Overview

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Introduction Closing the Gap targets and progress Common important factors across targets Strategies for improvement

This page summarises the Overview chapter.

Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people lead happy, healthy and fulfilling lives in their communities, and numerous improvements in their quality of life have been documented over the years. However, a large number of them continue to experience inequality, political exclusion, intergenerational trauma and ongoing institutional racism (Australian Government 2020).

To overcome the entrenched inequalities faced by many First Nations people, the Australian governments and the Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peak Organisations have jointly committed to a new way of developing and implementing policies and programs that have an impact on the lives of First Nations people in the 2020 National Agreement on Closing the Gap (Australian Government 2020). The Agreement includes 17 socioeconomic outcome areas with specific targets and outcome measures as part of a new approach to measuring progress in achieving this objective. These targets are inter-related and associated with various socioeconomic and health measures at different stages of the life course.

The current report aims to add to the existing evidence on the health and wellbeing of First Nations people across their life course by analysing trends over time and the key factors associated with each target for 14 of the 17 Closing the Gap targets using a wide range of population, administrative and cross-sectional survey data. The targets included in the report are:

Each chapter first presents the current state and, where data allow, time trends and progress made over time towards each target. The trends are analysed at the national, state and territory level, by remoteness and socioeconomic indexes, as well as by other relevant demographic and socioeconomic factors. For trends at lower geographic areas, such as Indigenous Regions, see the Closing the Gap dashboard at AIHW Regional Insights for Indigenous Communities.

The chapters then present findings from a review of Australian and international literature on the key factors associated with each target. In the following section of each chapter (where data are available), the results from regression modelling and random forest analyses are presented. Regression analyses provide empirical evidence on the statistically significant associations between the key factors identified in the literature and target outcomes. Random forest analyses estimate the relative importance of these variables at the population level in predicting the target outcomes. This allows us to rank these factors in order of their relative importance and identify the most important factors for each target outcome. The chapters conclude with a discussion of the implications of these findings in the context of existing policy and programs and strategies for improvement.

Closing the Gap targets and progress

The Productivity Commission dashboard (2024) regularly updates information on progress towards each target. When this report was published, of the 14 Closing the Gap targets:

  • 3 showed good improvement and were on track to be met:
    • Born healthy and strong (Target 2)
    • Early childhood education (Target 3)
    • Economic participation (Target 8)
  • 5 showed improvement but were not on track to be met:
    • Long and healthy lives (Target 1)
    • Student learning potential (Target 5)
    • Further education pathways (Target 6)
    • Youth engagement (Target 7)
    • Housing (Target 9)
  • 4 were worsening:
    • Children thriving (Target 4)
    • Criminal justice (Target 10)
    • Child protection (Target 12)
    • Social and emotional wellbeing (Target 14)
  • no change was observed for the youth justice (Target 11)
  • no new data were available to assess progress for the family safety (Target 13).

Common important factors across targets

Among the most important factors identified in the modelling of target outcomes, several were unique to the target and to the data used, such as preterm births for the healthy birthweight outcome, or developmental difficulties for children being developmentally on track outcome. However, a few common factors could be observed across other target outcomes.

Most common were the measures of household-level economic wellbeing and financial stress. Household income and related financial status indicators (that is, experience of financial stress, living in a crowded household, and running out of food or experiencing days without money for necessities) were ranked among the most important factors for 7 target outcomes, including year 12 and tertiary education, youth engagement, housing, adult imprisonment, family safety and psychological distress. Education was ranked as being of highest importance for employment and children’s preschool attendance.

Strategies for improvement

The 4 priority reforms articulated in the 2020 National Agreement on Closing the Gap are seen as central to driving improvements in outcomes by changing the way governments work with First Nations people. These reforms are:

  • formal partnerships and shared decision making
  • building the community-controlled sector
  • transforming government organisations
  • shared access to data and information at a regional level (Australian Government 2020).

Shared decision-making and building the community-controlled sector are considered key drivers of change across all target outcomes (SNAICC 2023).

To drive change forward, it is also important to acknowledge the interconnections between the Closing the Gap targets. The targets in the National Agreement are the key socioeconomic outcomes from an individual’s birth and throughout their life, where success in each stage depends on the previous stage’s outcome. This interdependency is well defined in the life course approach, which suggests that inequities in earlier stages of life affect outcomes at later stages.

Therefore, improving early years outcomes for First Nations people – such as healthy birthweight, early years education and child development – will contribute to improved youth and adult outcomes (including education, employment and housing), which will, in turn, affect adult imprisonment and psychological health and wellbeing. Progress in these targets will contribute towards achieving the overarching outcome – improved life expectancy for First Nations people.

The key factors identified for each Closing the Gap outcome area in this report can help not only to inform social policy but also to design effective programs. While the factors across the targets may vary widely, the strategies aimed at managing these factors can be grouped into several categories, which are summarised in the Overview section.

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