Minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, has welcomed the Productivity Commission’s second Closing the Gap Annual Data Compilation report.
It provides a point-in-time snapshot of progress under the National Agreement for Closing the Gap, helping all parties maintain momentum and progress against the targets.
Disappointingly, the latest data shows five Closing the Gap targets are not on track, including:
- Children being developmentally on track when they commence school,
- Out-of-home care rates;
- Adult imprisonment;
- Deaths by suicide; and
- Sea country rights and interests.
There are some modest improvements in four Closing the Gap targets relating to:
- Life outcomes for children;
- Better early childhood development with healthier birth weights;
- Higher rates of school attendance; and
- Lowering youth detention rates.
Closely and regularly monitoring the progress towards agreed objectives and outcomes is a key part of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap and our Government is committed to making data publicly available so that parties can make informed decisions about what is and isn’t working.
A meeting of the Joint Council on Closing the Gap will be held in Adelaide on 26th August 2022 to discuss the way forward on targets.
The Commonwealth has been working with parties to the National Agreement, on the development of the first Commonwealth Closing the Gap Annual Report to be released later this year.
The Annual Data Compilation Report is available on the Productivity Commission website.
Quotes attributable to Minister Burney
“This report from the Productivity Commission provides consistent and transparent reporting to keep governments informed and accountable.
“For too many years, First Nations data collection has been hard to come by and as we build these repositories, we capture the past and set the future.
“There are some disappointing results in the latest figures – it’s clear that more work needs to be done.
“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.
“I am keen to understand more about how the Priority Reforms are being implemented across the country.
“I look forward to driving progress with our Partners, including the Coalition of Peaks and state and territory Ministerial colleagues, at my first Joint Council meeting for Closing the Gap in late August in Adelaide.”