Community control always was and always will be the key to Closing the Gap
New data from the Productivity Commission shows that while many Closing the Gap targets are not being met, the ones that are succeeding are those where community control is in place.
The effectiveness of community control has long been highlighted by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and organisations, and the impact of this approach is accepted wisdom throughout Indigenous nations around the world.
Yet it was as far back as 2020 when Priority Reforms were identified to ensure better outcomes for our people, and the Coalition of Peaks is still having to advocate for these reforms to be fully actioned. These reforms are:
To ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives are at the table with governments and share in the decisions that impact on our communities’ lives.
To adequately fund our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations to deliver the services our people need.
To transform government institutions and other mainstream services so they are safe for our people, free from racism, and truly meeting our needs.
Ensuring our people have access to, and the capability to use, data and information to monitor progress, set priorities and drive our own development.
“The data is there, the stories are there, it’s clear that when we control our services we get better outcomes for our people,” Coalition of Peaks co-convenor Catherine Liddle said.
“The saying 'nothing about us without us' absolutely applies to getting the best results for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, from birth right through to our Elders and how they are cared for.
“There are still far too many non-Indigenous operated service providers being funded to deliver to our people, and they are doing so without consideration for what we really need, without the knowledge of how interconnected so many aspects of our lives and culture are, and without the understanding of how our communities and people think and feel."
Ms Liddle said there were numerous examples of where community control was Closing the Gap.
“When systemic issues are dealt with we have success and great outcomes for our people,” she said.
“There are some fantastic community-controlled childcare and kindergarten programs, for example, that are ensuring our children are growing up not just healthy and educated, but strong in culture too. We know that when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are connected to their culture the Closing the Gap measures are better met.
"Yet at this moment in time, the biggest investments into early education and care in Australia are not in the Aboriginal community-controlled sector, they're actually in the mainstream.
"That is a failure by governments to invest in the right set of criteria into the right type of service delivery, and to move at the speed that it needs to move at."
Ms Liddle noted a positive was that for the first time the Productivity Commission had included analysis of the historical and ongoing context to the data for eight socioeconomic outcome areas.
“This is something we advocated for,” she said. “It’s so important because it helps us move away from a deficit narrative focused on just data without any understanding of the context as to the why and the how behind these numbers. Without that context and understanding real change cannot happen.”
Media contact: Chris Arnott, 0452 616 737 or Iona Salter, 0413 185 634