Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and languages are strong, supported and flourishing.

By 2031, there is a sustained increase in number and strength of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages being spoken.

Number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people accessing Commonwealth funded language centres to maintain and preserve languages.

Measure 1

This measure is defined as:

Numerator – the number of times people accessed an activity at Commonwealth funded Indigenous Language Centres

and is presented as a number.

Measure 2

This measure is defined as:

Numerator – the number of Commonwealth funded Indigenous Language Centres, that are:

• ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community controlled’ centres
• ‘Non‑Indigenous controlled’ centres

and is presented as a number.

National Agreement on Closing the Gap July 2020

6 March 2024

Contextual information

For both measures, an increasing number (and particularly for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community‑controlled centres) is generally desirable as this indicates greater access to these services, but access to services should be considered in the context of population need.

Name: SmartyGrants grants management system

Frequency: Annual

Documentation (links): https://www.arts.gov.au/funding-and-support/indigenous-languages-and-arts-program

Provider name: Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts

Provider area: Indigenous Languages and Arts Program

Measure 1:

2018-19

Measure 2:

2019

2021-22

Measure 1:

State and territory and Australia.

Measure 2:

State and territory and Australia, by governance structure.

Counting rules

Measure 1

The number of times people accessed activities delivered by Commonwealth funded Indigenous Language Centres (ILC), over a financial year.

Activities include participation in centre‑based Indigenous language activities, (such as Indigenous language teaching and learning programs) delivered face to face or online.

A person accessing an ILC activity is recorded each time they participate (each time they attend an ILC and each time they log on online); hence a person can be counted more than once over a 12‑month period.

Online access is counted according to the location of the ILC, not the location of the person accessing the ILC.

Measure 2

The number of Commonwealth funded ILCs nationally.

This includes ILCs that receive annual operational funding under the Indigenous Languages and Arts program to work on identifying, preserving, and revitalising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages.

ILCs are counted separately for each location in which they operate. State and territory is based on the location of the ILC.

Services are counted as at 30 June, annually.

An ‘Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Community‑Controlled Organisation’ is classified under the following Tiers:

• Tier 1 – An Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander organisation incorporated under Commonwealth, State or Territory legislation which has at least 51% Indigenous ownership and at least 51% Indigenous control via its governing body.
  • Tier 1a) includes – Community-controlled organisations, including organisations specifically established for the benefit of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, where the above thresholds are mandated by their governing rules or legislation.
  • Tier 1b) includes – All other organisations meeting the above 51% Indigenous ownership and 51% Indigenous control thresholds.

• Tier 2 – Other entities, with at least 50% Indigenous ownership or 50% Indigenous control.

‘Non‑Indigenous controlled’ centres include not‑for‑profit community‑based organisations and may operate through a range of governance structures controlled by non‑Indigenous organisations, with various Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community advisory and input arrangements.

Measures 1 and 2

Data collection within ILCs may vary across locations.

Measure 1 only

The Indigenous status of people engaging in activities is not currently collected and therefore data will include any person engaging in an activity in a Commonwealth Funded ILC. A disaggregation by Indigenous status will enable reporting for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in line with the wording of the indicator in the National Agreement.

Some ILCs were not able to provide data on the number of people accessing activities. Therefore, there may be an undercount of people for this measure.

Future reporting will seek to include the following additional disaggregations:

• Indigenous status of people who engage in activities in Commonwealth funded ILCs
• Traditional languages and Creole languages (Kriol and Yumplatok/Torres Strait Creole) being supported
• geographic area (jurisdiction, remoteness where possible)
• gender
• age
• strength of languages being supported (according to AIATSIS measures) including languages in the process of retrieval/revival.