Summary
Each year, the Annual Data Compilation Report will provide a point-in-time snapshot of progress under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap (the Agreement). This first Report provides data on the Agreement’s socioeconomic outcome areas and outlines the approach to future monitoring of progress in implementing the Priority Reforms.
The Agreement identifies 17 socioeconomic outcomes important to the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, with 18 associated targets for monitoring progress toward these outcomes. This report provides baseline data for all 18 targets, and more recent data for seven targets where such data are available.
For the seven targets with more recent data, this report provides an assessment of whether progress was on track toward the desired outcomes as set out in the Agreement, at the point in time the data were collected. It is not yet possible to assess progress under the Agreement as the relevant reporting periods were all before or around its July 2020 commencement.
Progress toward the seven targets is mixed. Three are on track (healthy birthweight babies, the enrolment of children in the year before full time schooling and youth detention rates), while the remaining four are not on track (life expectancy, adult imprisonment, out-of-home care for children and suicides).
These results need to be understood in context. Targets are being monitored at the national level and are based on two data points only. While an assessment may show a target was on track at a point in time, results can vary from year to year for some targets and the current status does not mean a target will (or will not) be met in future. As a target’s end-date gets closer and the longer-term trend becomes apparent, whether a target is to be met will become clearer. Furthermore, outcomes may be very different at lower levels of geography and/or for people with different characteristics.
Central to the Agreement are four Priority Reforms that aim to change the way governments work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and are designed to strengthen Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and cultures. These Priority Reforms commit Australian governments and the Coalition of Peaks to the following:
- Developing new partnerships that empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to share decision-making authority with governments.
- Building Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled sectors to deliver services.
- Transforming mainstream government organisations to improve accountability and respond to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
- Improving the sharing of data and information with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organisations.
As they are part of a new approach, no data are currently available to report on the progress of their implementation. Future editions of this report will aim to address this significant monitoring gap.
1 About this report
This is the first Annual Data Compilation Report to inform the reporting on progress under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
This section covers how the Agreement differs to previous approaches to Closing the Gap and how progress under the Agreement will be monitored through the Priority Reforms and socioeconomic outcomes. The following two sections discuss these areas in more detail including what they mean, what information is currently available and what it tells us, and the expected focus of the Commission for future reports.
What is the National Agreement on Closing the Gap and how is it different to previous approaches?
The National Agreement on Closing the Gap (the Agreement) is a commitment to improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made by all Australian governments and the Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peak Organisations (Coalition of Peaks). Under the Agreement, these Parties have committed to actions to achieve the following 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).
The Agreement adopts a fundamentally new approach to efforts to close the gap to that under the National Indigenous Reform Agreement, which it replaces. This new approach is a structural change that commits Australian governments to work in ‘full and genuine partnership’ with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in making policies to close the gap (clause 18). This change stems from an understanding that when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a genuine say in the policies that affect them, better outcomes are achieved (clause 6).
The Agreement itself reflects this new approach, being developed in partnership between all Australian governments and the Coalition of Peaks.
What are the key reforms and intended outcomes under the Agreement?
Central to the Agreement are four Priority Reforms that ‘change the way governments work to accelerate improvements in the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’ (clause 25).
The Agreement also sets out outcomes important to the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Currently, there are 17 socioeconomic outcomes identified across a range of life areas including health, education, employment, housing, safety, and strength in culture and language.
How will progress under the Agreement be assessed, including in this report?
Progress under the Agreement will be assessed through the following public accountability mechanisms (see clauses 116 to 128 of the Agreement):
- An information repository that includes a Dashboard with the most recent data on the targets and indicators, and this annual report.
- Implementation plans and annual reports on progress prepared by each of the Parties to the Agreement.
- Two independent but complementary three-yearly reviews, one undertaken by the Productivity Commission and the other led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The role of this annual report will be to provide a point-in-time snapshot 1 of data from the Dashboard to help monitor whether the:
- four Priority Reforms are being implemented, and the way governments are working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is changing
- 17 socioeconomic outcomes are improving and the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are getting better.
Where data are not available to enable this monitoring to take place, information will be provided on the progress of data development.
