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CLOSING the GAP Report 2019

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CLOSING the GAP Report 2019 CLOSING THE GAP Report 2019 CLOSING THE GAP Report 2019 Garma festival 2018 CONTENTS Prime Minister's Foreword 4 Introduction 8 Chapter 1 CelebratingIndigenousCulture 16 Chapter 2 InfancyandEarlyChildhood 28 Chapter 3 Education 62 Chapter 4 Employment 92 Chapter 5 EconomicDevelopment 108 Chapter 6 HealthyLives 118 Chapter 7 SafeandStrongCommunities 142 Resources 152 PRIME MINISTER THE HON SCOTT MORRISON MP 4 Prime Minister’s Foreword Thisyear’sClosingtheGapReportisan opportunitytoreflectonadecade’sefforts underanambitiousframeworkaimedat improvingoutcomesforAboriginaland TorresStraitIslanderAustralians. Whileprogresshasbeenmadeoverthe pastdecade,onlytwooftheambitious targetsareontrack.Itshowsweneedto changethewaywework. Ibelievethattheprogressneededcanonlybe acceleratedthroughadeeperpartnershipwith thestatesandterritoriesandwithAboriginaland TorresStraitIslanderAustralians.Top-downdoes notwork,onlypartnershipsdo. Thisiswhy,twoyearsago,weembarkedonthe I believe that the progress needed ClosingtheGapRefresh.TenyearsofClosing can only be accelerated through theGapimplementationprovidesanimportant opportunitytoreflectonwhathasworkedand a deeper partnership with whathasnot.Therehavebeenshortfallsin the states and territories and boththeimplementationandleadershipofthe with Aboriginal and Torres ClosingtheGapagenda.In2019,wewantto Strait Islander Australians. trysomethingnew,tochangethewaywework asgovernments–toworkinpartnershipwith Top-down does not work, AboriginalandTorresStraitIslanderAustralians. only partnerships do. Closing the Gap Report 2019 5 InearlyDecember2018,aCoalitionofAboriginalandTorresStraitIslanderAustraliansmade representationtome.Theycametomeseekingapartnership,onethatshareddecisionmaking onhowfuturepoliciesaredeveloped,especiallyataregionalorlocallevel. On12December2018,ImetwithCOAGFirstMinistersandtogetherweagreedtoformapartnership withAboriginalandTorresStraitIslanderrepresentatives.ThisisthepartnershiptheCoalitionof AboriginalandTorresStraitIslanderAustraliansaskedfor.InlisteningtoAboriginalandTorresStrait Islanderpeoples,communitiesandtheirpeakandgoverningbodies,IrealisedthatforClosingtheGap tobesuccessful,wemustchangethewayweworkandworktogether.Thispartnershipprovidesa platformforgenuinecollaborationasweagreehowtomoveforward. SincetheinitiationofClosingtheGapin2008,eachsuccessivePrimeMinisterhasdelivereda reportonoutcomesandeffortsbytheAustralianGovernment.Eachyear,thePrimeMinisterhas deliveredthemessagethatthetargetsarenotontrack.Therearemanyreasonsforthis,whichinform ourfutureapproach.Weknowthatbeneaththisstoryareexamplesofimprovementandprogress– morechildrenarestayinginschoolforlongerandachievingyear12qualifications.Thiseducationsets themupforbetteremploymentopportunities. Thisreportof2019marksthefinalreportagainsttheClosingtheGapframeworkestablishedin 2008andatransitiontothecommitmentofallAustraliangovernmentstodothingsdifferently. Aswemoveintothisnextphase,ClosingtheGapwillbeembracedasawholeofgovernment agendawithallgovernmentssharingaccountabilityforprogressandextendingthisshared accountabilitytoincludeAboriginalandTorresStraitIslanderpeople. Weshouldnotletourfailuretomeettargetsovershadowthesuccessful,thrivinglivesof manyAboriginalandTorresStraitAustraliansandthegreatworkthatmanyinourcommunities havebeendoingtoimproveoutcomesforAboriginalandTorresStraitIslanderAustralians. AboriginalandTorresStraitIslanderbusinessesaregrowing,AboriginalandTorresStraitIslander peopleareinmeaningfuljobsanddoingwellinoureconomyandthenextgenerationofAboriginal 6 Prime Minister’s Foreword As we move into this next phase, andTorresStraitIslanderchildrenareaccessing Closing the Gap will be embraced educationfromearlychildhoodtouniversity. Weshouldhoweverembracetherequirement as a whole of government agenda tochange,wesimplywillnotsucceedby with all governments sharing continuingtoworkinthesameway. accountability for progress and Themainareaofchangeneedstobeinhow extending this shared accountability governmentsapproachimplementationof to include Aboriginal and policiesanddeliveryofservices.Stronger accountabilitycanbeachievedthrough Torres Strait Islander people. co-designedactionplansthatlinktargetsto policyaction,fundingdecisions,andregular evaluations.Thisprovidestransparencyforhow weexpecttoachieveeachtargetandbywhen. WeknowthatClosingtheGapisfoundational tobuildingafairer,strongerandconnected Australia.Itisequallyimportanttorecognise andcelebrateAustraliaasthehomeof thelongestlivingcivilisationonearth, andacknowledgethattheculturesofour FirstNationspeoplesenrichusall. TheAustralianGovernmentiscommitted toworkingingenuinepartnershipwith AboriginalandTorresStraitIslanderpeoples, apartnershipwhichiscriticaltoprogress towardsClosingtheGap. Closing