Data gap slows progress in indigenous health

PROGRESS on closing the gap of disadvantage in indigenous communities has been hampered.

THE public servant charged with measuring progress on closing the gap of disadvantage in 29 priority indigenous communities has been unable to measure health improvements among Aborigines because state governments failed to release key data.

Co-ordinator-general of remote indigenous services Brian Gleeson delivered his first report to the government yesterday. It concluded that progress in achieving targets for indigenous reform set by the Council of Australian Governments was broadly on track. But Mr Gleeson warned that a "business as usual" attitude among some public servants was hindering progress, and infrastructure projects including boarding schools planned for the Northern Territory were behind schedule.

And Mr Gleeson expressed his frustration that the signing of COAG agreements had meant the federal government had "limited access" to key data on closing the gap, with state governments failing to provide data to him for his report, particularly relating to health. In the six-monthly report, the result of visits to 29 communities in the Territory, South Australia, Western Australia and NSW, Mr Gleeson recommended that the role of local government in remote communities be more clearly defined, policing become more visible and funding regimes be streamlined to make them more flexible.

The federal government should consider establishing a single contracting entity to plan and manage the rollout of infrastructure projects in remote communities, Mr Gleeson said.

And the West Australian government must resolve land tenure issues that were impeding housing progress as a matter of urgency, he said.

Mr Gleeson,a former senior adviser for the UN, was appointed by Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin in June to cut through red tape in remote communities and drive the implementation of the COAG reforms.

In Mr Gleeson's first six months in the job, he focused on 29 communities identified as a priority for closing the gap.

Eight communities still had no police presence, said Mr Gleeson, who also highlighted several infrastructure bottlenecks.