While this report will monitor the implementation of the reforms and whether the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are improving, it cannot directly attribute changes in life outcomes to the reforms. To understand how (or the mechanisms by which) the reforms are affecting the socioeconomic outcomes requires more in-depth evaluation which is outside the scope of this monitoring report.
2 Monitoring the implementation of the Priority Reforms
What are the Priority Reforms and why are they so important?
The Priority Reforms are at the centre of the Agreement and respond to the voices and aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. They arose from the partnership between Australian governments and the Coalition of Peaks and were supported by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people during the formal engagement processes in 2019 for the development of the Agreement (clause 26).
The Priority Reforms aim to fundamentally change the way governments work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, organisations and communities, so as to accelerate improvements in the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. They are also designed to strengthen Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and cultures. The Priority Reforms commit Australian governments and the Coalition of Peaks to the following:
- Developing new partnerships that empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to share decision-making authority with governments, while ensuring that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s own governance and decision-making structures are supported and strengthened (clauses 28, 32 and 33).
- Building the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled sectors to deliver services (clause 42) including through sustained capacity building and investment, and ensuring that community-controlled organisations are supported by a Peak Body, governed by a majority Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Board (clause 45).
- Transforming mainstream government organisations to improve accountability and respond to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (clause 58), including that governments commit to systemic and structural transformation of their institutions to ensure they are free of institutionalised racism and promote cultural safety (clause 60).
- Improving the sharing of data and information with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organisations so they can access and use local data to set their own priorities, drive their own development and monitor efforts to close the gap (clause 17d), including through partnerships to guide improvements in the collection, management, access and use of data (clauses 71-72).
How will the Priority Reforms be monitored?
This Agreement takes a different approach to the previous agreement (the National Indigenous Reform Agreement), where monitoring focussed on socioeconomic outcomes. While monitoring the socioeconomic outcomes is important and will continue, direct monitoring of the Priority Reforms will also be undertaken. Monitoring the implementation of the Priority Reforms will show if the Parties have done what they committed to.
For each Priority Reform area, the Parties have committed to actions that will facilitate progress towards the desired outcomes, with the targets and supporting indicators monitoring these actions (table 2.1). The supporting indicators are intended to ‘provide greater understanding of, and insight into, how all governments are tracking against the outcomes and targets’ (clause 81.b.iii) and include a mixture of short-term output and longer-term outcome indicators. For example, for Priority Reform One, governments have committed to establishing policy and place-based partnerships that respond to local priorities, and this action will be monitored by the target (as noted in table 2.1) and by supporting indicators, such as the ‘number of partnerships by function’ (from table A in the Agreement).
What information on the Priority Reforms is in this edition of the report and what will be included in future?
No data are currently available to directly measure the implementation of the Priority Reforms. As these reforms are part of the new approach and not previously monitored, significant conceptual and data development work is underway to ensure the reforms can be measured directly.
Future editions of this report will aim to address this significant monitoring gap. The initial focus will be on tracking progress in developing data to monitor the reform targets, and data will be included as it becomes available.
Reform area and outcomes | Target | Indicators |
|---|---|---|
Priority Reform One – Formal partnerships and shared decision-making | ||
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are empowered to share decision-making authority with governments to accelerate policy and place-based progress on Closing the Gap through formal partnership arrangements. | There will be formal partnership arrangements to support Closing the Gap in place between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and governments in place in each state and territory enshrining agreed joint decision-making roles and responsibilities and where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have chosen their own representatives. |
|
Priority Reform Two – Building the community-controlled sector | ||
There is a strong and sustainable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled sector delivering high quality services to meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across the country. [clause 17.b.] | Increase the amount of government funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programs and services going through Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations. |
|
Priority Reform Three – Transforming government organisations | ||
Governments, their organisations and their institutions are accountable for Closing the Gap and are culturally safe and responsive to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, including through the services they fund. | Decrease in the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have experiences of racism. |
|
Priority Reform Four – Shared access to data and information at a regional level | ||
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have access to, and the capability to use, locally relevant data and information to set and monitor the implementation of efforts to close the gap, their priorities and drive their own development. | Increase the number of regional data projects to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to make decisions about Closing the Gap and their development. |
|
a Further details on the indicators are listed under each Priority Reform on the Dashboard at www.pc.gov.au/closing-the-gap-data/dashboard.
