The Closing the Gap agreement on improving Indigenous outcomes will fail without fundamental changes, the Productivity Commission has warned, adding that successive governments have “failed to fully grasp” the challenges.
In a scathing report, the Productivity Commission has called for urgent changes to rescue the landmark agreement, accusing the federal government of “weak” action on key areas, not fulfilling its promises and a “disregard” for the suggestions of Indigenous communities. It says efforts to eliminate institutional racism in areas such as justice and health have “received little effort”.
Maybe work from a cultural strengths model, rather than a deficit approach from the get go, and there’s hope for better outcomes. As it stands, CTG is much too easily deployed as an assimilation and colonial weapon rather than a tool for transformation and community controlled services.