Seventeen years after Australia launched its Closing the Gap strategy, the nation remains far from its goals, with only four of the 19 targets on track.
But some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across the country are bucking the trend, quietly proving what real progress can look like when they lead the solutions.
In 'Closing the Gap', a special episode of Insight in collaboration with NITV, host Karla Grant speaks to grassroots workers and cultural and business leaders from across the country, who shared hard-won lessons from their own sectors.
In Yarrabah Aboriginal Community, just east of Cairns, local programs are achieving results that the national framework has struggled to deliver.
The community on Gunggandji and Yidinji Country has reduced childhood skin infections by 30 per cent, and increased school attendance well above the state average, all through locally-run initiatives.
CEO of Gurriny Yealamucka Health Services Aboriginal Corporation, Suzanne Andrews, said the difference is self-determination.
"When decisions are made here, we see results. It’s not just data — it’s dignity," the Jaru Bunuba Bardi woman said.
"If communities had full control of funding, we’d close the gap in half the time."
Public Health Coordinator at Gurriny, Renee Grosso, explained how the 'Yarrabah Soap Program' was adopted by the community with thoughtful inclusion and culturally appropriate solutions.
"It’s about giving people the tools, not the orders," she said.
"Now families feel proud knowing they’re saving kids’ lives."
In Perth, Noongar Wongi hip-hop artist Josh ‘Flewnt’ Eggington mentors incarcerated youth through music and culture.
He recounted how one teenager had spent most of his life in detention until he joined a songwriting workshop.
"He wrote about his Nan’s Country and cried halfway through," he said.
"That moment changed him. He’s out now, working, recording, teaching others.
"Culture did that."
World champion Brazilian Jujitsu athlete and mentor Shantelle Thompson offered another personal truth.
"The framework asks us to talk about trauma," the Barkindji Ngyampaa woman said.
"But healing comes from recognising our strength — as parents, as survivors, as achievers. My story isn’t about struggle; it’s about rising."
Former Indigenous Affairs Minister and architect of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, Ken Wyatt urged governments to match that local determination with genuine accountability.
"Every state parliament should report on its own progress," he said.
“That’s where responsibility starts.”
Darren Godwell, chair of Indigenous Business Australia, says the path forward needs economic policy to accompany the social policy.
“Jobs, business, ownership — that’s what turns the numbers around,” he said.
“Wealth creation is the next frontier of Closing the Gap.”
Award-winning journalist Karla Grant says the discussion reflected on both progress and persistence.
“From Yarrabah’s soap program to Perth’s rappers, these are stories of resilience, not resignation," the Western Arrernte woman said.
"The national data may move slowly, but on the ground, our people are already rewriting the outcome.”
'Closing the Gap', a special collaboration between NITV and Insight, airs Tuesday 7 October at 8.30pm on SBS, and is available on SBS On Demand after broadcast.
