The Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Council (QAIHC) is urging governments nationally to strengthen their commitment to the National Agreement on Closing the Gap and its priority reforms, with yet another progress report highlighting few improvements over the past 12 months.
Only four out of 19 targets in the National Agreement on Closing the Gap remain on track to be met by 2031, according to the Productivity Commission’s new 2025 Annual Data Compilation Report.
Although healthy birthweights (Target 2) are improving, they remain off track. Four key targets are continuing to worsen - suicide rates (Target 14), incarceration rates for adults (Target 10), developmental outcomes for children (Target 4), and the number of children in out-of-home care (Target 12).
“This year’s CTG report card remains disappointing and continues to demonstrate a lack of collective focus on delivering priority reforms. We need local practical solutions to the challenges of Closing the Gap,” QAIHC Acting Chief Executive Officer Paula Arnol said.
“We have been at this for decades. It’s 2025 with six years to go to the conclusion of the Agreement and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are still not experiencing the health outcomes that non-Indigenous Australians enjoy. This is unacceptable.
“There must be action on the Priority Reforms under the CTG - formal partnerships and shared decision-making, building the community-controlled sector, transforming government organisations and shared access to data and information at a regional level.
“If we walk our talk, turning the rhetoric into actions, improvements in the targets will follow.”
Ms Arnol said QAIHC was focused on working with the Queensland government to ensure the Queensland ACCHO sector can play a key role in changing CTG outcomes for the better.
“The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled health organisation (ACCHO) sector is one of the oldest and strongest community-controlled sectors in Australia, with over 50 years’ experience,” she said.
“We’re focused on being a trusted partner, driving meaningful change, improving lives, and ensuring equity for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders. Our maturity and learned experience is the key to changing the current trajectory.
“Only genuine partnerships with governments will drive meaningful change that is experienced on the ground, in our communities. We’re confident we will then see progress.
“We’re building and improving upon our sector’s data capability so our communities can better track what’s working and push for real change, through self-determination.
“Having strong evidence today, not old data, helps us create the right services, tell our own stories, and make sure we’re making progress.
“It’s also about data sovereignty - making sure we have control over our own information.
“This supports self-determination and community-led solutions, which are essential to achieving the goals of Closing the Gap and government agreements to co-design solutions.
“We’re also focused on building regional capability and capacity and working with Queensland Health to achieve real change.
“We want to improve health outcomes, improve how our people experience our health system and ensure our sector is playing a key role in providing culturally safe care to Indigenous Queenslanders.”
For more information on Closing the Gap visit www.pc.gov.au.
Quick Links