the Gap Report 2019 7 8 Introduction Thejourneytoclosethegapbeganin2005, CLOSING withthereleaseoftheSocialJustice Report2005,whichcalledforAustralian governmentstocommittoachievingequality THE GAP forAboriginalandTorresStraitIslanderpeople inhealthandlifeexpectancywithin25years (AboriginalandTorresStraitIslanderSocial 2008–2018 JusticeCommissioner,2005).Non-government agenciesrespondedwithaNationalIndigenous HealthEqualityCampaignin2006,andlaunched BACKGROUND theClosetheGapcampaignin2007. TheCouncilofAustralianGovernments(COAG) listenedtoAboriginalandTorresStrait Islandercommunitiesandtheirstakeholders. InDecember2008,COAGpledgedtoclose keygaps,andrecognisedthataconcerted nationaleffortwasneededtoaddressIndigenous disadvantageinkeyareas.SixClosingtheGap targetswereintroduced,containedwithin anoverarchingCommonwealthandstate andterritoryagreementcalledtheNational IndigenousReformAgreement.Aschool attendancetargetwasaddedin2014andan expandedearlychildhoodtargetwasaddedin 2015followingtheexpiryoftheremoteearly childhoodeducationtargetin2013(unmet). Asfouroftheseventargetswereduetoexpire As four of the seven targets in2018,theAustralianGovernmenthasworked withAboriginalandTorresStraitIslanderpeople were due to expire in 2018, andstateandterritorygovernmentstodevelop the Australian Government theClosingtheGapRefresh.Thisisanew has worked with Aboriginal and frameworkwhichbuildsontheoriginal ClosingtheGaptargetsandrepresents Torres Strait Islander people acontinuedcommitmentineffortand and state and territory accountabilityfromallgovernmentsforafurther tenyears.Thisreportbothacknowledgesthe governments to develop the futureframework,whilereportingprogress Closing the Gap Refresh. againsttheoriginaltargetssetin2008. Closing the Gap Report 2019 9 PROGRESS AGAINST THE TARGETS TherearecurrentlysevenClosingtheGaptargets.Twotargets,earlychildhoodeducationand Year12attainment,areontracktobemet.1 • Thetargettohalve the gap in child mortality rates by 2018isnotontrack.Sincethe targetbaseline(2008)Indigenouschildmortalityrateshavedeclinedby10percent (notstatisticallysignificant)butthegaphasnotnarrowedasthenon-Indigenousrate hasdeclinedatafasterrate. • Thetargettohave95 per cent of Indigenous four year olds enrolled in early childhood education by 2025isontrack.In2017,95percentofIndigenousfouryearoldswere enrolledinearlychildhoodeducation. • Thetargettoclose the gap in school attendance by 2018isnotontrack.Attendanceratesfor Indigenousstudentshavenotimprovedbetween2014and2018(around82percentin2018) andremainbelowtheratefornon-Indigenousstudents(around93percent). • Thetargettoclose the gap in life expectancy by 2031isnotontrack.Between2010–12and 2015–17,Indigenouslifeexpectancyatbirthimprovedby2.5yearsforIndigenousmalesandby 1.9yearsforIndigenousfemales(bothnotstatisticallysignificant),whichhasledtoasmall reductioninthegap. • Thereisnonewnationaldataavailableforthreetargetsandtheirstatusremainsthesameas forthe2018Report.2Thetargettohalve the gap in Year 12 attainment or equivalent by 2020 isontrack.Thetargettohalve the gap in reading and numeracy by 2018isnotontrack. Thetargettohalve the gap in employment by 2018isnotontrack. 1 The final data points for targets set to expire in 2018 (child mortality, school attendance, literacy and numeracy, and employment) are not available. 2 The 2018 National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) data were not available in time for inclusion in this Report. 10 Introduction PROGRESS ACROSS STATES AND TERRITORIES ProgressagainstthetargetsforeachstateandterritoryvariesandissummarisedinTable1, whichindicateswheretargetsareontrack.Moredetailedanalysisofprogressineachofthetarget areasisfoundinthechaptersofthisreport. Table 1 Progress against the targets (a) Target NSW VIC QLD SA WA TAS NT ACT AUS Child mortality (2018) (b) — — — — — — — — Earlychildhoodeducation(2025) ● ● ● ● ● ● Schoolattendance(2018) Lifeexpectancy(2031)(c) — — — — — Year12orequivalent(2020)(d) ● ● ● ● ● ReadingandNumeracy(2018) (e) ● ● Employment (2018) (f) ● (a) A green dot indicates the target is on track. A dash indicates the data are either not published or there is no agreed trajectory. Remaining targets are not on track. (b) Due to the small numbers involved, state and territory trajectories were not developed for the child mortality target. The national target reflects results for New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory combined, which are the jurisdictions considered to have adequate levels of Indigenous identification suitable to publish. (c) Estimates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander life expectancy are published every five years for New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory only. Due to the small number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths in Victoria, South Australia,
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