Closing the Gap data update paints a grim picture for Indigenous children: SNAICC

New Closing the Gap data that shows key targets continuing to go backwards must be ‘a wake-up call to all governments’, the peak body representing Indigenous children says.

New Closing the Gap data that shows key targets continuing to go backwards must be “a wake-up call to all governments”, the peak body representing Indigenous children says.

The latest update of the Productivity Commission’s Closing the Gap Dashboard, which measures progress towards the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, has added a new year of data for eight of the 19 targets and 15 of the supporting indicators.

Nationally, it shows gap in rates of incarceration, child protection and suicide continues to widen or stagnate between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

Progress in the Northern Territory generally lagged behind other states – with improvement against only half the targets.

Outcomes are worsening against eight targets in the NT: targets 1 (female life expectancy), 2 (birthweight), 3 (early childhood education), 4 (child development), 7 (youth engagement), 8 (employment), 10 (imprisonment), and 11 (youth detention).

Catherine Liddle chief executive of SNAICC National Voice of Our Children. Photograph by Arsineh Houspian.

Catherine Liddle, chief executive of SNAICC National Voice of Our Children said the report painted a grim picture.

“This should be a wake-up call to all governments. We need a renewed commitment to the Closing the Gap agreement, and we need it now,” Ms. Liddle said.

“The findings from the Productivity Commission show just how much work is left to do, and without substantial change, many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children will be left behind.

“It’s clear the ‘business as usual approach’ is not hitting the mark, and the need for community-led early intervention programs and family support services are not being met.

“If we continue down this path, we will fail in our shared responsibility to protect and care for these children, and to give them the opportunity to succeed.”

Nationally, four targets are now on track to be met and a further six targets show improvement but are not on track to be met.

Outcomes are worsening against four targets and a further four targets are not able to be assessed.

Among those going backwards, the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in prisons increased by 15 per cent between 2023 and 2024.

The number of Indigenous people in prisons has now increased 30 per cent since 2019, the baseline year.

For the first time since 2014-15, data was also available on access and use of the internet.

Nationally in 2022-23, almost nine in ten Indigenous Australians aged 15 years and over used the internet in the past three months, and eight in 10 used it daily.

The Territory was the worst performing against this measure; more than three in ten Indigenous Territorians not accessing internet in the past three months.

Commissioner Selwyn Button said governments had not taken enough meaningful action to meet their commitments under the Closing the Gap agreement.

“The continued worsening of outcomes we’ve seen in some Closing the Gap target areas shows the importance of governments taking their commitments to the National Agreement seriously, and taking meaningful actions to fully implement the priority reforms,” he said.

Originally published as Closing the Gap data update paints a grim picture for Indigenous children: SNAICC