Slow progress in Closing the Gap

Posted Feb 15, 2017 in News

On Tuesday 14 February, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull tabled the 2017 Closing the Gap report, which shows Australia is falling short of almost all of its targets for overcoming Indigenous disadvantage.

The Closing the Gap report looks at how Australia and the government are meeting responsibilities for improving outcomes for First Peoples. They track progress against seven different targets relating to life expectancy, child mortality, employment, reading and writing, school attendance, early education and Year 12 attainment.

This year’s report is the ninth since the Closing the Gap initiative began. In previous years, progress has been made in relation to some of these targets. However, this progress has been slow, and this year’s report shows that some targets have stagnated or even gone backwards. The only target on track to be met relates to Year 12 attainment (see the ABC’s report progress report card here).

As a church working towards justice and reconciliation, the progress being made towards improving outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is something the Uniting Church in Australia, including UnitingCare Australia organisations and the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC), is heavily invested in.

“The lack of continued progress shown in this report is alarming, particularly considering the target related to decreasing child mortality,” says Uniting Church SA Moderator Rev Sue Ellis.

“I saw so much trauma related to this when I was ministering in Ceduna – both with Aboriginal families and the people tasked to help them through health care, education and social services.” 

While overall progress has been slow or has stagnated, there have been some success stories on a local level.

“We value the work being done by UAICC communities and UnitingCare organisations to ‘close the gap’ and meet the targets identified in the Closing the Gap report,” says Sue. “It’s disheartening to see how far there is to go in improving outcomes, but it is wonderful that there are so many people committed to it on a local level.”

At a Closing the Gap breakfast held in Canberra on Tuesday 14 February, members of the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples (NCAFP) also shared their thoughts with the Prime Minister.

“Respectfully, your disappointment will not compare to our old people and what they feel at the repeated news that our lives are still shorter, sicker and poorer than other Australians’,” NCAFP co-chair Jackie Huggins said, as reported by the ABC.

“We have seen many reports and inquiries over the years make important recommendations – 400 in fact – without the required attention or response from the government.”

The NCAFP urged the government to support the Redfern Statement, a manifesto released by the member-based Indigenous representative organisation in July 2016. This statement calls for a number of important changes, most notably reversing the significant cuts made to the 2014 Federal Budget and adding a Closing the Gap target related to Indigenous imprisonment rates. The Redfern Statement received broad support from Uniting Communities and from UnitingCare NSW & ACT.

The NCAFP also called on the government to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, acknowledging the experience and expertise within their organisations and communities, and allowing them the opportunity to offer solutions.

“The effects of colonisation are still very evident and can be disempowering. Aboriginal people are calling for empowerment. At Ceduna, it was made clear to me that there are many very capable Aboriginal people who are able to create pathways for the Closing the Gap strategies,” says Sue.

“Seeking justice, reconciliation and better outcomes for First Peoples is a priority for the Uniting Church in South Australia, and we will continue to enact that through our covenant with the UAICC.”

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