The Productivity Commission’s latest Annual Data Compilation Report (ADCR), which tracks progress towards the targets and indicators in the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, shows that only five of 19 targets are on track to be met.
The report includes new data for nine targets since last year. Improvements in two targets means they are now on track: healthy birthweights and sea country subject to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s rights. However, an increase in the rate of young people in detention means that this target is no longer on track to be met.
A further five targets show improvement but are not on track to be met, while progress towards four targets is worsening.
New data shows that the life expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men is 71.9 years and is 75.6 years for women, but the gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous people is not on track to close by 2031 (the target year).
However, the target for the proportion of babies born at a healthy birthweight is on track to be met by 2031. 89.6 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander babies were born with a healthy birthweight in 2021 (the last year for which data is available).
Tragically, the rate of suicide among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people has increased since the baseline year. The most recent data shows suicide was the leading cause of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15–39 in 2022.
Insights
Research in the 2024 ADCR provides insights into some of the factors that are crucial for improving outcomes.
‘We know that having ready access to culturally safe and responsive services and systems can make all the difference to socio-economic outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people,’ said Productivity Commissioner and Gungarri man Selwyn Button.
Commissioner Natalie Siegel-Brown added, ‘In our recent three-yearly review, we saw “pockets of good practice” where outcomes were not only achieved but exceeded.
‘The consistent theme to improved outcomes was governments enacting the Priority Reforms: a strengthened Aboriginal Community Controlled sector, shared decision making, shared data and the government changing its operation.
‘The aspirations of the Agreement are not only achievable, but equity of outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is within reach if governments breathe life into the Priority Reforms,’ she said.
The 2024 ADCR highlights gaps in the data that are preventing a full assessment of progress.
‘The four Priority Reforms are the key to achieving the targets under the Agreement – but the parties to the Agreement have still not yet agreed on an approach to measure them. This should be addressed as a matter of priority,’ said Commissioner Siegel-Brown.
These data gaps extend to the Agreement’s socio-economic targets and indicators as well.
Accountability
‘Holding governments accountable for change includes having the data to measure change – and there is still much we do not know,’ said Commissioner Button.
‘For example, we still do not have a reliable source of data to assess whether Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have access to clean drinking water, sewerage treatment and electricity. Giving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people the resources and authority to generate and control their own data in line with Indigenous Data Sovereignty principles will be a vital part of addressing these gaps,’ he said.
The 2024 ADCR comes shortly after the Commission’s review of action towards the Agreement. Joint Council – including all Australian governments – has recently accepted the four headline recommendations of the Commission’s review and agreed to 15 out of the 16 actions that governments need to implement those recommendations.
‘The latest data underscores the need for government action and we welcome governments’ commitments to make the changes necessary to improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people,’ said Commissioner Siegel-Brown.
‘If the recommendations of our review are acted on quickly, the targets should look very different in future reports.’
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
