Calls for governments to deliver as Closing the Gap report shows NT going backwards on eight targets

Eight out of 19 targets to Close the Gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Territorians are going backwards, new data has revealed, with the NT once again recording worst outcomes of any Australian jurisdiction.

Eight out of 19 targets to Close the Gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Territorians are going backwards, new data has revealed, with the NT once again recording the worst outcomes of any Australian jurisdiction.

According to the latest Productivity Commission report only five targets are on track nationally, and four are worsening.

The damning statistics show Aboriginal children in the NT are more than four times more likely to die than the average non-Indigenous child in Australia.

The rate of suicide among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people has also increased since the baseline year, making it the leading cause of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 to 39 in 2022.

Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy. Picture: Brendan Radke

It comes as the country’s most significant First Nations event, the Garma Festival, gets underway in East Arnhem Land.

Among the many high profile politicians, philanthropists and community leaders in attendance is new Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy, who said the Closing the Gap data was “deeply disappointing”.

“One of the areas that I know we need to improve on as well is the need for bipartisanship in the parliament,” she said.

“I will be working very hard to try and reach across the aisle to Coalition members, to the Greens, to the teals, to the crossbenchers, that we have to elevate Indigenous affairs, especially around these areas of Closing the Gap targets.”

Ms McCarthy said her priority at Garma was listening to First Nations people.

“It will be the first real gathering since the referendum about resetting, regrouping, working with the Prime Minister on his targets going forward,” she said.

Nationally only five Closing the Gap targets are on track.

The peak body for Aboriginal community controlled health services said all governments needed to do more to deliver on their commitments.

“The disappointing Productivity Commission data shows that governments, in many areas, are not delivering on their commitments – to the detriment of the health and wellbeing of our people, who are still living their lives much sicker and dying much earlier than non-Indigenous Territorians,” John Paterson said, chief executive of the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance NT.

“The unacceptably high rate of suicide among Aboriginal people, and particularly our young people – who are more likely to go to jail and more likely than in previous years to die by suicide – should be urgently prioritised by all governments.”

While the NT is on track to meet seven Closing the Gap targets by 2031, the life expectancy gap is not on target and the Territory now has a widened gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous women, rising from 13.2 to 13.8 in five years.

Dr Paterson said that addressing the health gap meant addressing the social drivers of poor health and mental health – such as poverty, inequality, poor housing, and poor education.

William Tilmouth (centre), Chairman of Childrens Ground in Alice Springs, with his grandchildren. Picture: Grenville Turner

First Nations not for profit Children’s Ground said the Closing the Gap report was “distressing”.

“The latest data deepens the erosion of trust between First Nations communities and government,” chair William Tilmouth said.

“It’s been 16 years since the statement of intent for Closing the Gap was signed and governments are failing to achieve the reform needed for our people to live with basic dignity. This is being driven by a stubborn reluctance to genuinely engage with grassroots, community-led and owned solutions.

“Governments talk about doing things differently, and the strong recommendations from the Productivity Commission tell them to fundamentally rethink their ways of working, and all the while First Nations people are still waiting.

“While we wait, our children aren’t meeting early development targets and are being taken away from families and held in out-of-home care, and our people are being thrown into prisons and the rates of suicide grow.”