So where to now?
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The Voice referendum has been defeated and there has been a shift in the politics. Whatever appetite the Coalition might have harboured for truth-telling and treaties seems to have disappeared and to a lesser extent, the same may be true for some Labor governments. Progress with Closing the Gap continues to disappoint. The only definite response appears to be the recent announcement of $700 million for a new Remote Jobs and Economic Development Program, a National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People, and modest contributions for the Justice Policy Partnership, community Wi-Fi for 20 communities and Junior Rangers. In this context, the recent announcement of $4 billion over four years by the Commonwealth and NT governments for remote housing is particularly welcome. All worthy initiatives but are they likely to turn the ship around without fundamental reforms?
The recent Review of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap by the Productivity Commission highlighted the need for improvements in partnerships and shared decision-making, strengthening the community-controlled sector, transforming government organisations and 'implementation' plans and mechanisms for tracking progress, provision of shared access to data and information at a regional level, and making accountability and ways to drive change a reality rather than a set of pious hopes - not least by adequately resourcing the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
The Productivity Commission's (PC) review put its finger on a core issue in saying: "This raises questions about whether governments have fully grasped the scale of change required to their systems, operations and ways of working to deliver the unprecedented shift they have committed to." Except it's not really a question. The scale of change required really is huge. The legacy of the past is a deeply entrenched set of interrelated health, education, housing, justice, social, economic and environmental issues involving all three levels of government, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in diverse communities in urban, rural and remote settings right across Australia in highly charged political environments - for both the First Nations peoples and for Australia as a whole.
Governments set national targets in a mystical world devoid of real-life considerations of what exactly would need to be done to achieve the targets and what it would cost. No one is really in charge, and available government reports on performance largely ignored. The mechanisms for coordination at all levels are missing or inadequate, and information on service gaps and service effectiveness wholly inadequate. Key skills in planning and logistics for the so called "plans" are largely MIA. The general workforce approach is all too often characterised by a "chuck 'em in at the deep end and hope for the best" style rather than systematically ensuring all involved receive the necessary training in the skills they need. Initiatives seem to be bitty, piecemeal and ad hoc, rather than systematic, comprehensive, and evidence-based. So yes -absolutely! Governments have clearly not grasped the scale and nature of the changes required for the gaps to close.
Part of the reason for the lack of progress has been the unspoken assumption that approaches that work reasonably well for mainstream Australia will also suffice for Closing the Gap - a failure to recognise the decades of manifest signs of market failure. This is why planning is so important - to coordinate a national effort, to identify in particular the service needs and gaps, to build capacity where needed, and to take the necessary management decisions to deal with lack of progress.
The Productivity Commission has highlighted the need for a broader role for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led Independent Mechanisms for governments. But beyond that, transformation of government processes themselves demands effective mechanisms to learn from and remedy the root causes of national policy failure on Closing the Gap.
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What might such a transformation look like? It could, for example, take the form of an Indigenous coordinator general or equivalent and staff in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and individual staff funded for and charged with the responsibility of i) partnership with First Nations peoples and the Independent Mechanisms for the jurisdictions; ii) keeping up to date with the evidence of what works best for each target; iii) preparing evaluation summaries for each target including key messages from government reports; iv) producing annual progress reports for National Cabinet on progress for each target and most importantly identifying the adequacy or otherwise of current funding and service provision and any further actions required to achieve each national target; v) coordination of actions between Commonwealth, jurisdictional and local governments; vi) national training and support programs for key areas for Closing the Gap for service providers, administrators, board representatives and bureaucrats; vii) anti- racism programs; viii) fostering the development of regional advisory councils; ix) contributing to the development of Indigenous younger people into leadership positions; x) support for truth-telling and treaty processes.
In the end the lesson is clear. Targets are not achieved by words, hope and piecemeal action but only by defining clearly what exactly needs to be done to achieve them - and doing it. So that's the choice. Either continuing to stumble along as we have been with the current dysfunctional processes and bewail the lack of progress, or heed the well thought out messages from the Productivity Commission and First Nations leaders, including fundamental reform of government processes, and finally make the progress with Closing the Gap that everyone wants and have every right to expect.
Where to now with Closing the Gap?
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24.03.2024
So where to now?
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Login or signup to continue reading
The Voice referendum has been defeated and there has been a shift in the politics. Whatever appetite the Coalition might have harboured for truth-telling and treaties seems to have disappeared and to a lesser extent, the same may be true for some Labor governments. Progress with Closing the Gap continues to disappoint. The only definite response appears to be the recent announcement of $700 million for a new Remote Jobs and Economic Development Program, a National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People, and modest contributions for the Justice Policy Partnership, community Wi-Fi for 20 communities and Junior Rangers. In this context, the recent announcement of $4 billion over four years by the Commonwealth and NT governments for remote housing is particularly welcome. All worthy initiatives but are they likely to turn the ship around without fundamental reforms?
The recent Review of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap by the Productivity Commission highlighted the need for improvements in partnerships and shared decision-making, strengthening the community-controlled sector, transforming government organisations and 'implementation' plans and mechanisms for tracking progress, provision of shared access to data and information at a regional level, and making accountability and ways to drive change a reality rather than a set of pious hopes -........
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