme disadvantage in remote Australia. The NT is again the worst performing jurisdiction. While there is improvement towards some targets in the Territory, the life expectancy of Indigenous females there fell in 2024, the percentage of Indigenous babies born a healthy weight fell, fewer Indigenous children were enrolled in NT preschools, fewer Indigenous youth in the NT were working or studying, fewer Indigenous adults in the NT were employed and more Indigenous adults and youth were in NT prisons. The bleak NT figures cover the final year of the Labor government in the top end before Lia Finocchiaro led the Country Liberal Party to victory.
Indigenous leaders have been concerned for years that successive NT governments have been receiving perverse reward for their failure to deliver good policy and services. That “reward” comes in the form of untied GST grants that rise when Indigenous disadvantage rises, they say. Denise Bowden, Yothu Yindi Foundation chief executive, told the PC six years ago that Indigenous disadvantage was a “commodity” for the NT’s then Labor government. The Coalition of Peaks, an alliance of Indigenous service providers working on the Closing the Gap agreement with governments, has pointed to some progress in the national data. Australia-wide, 94.2 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were enrolled in preschool in 2024 – up from 61.3 per cent in 2016 – and employment rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 to 64 rose to 55.7 per cent, up from 51 per cent in 2016.
The Coalition of Peaks wants government to scale up the success stories involving Indigenous organisations that deliver effective services and programs. The examples include Aboriginal medical services and night patrols that intercept troubled youth. “These results show what’s possible when governments partner with us in the right way,” Ms Turner said. “That means working in true partnership, properly resourcing our community-controlled organisations, transforming government systems, and sharing data we need to make decisions.” She said while the new data showed improvements in the numbers of Indigenous Australians completing year 12, obtaining a tertiary education and living in housing that was not overcrowded, most Gap targets remained off track, particularly in remote areas. “It’s not enough to hope the gap will close, governments must hold themselves to account for the commitments they’ve made under the national agreement,” Ms Turner said.
“That requires smart investment, longer-term flexible funding, and full implementation of the four Priority Reforms – shifting power, not just policy. Without real power shift, we’ll keep seeing the same patterns repeat, and our people will continue to pay the price.” Ms Turner said. The four targets on track are preschool enrolments, employment and increased in the land mass and sea water subject to Indigenous people’s legal rights and interests. There was some progress towards increased Indigenous life expectancy, healthy birthweights, year 12 attainment, tertiary education, youth engagement in work, training or study and reduced overcrowding but not enough for any of these to be considered on track. Results were going backwards in early childhood development, adult incarceration, children in out-of-home care and suicide. While youth incarceration had increased nationally for three years in a row, it was categorised as unchanged because it was about the same as 2018.
Source: Compiled by APN from media reports
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