$424m boost to close the gap

ON-COUNTRY education, food security, water infrastructure and support for those experiencing domestic and sexual violence are among the priorities in a $424m funding boost to reduce inequalities experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The federal government was scheduled to release its second Closing the Gap Implementation Plan on Monday, alongside the Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peak Organisations’ annual Implementation Plan.

The 2022 Closing the Gap report revealed suicide, out-ofhome care and incarceration rates for Indigenous Australians had increased, however improvements had been made in rates of detention for Indigenous people aged 10–17; there had been an increase in healthy birth weights; and the number of children enrolled in preschool had risen.

Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney said the Implementation Plan would focus on “real action and real change”.

“We saw the outcomes in the 2022 Closing the Gap Annual Report and know that we need to be doing more as a government,” Ms Burney said.

“Our measures are going to be more specific and more targeted, making real impacts that complement work under way in states and territories, and back in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations to lead work in their communities.”

The $424m in funding will sit alongside $1.2bn allocated in the October budget to deliver the four key priority reforms, and meet the 18 socioeconomic outcomes as indicated in the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. According to the 2022 Closing the Gap report, only four of 18 targets were on track.

The funding includes $150m over four years to ensure remote and regional Indigenous communities have access to clean drinking water through the National Water Grid Fund, while $11.8m will be injected into the National Strategy for Food Security over two years to ensure affordable and accessible food is available.

A sum of $111.7m will also be given to a one-year partnership with the Northern Territory Government to support the building of new remote housing.

Family Violence and Prevention Legal Service providers will be given $66.8m over two years to deliver legal and non-legal support to assist with family, domestic and sexual violence. An additional $21.9m will be delivered over five years for seven programs through Support Families, targeting early intervention and recovery from family violence.

The funding also includes $38.4m over four years to boost on-country education for Indigenous students, plus $21.6m to extend boarding for students from remote and rural areas.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peak Organisations Lead Convener Patricia Turner said she hoped the funding would address decades of underinvestment into Indigenous communities.