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TRANSCRIPT
Every year, the federal government releases data on what are known as Closing the Gap targets.
The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, says they're a set of goals agreed on between state and federal governments, and the Indigenous organisation Coalition of Peaks, to improve the lives of First Nations Australians.
“You have the right to a full and equal place in our nation and our future. Unburdened by discrimination or disadvantage. Empowered by opportunity and security. That is the test - and the purpose - of Closing the Gap.”
There are 19 Gap targets in total.
“The Closing the Gap targets are a measure of our national progress - and there is real progress. Four targets are on track. And based on progress to date, later this year we expect confirmation that the target of 95 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children enrolled in preschool has been achieved. A further six targets are improving. And that number is based on the national average.”
The PM says there are also four areas where progress has stalled, or going backwards: namely youth incarceration, child removal, early development, and suicide.
“The most urgent is suicide. Suicide shatters families, it tears apart communities. So often amidst the grief, loved ones return to the heartbreaking question: how did it come to this? Compared to non-Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are two and a half times more likely to die by suicide. “
The figures on First Nations involvement in the justice system are also especially troubling.
First Nations children are 27 times more like ly to be in youth detention than their non-Indigenous peers and 10 times more likely to be in out-of-home care.
For Catherine Liddle, from the national Indigenous organisation for children SNAICC, it's no surprise that young people feature so heavily in the report.
“I think today's report reinforces what SNAICC has always known and what I know as deputy convener is that Closing the Gap starts with our children. The story of children was at the heart of the tabling of the report today. And when you think about all the conditions that our children need to be thriving, they were mentioned in that report.”
The government already hopes the appointment of a permanent Indigenous children's commissioner will have a positive impact here.
But their approach has already come under heavy criticism, with Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe saying $230 million was recently funnelled to Northern Territory police rather than to community-led solutions.
Ms Thorpe says communities must keep the pressure on the Minister for Indigenous Affairs to move beyond rhetoric and deliver material results.
“I only spoke to an elder yesterday who reeled off the number of reports and recommendations in her 50 years of working in youth justice and child protection, and she said, we are sick of it. Our people are dying. And I echo her sentiments because that Commissioner's role needs to have teeth.”
Meanwhile, in New South Wales alone, the number of Indigenous people in jail is higher than ever before.
Numbers from the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research show First Nations people represent more than a third of the state's prison population - the highest number and proportion on record - despite making up three per cent of the general population.
The Indigenous Affairs Minister, Malarndirri McCarthy, says it's proved a challenge to address incarceration and other justice issues because of the different legal frameworks and policies in systems around the country.
But she says she remains keen to make progress by working with First Nations communities.
“We must do it in collaboration with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community across Australia, and that is through the Coalition of Peaks. That is why we have the Joint Council twice a year to look at some of the structural and systemic change that has to occur. But also in terms of doing it partnership to see the changes for First Nations people.”
In the end, Anthony Albanese maintains the latest Closing the Gap figures are not a bad news story.
“We are now five years away from most of the target deadlines. We are clear about where there is more to do. We must also guard against talk of failure, because talk of failure dismisses the aspirations and achievements of Indigenous Australians. It ignores the leaders and communities who are changing lives. Failure is a word for those who have stopped trying - or given up listening.”
Scott Wilson from the Coalition of Peaks agrees.
He says the announcements on boosting health funding to Aboriginal health organisations, mental health services, and even funding to remote stores to help keep food fresh are all good initiatives.
But he says the government must commit to putting its money where its mouth is.
“We also need to be honest. Investments like the ones announced today must be backed up by ongoing sustainable funding. Our organisations need certainty to plan, to employ people and retain staff, and to deliver lasting change - not just survive from one funding round to the other.”
For culturally appropriate Indigenous support call 13 YARN.. a 24 hour national telephone helpline on 13 92 76 which provides support across a range of issues including mental health. https://www.13yarn.org.au/
Or call Lifeline 13 11 14
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
Men's Referral Service 1300 766 491
