17 years later: Closing the Gap crisis has gone from bad to worse

Many Indigenous children are being born into generational chaos.

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It has been a lifetime since the royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody settled on a truth that surprised many; the rate at which Indigenous people died in prison was not outsized but the rate at which they were being locked up certainly was.

Back then, one in seven Australian prisoners was Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. Pat Dodson, then 43, said that was way too many.

Now 77, he has lived to see that figure climb and climb with catastrophic consequences for Indigenous families caught up in cycles of crime, poverty, dysfunction and addiction.

Many Indigenous children are being born into generational chaos.

In June 2024, 36 per cent of adult prisoners in Australia was Indigenous.

We have gone from a national crisis at one in seven to this; more than one in three.

The Closing the Gap agreement offers the best hope we have for a turnaround in Indigenous incarceration rates and other improvements. That is in large part because it is bipartisan.

In the wake of the voice referendum that split the major parties, Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton both want to close the gap.

It is not a perfect agreement. It is ambitious. It relies on bureaucrats giving up power and listening to communities. It relies on community-controlled Indigenous organisations that may not yet have the capacity to do what is being asked of them.

However, it is measurable and that counts for a lot at a time when voters are sceptical and demand proof of almost everything politicians say.

In this, the second incarnation of the Closing the Gap agreement, there is an alliance of more than 80 Indigenous organisations asking for and slowly being given responsibilities.

They are the Aboriginal medical services and other community-controlled organisations asking to do the work that government departments once did.

These community organisations can also now bid for government contracts in health and other spheres through the commonwealth’s Indigenous Procurement Policy. That policy also has bipartisan support.

The Coalition, which created the Indigenous Procurement Policy, believes it is a way for Indigenous communities to create wealth and move towards financial independence and even home ownership.

If the Closing the Gap agreement pans out the way it was designed to, the Aboriginal organisations that have signed up to it will be credited with much of its success. They will also wear any failures.

Malarndirri McCarthy has responded by rolling out 30 justice reinvestment programs across Australia.

These are the programs that sometimes take years to steer a troubled young person on to the right path but have been shown to work when governments invest the time and resources.

The Aboriginal organisations running these programs could find themselves in a difficult spot sometimes because they are working side by side with government giving advice and expected to be fearless in their criticisms while also relying on government for their incomes.

However, the very poor results after 17 years of Closing the Gap appear to show it is worth a try.