Australia is going backwards on key closing the gap targets, with rates of Indigenous suicide, adult incarceration and children in out-of-home care getting worse.
Sobering new data on eight of the targets released by the Productivity Commission on Thursday revealed that while there had been modest improvements in the life expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, it’s not been enough to put the goal of ending the gap by 2031 on track.
Of the 19 targets, five were on track – up from four – but three were trending backwards, and one had no improvement.
Indigenous Australians Minster Linda Burney welcomed the revelation that the target of 91 per cent of Indigenous babies being born with healthy birth weight was now on track, having reached 89.6 per cent in 2021.
But five months on from the failed Voice to parliament referendum, the data painted a bleak overall picture of the state of the gap, with Ms Burney conceding there was “still a long way to go”.
The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in prison has risen, pushing the target of reducing the rate by at least 15 per cent by 2031 further from reality.
It’s a similar story for the number of Indigenous people taking their own life, with about 29.9 per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people dying by suicide in 2022 across NSW, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory.
This was higher than the rate of the previous two years, and above the 2018 baseline of 25.1.
“Nationally, based on progress from the baseline, the target is worsening,” the Productivity Commission said.
Nor is the target of reducing the overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care by 45 per cent on target.
In 2023, the rate was 57.2 per 1000 children – below the 202 rate but an increase from the 2019 baseline of 54.2 per cent.
“The target is worsening. This assessment is provided with a high level of confidence,” the Productivity Commission again said.
Assistant Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy said the data showed progress in some areas, but it wasn’t enough to “carry through to other positive life outcomes” for First Nations people.
“We need to do more to address the unacceptable results we continue to see, such as the number of children in out-of-home care and incarceration rates for First Nations youth and adults,” she said.
The latest tranche of data comes just weeks after the Productivity Commission panned the country’s governments for not doing enough to close the gap, finding a “business as usual approach” to Indigenous affairs was overwhelmingly failing First Nations peoples.
The final report of the Productivity Commission’s first three-yearly review of government action on the closing the gap agreement found governments had “failed to fully grasp” the nature and scale of change required to meet the obligations they signed up to.
In his annual statement to parliament last month, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the persistent gap was “inexcusable”.
“We cannot ask for infinite patience. We all agree that the status quo is unacceptable,” he said a she announced a remote jobs program aimed at closing the gap.
Ms Burney said the latest round of data reinforced there was still a way to go.
“The Albanese government is committed to strengthening our relationship with the Coalition of the Peaks and working in partnership to design and implement programs that will make a difference to lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians,” she said.