New report poses the same question we’ve been asking for years: is the gap really being closed?

The 2022 annual report on Closing the Gap was released late last year and, despite being the first report from the Commonwealth since the 2020 National Agreement and Implementation Plan was released in August 2021, it again shows that only four of the 18 socio-economic targets are improving or on track.

Targets considered to be on track this time around include babies born with a healthy birthweight at 89.5% and the number of children enrolled in preschool, at 96.7%. The number of young people aged between 10 and 17 years in detention to be reduced by at least 30% is on track at 23.2%, and a 15% increase in Australia’s landmass subject to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s legal rights or interests is on track for a 30% increase by 2030.

Targets that are either worsening or not considered to be on track are children being school-ready (34.3%), adult incarceration rates (2,222 per 100,000), children in out-of-home care (57.6 per 1,000) and deaths by suicide (27.9 per 100,000).

Another eight targets do not have results yet because there isn’t any new data with which to assess their progress.

“The numbers in the annual report tell an important story – a story of mixed progress,” said the Minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney.

“The Closing the Gap architecture can only work when all parties are invested and there is a coordinated effort from all jurisdictions in partnership with First Nations peoples. We have to work more closely with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to make real and much-needed progress.”

The Albanese Government’s budget included an investment of $1.2 billion over six years from 2022/2023 in measures to directly support First Nations peoples and states their commitment to Closing the Gap is unequivocal.

“Slow progress in closing the gap is understandably frustrating to so many First Nations communities and organisations who are working incredibly hard to see a better way of life,” said Assistant Minister Malarndirri McCarthy.

“We must work together, listen to our communities and re-focus our efforts to close the gap and improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians –and we’re doing just that under the new National Agreement by working with the Coalition of the Peaks, state and territory governments and local communities.”

SA Government’s Commitment to Closing the Gap progress

Late in 2022, the South Australian Government signed the ‘Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap’, a historic agreement which will require the state government to examine SA’s progress in addressing Indigenous inequality in a committee alongside delegates from Aboriginal organisations.

The new joint committee has been formed with representatives from the South Australian Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation Network (SAACCON) who, alongside state government representatives, will monitor the implementation of the Closing the Gap plan, specifically addressing “systematic and structural racism, discrimination and unconscious bias” over a three-year period.

More than 200 commitments were included in the plan, estimated to have cost millions of dollars to implement and finalised in September 2021.

Key commitments include a new mental health and wellbeing facility for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the creation of a peak body for Aboriginal children and young people and the improvement of state mining laws so Traditional Owners can be better informed of what is happening on their land. The Government will also consider legislation around better recognition of First Nations languages.

Read more

• 2022 Closing the Gap Annual Report | Ministers Media Centre (pmc.gov.au)

• Commonwealth Closing the Gap Annual Report 2022 (niaa.gov.au)

• Closing the Gap report shows four targets going backwards as experts call for efforts to ‘empower communities’ – ABC News (abc.net.au)

• SA Govt signs deal to stamp out Aboriginal disadvantage (indaily.com.au)