An unlegislated national organisation has quietly emerged as the representative body for Indigenous Australians. It is the Coalition of Peaks, a growing alliance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander service providers and advocacy groups from every state and territory.
Australians were emphatically against an Indigenous advisory body enshrined in the Constitution. But government does not work unless it listens to the people for whom it makes laws and policies. Ministers in every portfolio know this.
Out of the void rose the Coalition of Peaks. But it has been here for a while. This was not a Labor idea, though Labor has embraced it.
Scott Morrison gave the Coalition of Peaks its legitimacy when he paused the Closing the Gap process in 2019 to include the organisation. Back then, the Coalition of Peaks had only 50 members. But it has grown in size and influence. Behind the scenes and in front of the cameras, the Coalition of Peaks and its 80 member organisations are advocating for a new way of governing in Indigenous affairs.
The task is enormous and, according to the Productivity Commission, there is a very long way to go. The commission last year lashed governments and bureaucracies – it gave special attention to the NT – for failing to make enough progress in the Closing the Gap agreement.
The latest annual report by the Coalition of Peaks is dotted with examples of good results that have come from shared decision-making. The formidable leader of the Coalition of Peaks, Pat Turner, calls this structural reform. She is an experienced administrator who has sat in on cabinet meetings, understands how government works and believes that good things happen when communities control their own organisations. The success of Aboriginal medical services is a case in point. One of the priorities of Closing the Gap is shared decision-making. If it sounds familiar, it is. This is what the proposal for a legislated voice was about. When Marcia Langton and Tom Calma oversaw a blueprint for a voice for the Coalition government, the resulting report made it clear results are better when bureaucrats make decisions with communities, not about them.
Cultural stand-off risks art turning to rubble
The national heritage-listed Koonalda Cave holds unique Indigenous paintings but their preservation is now threatened.
Leader’s Labor backflip fears as Gap remains
Aboriginal leader Pat Turner says she is ‘very worried’ by Labor’s decision to break with its national platform and introduce minimum mandatory sentencing for some offences.