Call for urgent action on Indigenous Closing the Gap

The Albanese government must find a way to compel states and territories to govern better in Indigenous affairs, says the first Indigenous Australian on the Productivity Commission.

Then prime minister Julia Gillard talks with Romlie Mokak, who headed the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association, before delivering her statement on Closing The Gap in the House of Representatives in 2012. Picture: Ray Strange

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The Albanese government must find a way to compel states and territories to govern differently in Indigenous affairs, according to the first Indigenous Australian to serve on the Productivity Commission.

Romlie Mokak is the co-­author of a Productivity Commission review of the Closing the Gap agreement that found governments around Australia had not kept their promises to share decisions with Indigenous communities for better results.

Mr Mokak, whose five-year term as a commissioner ended soon after the scathing report was published last February, is now urging Labor to strengthen the Closing the Gap national agreement to include consequences for governments that do not comply with it.

Former Lowitja Institute chief executive Romlie Mokak. Picture: Fiona Hamilton

On Wednesday, Mr Mokak argued it was time for consequences. Delivering the Lowitja O’Donoghue Oration in Adelaide on Wednesday night, he predicted Aboriginal people would wear the blame for the lack of progress under Closing the Gap, while governments clung to the status quo.

“Too many government organisations are consulting with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on a predetermined solution rather than working together to identify ­priorities and co-design the best approach to achieving them,” Mr Mokak said.

“This is problematic. For meaningful progress, the commission recognised that governments must share power for decisions that affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait ­Islander people.

“Governments need to trust that by relinquishing control, they are enabling better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”

There are 17 targets in the decade-long Closing the Gap agreement signed in 2020 by governments and the Coalition of Peaks that represents more than 80 Indigenous service ­provider organisations such as Aboriginal medical services.

At the halfway point of the deal, four targets are on track to be met by 2031 and some others show slow progress. However, data for four of the targets shows a trend in the wrong direction. For example, the suicide rate among Indigenous Australians is rising, and the percentage of Indigenous five-year-olds who are developmentally on track is decreasing.

In an apparent reference to Queensland’s crackdown on youth crime and the NT’s decision to reduce the age of criminal responsibility, Mr Mokak said various governments had passed laws knowing the result would be harm for Indigenous people.

“This reveals the limitations of the (Closing the Gap) agreement – it is not binding,” he said.

“The agreement should be strengthened without delay, and a process to amend the agreement should be accelerated.

“And while every party to the agreement has responsibility, the commonwealth must play a leadership role.”