Source: National Agreement on Closing the Gap (April 2021).
3 Monitoring the socioeconomic outcomes
What are the socioeconomic outcomes and targets?
The socioeconomic outcomes focus on the areas of life identified as important to the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. These areas include education, employment, health and wellbeing, interaction with the criminal justice system, access to land and waters, and the strength of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and languages. Monitoring the socioeconomic outcomes will show whether the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are improving.
There are 17 socioeconomic outcomes across these areas and each area has at least one target, with 18 specified targets overall. The targets are intended to provide a quantifiable measure of the outcomes experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, based on achieving a desired endpoint in the future.
Information is available on all the 18 specified targets 2 (attachment A), with the following information included in this report:
- baseline-year data – the data year from which progress will be measured at the national level
- national trajectories – these straight-line trajectories show a potential pathway from the baseline to the desired end-point, they show us the direction and speed of change needed from today to meet the target in future (they are indicative and not a prediction of the progress we expect each year) 3
- data technical specifications
- post-baseline-year data for selected targets – post-baseline-year data are available for seven of the 18 targets.
How do we assess progress using these targets?
An assessment of progress toward meeting a target is made at a ‘point in time’ when new data become available. The new data are compared to the target trajectory, and the target assessed as either:
- on track (
) — the target is at or above the target trajectory in the most recent period 4 - not on track (
) — where the target indicator is below the target trajectory in the most recent period.
Tracking improvements against a target trajectory has been done at the national level only, as target trajectories have not been agreed for states and territories. At the state and territory level, results have been assessed as follows:
- improvement (↑) — where the target shows improvement in the outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people since the baseline year
- no change (■) — where the target shows no improvement in outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people since the baseline year
- worsening (↓) — where the target shows a decline in outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people since the baseline year
- data gap (..) — where no suitable data are available for the state or territory.
What can the targets currently tell us about improvement in the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people?
At this stage, it is not possible to assess from monitoring the socioeconomic targets if the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have improved under the Agreement. The Agreement was signed in July 2020, and the most recent available data for this report measured outcomes around mid-2020 — before the commencement of the Agreement. For example, the latest life expectancy data reported (2015−2017) are from three years before the Agreement was signed, and any improvements since the baseline (2005−2007) cannot be attributed to the Agreement.
Many of the 18 targets (11 overall) do not have new data available since the baseline year, so no assessment of progress is possible. This is largely due to the frequency of the source data collections, with many updated infrequently for various reasons including the high collection costs both for respondents and data collection agencies (for example, the ABS Census of Population and Housing) and/or an expectation what is being measured will change slowly (for example, life expectancy). In future reporting, some of the supporting indicators 5 that are currently under development might be used to provide proxy information in the years where target data cannot be updated (for example, annual mortality rates could supplement five-yearly life expectancy estimates).
Although it is not possible to assess progress since the signing of the Agreement for the seven targets where new data are available since the baseline year, it is possible to assess whether they are on track toward the desired outcomes for improving the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. That is, whether at the point in time they were measured they were on track for reaching (or progressing toward) the agreed outcome (or target) as articulated in the Agreement.
In assessing progress since the baseline year for these seven targets, it is also important to keep in mind that the data are reported at an aggregated level (national, state and territory) and outcomes may be very different at lower levels of geography and/or for people with different characteristics. Disaggregated data for targets and supporting indicators will be incorporated iteratively in future reports.
Furthermore, national assessments for the targets are currently based on two data points only (that is, a comparison of the most recent data against the indicative target trajectory at the same time). While this assessment may show a target is on track at a point in time, results can vary from year to year and this does not mean the target will necessarily be met in future (or even be on track in future years). As the target end-date gets closer and the longer-term trend becomes apparent, it will become clearer whether a target will be met.
Finally, as noted earlier, the assessments do not reveal why any changes in outcomes have occurred. The assessments simply provide an indication of whether things are getting better or worse, but to understand why this is occurring requires in-depth evaluation which is outside the scope of this monitoring report.
A summary of the national assessments for each of the seven targets follows. These assessments need to be considered in the context of the important caveats noted above.
