Closing the Gap: annual data compilation report July 2023

This is the third Annual Data Compilation Report monitoring progress under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap (the Agreement). The Agreement is structured around a central objective: '... to overcome the entrenched inequality faced by too many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people so that their life outcomes are equal to all Australians' (clause 15). To achieve this objective, the Agreement aims to implement four Priority Reforms to change the way governments work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It is expected that this will accelerate improvements in the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Following this logic, this report monitors the implementation of the Priority Reforms to see if governments have fulfilled their commitments, and monitors the socio-economic outcomes experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to see if they are improving as a result. Even though the Priority Reforms are the foundation of the Agreement, there is no data to monitor whether they are being implemented. Work to develop this data is still in its early phases. Since the last report, the National Indigenous Australians Agency and the Coalition of Peaks have engaged an organisation to do this measurement work, which at the time of preparing this report was anticipated to commence in June 2023. Data gaps also prevent progress for four of the 19 socio-economic targets being assessed: 'community infrastructure', where no data have been collected, and 'family violence', 'strength of languages' and 'access to information' where no updates are available since the start of the Agreement.

The socio-economic outcomes reported for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people need to be understood in context. Colonisation and subsequent discriminatory government policies have had a significant impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, communities, and cultures. This has negatively affected Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's health and wellbeing as reflected in the data results presented in this report. Progress towards the 15 targets that can be assessed has been limited, with only four on track to be met. Despite this, outcomes are improving for most targets. Of the four targets that are on track, three have had annual improvements close to double what is needed. Moreover, seven of targets that are not on track are nevertheless improving. However, outcomes are getting worse for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in four target areas. Rates of adult imprisonment, children in out-of-home care and suicide have all increased, and children's early development outcomes at the start of school have declined.

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