Minister for Indigenous Australians
The Productivity Commission's latest Closing the Gap data highlights the critical need for more work to be done to improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.
The latest Annual Data Compilation Report, based on data first released in February, is tracking progress towards the targets and indicators in the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
The report shows that only five of 19 targets are on track to be met.
ON TRACK
- Healthy birthweight (Target 2)
- Children enrolled in preschool (Target 3)
- Indigenous employment (Target 8)
- Land mass and sea waters covered under Indigenous legal rights and interests (Target 15A and 15B) are improving at the rate requiring to meet targets.
NOT ON TRACK
- Early childhood development (Target 4)
- Indigenous adults held in incarceration (Target 10)
- Indigenous children held in out-of-home care (Target 12)
- Indigenous suicide rate (Target 14).
The Closing the Gap dashboard and Annual Data Compilation Report are available at the Productivity Commission's website, Closing the Gap Information Repository - Productivity Commission (pc.gov.au)(link is external).
Quotes attributable to the Senator the Hon Malarndirri McCarthy:
"These figures are deeply troubling, but I am determined to work in partnership with First Nations Australians, the Coalition of Peaks and State and Territory governments to bring about positive change.
"I will be reaching out to my colleagues across the parliament to seek a bipartisan approach to Indigenous affairs."
