Closing the gap on Indigenous disadvantage: the challenge for Australia

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Contents

• Table of contents
• Foreword
• The Government's approach to Indigenous policy
• The challenge facing Australia: the evidence
• COAG - a new partnership with all governments
• Harnessing the corporate and community sectors
• Australian Government priorities for 2009
• Conclusion

The Government's approach to Indigenous policy

Addressing Indigenous disadvantage is a national responsibility that will require the energy and commitment of all Australians. Working with all parts of the Australian community, the Government is determined to drive real improvements, focused on outcomes and guided by evidence. Central to the Government’s strategy is a new partnership with Indigenous Australians, based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.

In the more than four decades since the 1967 Referendum, Australian governments have developed and funded policies and programs to improve the socio-economic status of Indigenous people, and overcome a long history of poverty and marginalisation. Progress has been made. Yet in 2009, despite the formal recognition of equality so many years ago, Indigenous people remain among the most disadvantaged Australians. Many simply do not have the opportunities afforded their fellow Australians, and many are not able to participate fully in our national life.

Too many Indigenous Australians experience unacceptable levels of disadvantage in living standards, life-expectancy, education, health and employment. Rates of chronic disease, mental illness and hospitalisation are significantly higher for the Indigenous population than the non Indigenous population¹. Literacy and numeracy results for Indigenous students are consistently below the national average, especially in remote areas². The gulf that exists between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in these critical areas remains significant and, in some areas, is widening as the rate of improvement has been greater for other Australians than for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples over recent years³.

In remote areas, successive governments have failed to properly coordinate their efforts and to fund them adequately, resulting in acute and visible need. In urban and regional areas, services provided for all Australians have not been accessed by or effectively delivered to Indigenous people. Blurred responsibilities have allowed Commonwealth, state and territory governments to avoid accountability for their failures.

In more recent times, governments have taken strong action to intervene in Indigenous communities in order to protect children from violence and abuse. While such urgent action has been and may again be necessary in the future, too little focus has been given to the longer term task of building personal and community responsibility – a challenge that must be met if Indigenous life outcomes are to improve.

The Australian Government is committed to working in partnership with Indigenous Australians, with state and territory governments, with business, community organisations and all Australians so that Indigenous Australians have access to opportunities that allow for self-respect, independence and better living standards – an education, a job, and a decent home – while still retaining a strong cultural identity and sense of community. It is unacceptable that Australia, a successful, developed nation with a modern economy, should tolerate fundamental inequality between its Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.

Setting clear, measurable targets

For the first time, the Australian Government, together with the states and territories through COAG, has set specific and ambitious targets to address Indigenous disadvantage. The six key targets that form the Closing the Gap objective are to:

1. close the life expectancy gap within a generation
2. halve the gap in mortality rates for Indigenous children under five within a decade
3. ensure access to early childhood education for all Indigenous four years olds in remote communities within five years
4. halve the gap in reading, writing and numeracy achievements for children within a decade
5. halve the gap for Indigenous students in year 12 attainment or equivalent attainment rates by 2020, and
6. halve the gap in employment outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within a decade.

These agreed measures will form the baseline for measuring progress and reforms each year.

Re-setting the relationship with Indigenous Australians

Fundamental to the Government’s strategy is a new partnership with Indigenous Australians. This partnership must be respectful and collaborative, and involve open communication with Indigenous Australians. Indigenous Australians have the capacity to bring about lasting change in their lives and those of their communities. Without a strong relationship with Indigenous Australians, based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility, we cannot hope to close the gap.

This partnership must be defined by clear objectives and responsibilities – a partnership where both parties are determined to make a difference. Recent research by Reconciliation Australia indicates that Australians have a strong desire to better understand Indigenous cultures. Our communities want to learn more about one another and to build mutual respect and trust.

Progress is being made in establishing this new relationship with Indigenous Australians. This began through the extensive consultations in the lead up to the national Apology. Since then, the Government has also held extensive community discussions on the scope and model of a national Indigenous representative body, which will continue through 2009.

