The Productivity Commission’s review of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap tells us yet again what Indigenous communities have been saying for years: closing the gap is not working because Indigenous communities are not empowered with a proper say in their own affairs.

Government bureaucracies do not listen to Indigenous communities. Ineffective, top-down solutions are imposed from Canberra. Government departments do not partner with Indigenous people to co-devise solutions that work to address the challenges they face. There is waste, duplication and inertia.