Description

The Minister for Indigenous Australians has delivered the Commonwealth Closing the Gap Annual Report 2022.  This is the first Commonwealth Closing the Gap Annual Report (Annual Report), since the Commonwealth Closing the Gap Implementation Plan (Implementation Plan) was announced and outlines actions taken to progress both the socio-economic outcomes and the Priority Reforms focussed on improving the ways of working  It includes details on a number of new and established policies, programs and measures designed and implemented, in whole or in part, to contribute to Closing the Gap.

It also reflects on The Productivity Commission’s latest Annual Data Compilation Report underscoring the urgency of work, with only 4 of the socio-economic targets currently on track. For the majority of socio-economic targets there is still little new data available to reliably track trends, although important work has been undertaken to improve the data.

Many key structural milestones have been accomplished together through the partners over the past 2 years across a range of policy partnerships, plans designed to strengthen the Aboriginal and Torres Strait community-controlled sectors, place-based initiatives, new targets and data enhancement. Only sustained improvements in socio-economic targets for First Nations peoples over the life of the National Agreement will confirm if structural changes through the Partnership have been successful.