The Government’s strategy seeks to draw on the strengths of Indigenous cultures. These are the oldest continuing cultures in human history. They should be celebrated and maintained as well as recognised as a valuable basis for potential economic development and for improving the wellbeing and capacity of individuals and communities.

To achieve lasting progress, the Government will work in partnership with Indigenous Australians to address patterns of individual and community behaviour that may contribute to entrenched disadvantage. The Government is committed to finding ways to foster healthy relationships within and across families, peer groups, communities and organisations, and to support Indigenous communities in their efforts to deal with destructive behaviours, establish higher expectations and manage conflict.

In doing so, governments must nevertheless be prepared to respond when manifest failures on the part of individuals or communities place others at risk of harm. Governments have a responsibility to act quickly to provide immediate protection to those in need, but in doing so they must work closely with Indigenous Australians to develop communities and build responsibility and capacity over time.

Improving service delivery

In urban and regional Australia, the Government will work to ensure that services are accessible to and meet the needs of Indigenous Australians. In remote Australia, services will be targeted on a regional basis. In the Northern Territory, the Australian Government will continue to support fragile communities and assist in their longer-term development.

In the important area of housing, COAG’s commitment of $1.94 billion over the next 10 years brings funding allocations to $5.48 billion, which will be fundamental to improving outcomes for Indigenous Australians living in remote communities. Coordination of housing and infrastructure reform in remote communities will require effective planning and accountability arrangements if these investments are going to deliver the intended benefits. The Government has appointed the National Policy Commission on Indigenous Housing to both contribute independent policy expertise from outside government and to ask the hard questions as we move forward on our ambitious investment and reform initiatives.

A challenge for all Australians

Addressing Indigenous disadvantage is a national responsibility that will require the engagement of the Australian community. The Government is committed to working in partnership with Indigenous Australians, state and territory governments, businesses and community organisations.

A key development during the past year has been the emergence of several corporate and philanthropic partnerships with Indigenous communities that promise to deliver real and sustainable improvements in reducing disadvantage. Under these programs, businesses are actively seeking to increase their employment of Indigenous Australians, and the Government looks forward to further corporate and community initiatives emerging in the future.

The Government recognises that there are long lead times between policy changes and achieving improved outcomes in health, education, employment and life expectancy. It is unrealistic to expect results overnight. But actions and investments can be targeted more effectively, and monitoring progress will be essential to ongoing assessment of the effectiveness of the initiatives taken to closing the gap.

Accountability and reporting

All governments must be accountable for improving outcomes for Indigenous Australians. A key element of current Commonwealth, state and territory programs is the adoption of measurable targets. Progress to achievement of the six targets will be measured against agreed milestones, and included in regular reporting.

The COAG Reform Council is monitoring progress in implementing the COAG reform agenda and will review progress against the six targets in its annual report.

It is equally important that, in assessing progress, we establish whether the rate of improvement is sufficient to meet each of the COAG targets. If progress is not sufficient then policy and program settings will need to be reviewed.

The commitment to monitoring and reporting requires that governments improve statistical collection services that are currently not sufficient to allow monitoring of key outcomes. Statistics are often skewed by the under-identification of Indigenous people in administrative data sets and limited sampling of Indigenous people in more general surveys.

These problems are compounded by uncertainties in the underlying Indigenous population statistics, inconsistencies across the jurisdictions and other factors. To give effect to the COAG commitment to accurate monitoring of outcomes, governments will work together to improve the detail and accuracy of information on outcomes for Indigenous Australians.

Further, the Government has undertaken to report to Parliament each year on progress made against the six Closing the Gap targets, assessing improvements in the wellbeing of Indigenous Australians. This is the first in a series of reports to be presented.

1. Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council, 2008, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework 2008 Summary.
2. 2008 National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy, Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, (MCEETYA), 2008.
3. Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council, 2008, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework 2008 Summary.

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