Summary of the National Assessments
Target 1
Life expectancy (target 1) is a measure of whether Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are enjoying long and healthy lives. It is reported separately for males and females and measured relative to non-Indigenous people as a ‘gap’ in years of life.
While improvements in life expectancy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people since 2005−2007 (the baseline) narrowed the gap to 8.6 years for boys and 7.8 years for girls in 2015−2017, the national target of ‘no gap’ is not on track to be met.
Target 2
Healthy birthweight (target 2) is a measure of whether Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are born healthy and strong. It is reported as the proportion of babies born who had a healthy birthweight.
Nationally in 2018, 88.9 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander babies born were of a healthy birthweight (similar to the 2017 baseline), with the national target of ‘91 per cent’ on track to be met.
Target 3
Early childhood education and care enrolment rates (target 3) is a measure of whether Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are engaged in high quality, culturally appropriate early childhood education in their early years. It is reported as the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the Year Before Full time Schooling (YBFS) age cohort who were enrolled in a preschool program.
Nationally in 2020, 93.1 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the YBFS age cohort were enrolled in a preschool program (an increase from the 2016 baseline), with the national target of ‘95 per cent’ on track to be met.
Target 10
Rates of incarceration (target 10) is a measure of whether Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults are overrepresented in the criminal justice system. It is reported as the age-standardised rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners per 100 000 adult population.
Nationally at 30 June 2020, the age-standardised rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners was 2081.0 per 100 000 adult population (an increase from the 2019 baseline), with the national target of a ‘reduction of at least 15 per cent in the incarceration rate’ not on track to be met.
Target 11
Rates of youth detention (target 11) is a measure of whether Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people are overrepresented in the criminal justice system. It is reported as the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 10–17 years in detention.
Nationally in 2019-20, the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 10–17 years in detention was 25.7 per 10 000 children in the population (a decrease from the 2018-19 baseline), with the national target of a ‘decrease of at least 30 per cent in the detention rate’ on track to be met.
Target 12
Rates of children in out-of-home care (target 12) is a measure of whether Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are overrepresented in the child protection system. It is reported as the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 0–17 years in out-of-home care.
Nationally in 2020, the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 0–17 years in out- of-home care was 56.3 per 1000 children in the population (an increase from the 2019 baseline), with the national target of a ‘reduction in the rate of home care by 45 per cent’ not on track to be met.
Target 14
Rates of suicide (target 14) is a measure of whether Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have high levels of social and emotional wellbeing. It is reported as the age-standardised suicide rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people per 100 000 people.
In 2019, the suicide rate (for NSW, Queensland, WA, SA and the NT combined) for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was 27.1 per 100 000 people, (an increase from the 2018 baseline), with the target of a ‘significant and sustained reduction in suicide towards zero’ not on track to be met.
Further information on the targets is provided in attachment A, along with state and territory assessments for the seven targets where new data are available since the baseline year. In relation to the state and territory assessments, care should be taken in interpreting performance. In particular, different starting points (that is, baseline levels) across jurisdictions may impact the apparent nature and extent of progress. For example, a jurisdiction starting from a relatively poor baseline position (e.g. lower proportion of babies born with a healthy birthweight or higher rates of imprisonment relative to other jurisdictions) may see greater gains in the early years but could still be behind the national average at a point-in-time.
Footnotes
- The data referenced in this report are drawn from the Dashboard on the Closing the Gap Information Repository available at https://www.pc.gov.au/closing-the-gap-data/dashboard. Locate Footnote 1 above
- There are additional targets currently being developed on inland waters and community infrastructure. Locate Footnote 2 above
- A trajectory for the target on digital inclusion (target 17) is yet to be developed. This target is based on achieving parity and data are not currently available for non-Indigenous people. Locate Footnote 3 above
- For indicators where the target is a decrease from the baseline year, ‘on track’ is where the target indicator is at or below the target trajectory. Locate Footnote 4 above
- Supporting indicators will provide data to supplement the target and help in understanding whether the outcomes in the Agreement are to be achieved. They relate to drivers of change and the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in an outcome area. Locate Footnote 5 above
Attachment A
Dashboard snapshots and data for download
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