The Productivity Commission has urged governments across Australia to take their commitments to Closing the Gap seriously in a new report which indicates a lack of meaningful action on priority reforms.

The Commission's latest Closing the Gap data, published Wednesday evening, revealed progress in some key areas across states and territories, yet critical targets requiring urgent government action - particularly in suicide prevention, incarceration and child removal – had worsened.

The Productivity Commission reiterated its call for all governments to fully implement their commitments to the National Agreement on Closing the Gap

The new year of data measured progress of eight of the 19 targets (and 15 supporting indicators) with four targets on track to be met, while six showed improvement but still were not on track to be met.

Outcomes worsened for four targets while another four targets could not be assessed.

"In our review of progress towards the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, we found governments had not taken enough meaningful action to meet their commitments under the Agreement," Commissioner Selwyn Button said.

"The continued worsening of outcomes we've seen in some … target areas shows the importance of governments taking their commitments to the National Agreement seriously, and taking meaningful actions to fully implement the priority reforms."

For the first time since 2014-15, data was available on access and use of the internet (target 17), while the amount of land and sea country subject to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders rights or interests (targets 15A and 15B) continued to increase and was still on track.

Key areas of progress:

· Land and Sea Rights (Targets 15A & 15B): The recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights and interests over land and sea continues to grow, remaining on track.

· Internet access (Target 17): Data shows that 88.3 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 and over have used the internet in the past three months, reflecting increasing digital access.

· Health and wellbeing: Some states and territories have reported gains in key health indicators, which highlight where genuine partnership and shared-decision making have occurred.

Critical areas requiring urgent change:

· Incarceration (Target 10): The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in prisons increased by 15% between 2023 and 2024 – a 30 per cent increase since 2019 (the baseline year).

· Child protection (Target 12): The rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care has risen from 47.3 per 1,000 in 2019 to 50.3 per 1,000 in 2024.

· Suicide (Target 14): The rate of suicide among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people reached 30.8 per 100,000 in 2023, the highest recorded since 2018.

While there is no nationally-agreed process to determine relevant contributions required from each jurisdiction towards targets, the dashboard highlighted certain trends across them, as follows:

DATA COMPARISON OF JURISDICTIONS:

NSW – improvement for most targets. Worsening against targets 4 (child development) and 10 (imprisonment)

Victoria – improvement for most targets. Worsening against target 12 (children in out-of-home care)

Queensland – improvement for most targets. Worsening against targets 10 (imprisonment), 11 (youth detention) and 12 (out-of-home care)

WA – improvement for most targets. Worsening against targets 2 (children born at a healthy birthweight), 4 (child development) and 10 (imprisonment)

SA – improvement for most targets. Worsening against targets 7 (youth engagement), 10 (imprisonment) and 12 (out-of-home care)

Tasmania – improvement for most targets. Worsening against targets 9A (housing), 10 (imprisonment) and 12 (out-of-home care)

ACT – improvement for most targets. Worsening against targets 9A (housing) and 11 (youth detention)

NT – improvement against half the targets. Worsening against targets 1 (female life expectancy), 2 (birthweight), 3 (early childhood education), 4 (child development), 7 (youth engagement), 8 (employment), 10 (imprisonment), and 11 (youth detention).

Coalition of Peaks lead convenor Pat Turner AM said the latest data reinforced positive change was possible when governments worked genuinely with Indigenous communities.

The peak body urged governments to accelerate stronger action on four priority reforms: formal partnerships and shared decision-making; building the Community-Controlled Sector; transforming government agencies and institutions; and shared access to data and information.

"We know when governments genuinely partner with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, we see positive outcomes," Ms Turner said.

"But in critical areas – like incarceration, child protection and suicide prevention – we are seeing setbacks."

She challenged governments to step up and fully commit to implementing priority reforms of the agreement.

"Too often we see delay, half-measures and a failure to empower our communities with real decision-making power," Ms Turner said.

"If we are to achieve lasting change, the solutions must be led by us, not imposed upon us.

"If we fail to work in an interconnected way, policies risk sounding good in theory but failing in practice. Collaboration and genuine commitment to real partnerships aren't just ideals… they are essential to Closing the Gap."

Ms Turner's views in response to Wednesday's data drop were echoed recently by First Nations Projects Group director Rekeesha Fry, who urged the federal government to focus on economic empowerment, driven by establishing an office for the Indigenous economy and an Indigenous investment and trade hub.

"We need to re-balance and re-prioritise Indigenous social policies and Indigenous economic policies… both are very important but they both need to work in parallel," she said last month.

Ms Fry believed a First Nations economic peak body would help Traditional Owners and Indigenous businesses secure equity participation in major projects on their land, and help them attain equity positions in major projects on their Country.

"In doing so, it changes us from a passive stakeholder who receives royalty income streams, to an active shareholder," she said.

"It gives us capability uplift over long-term, and building an investment portfolio of money we can then use to invest in our own communities to become sustainable and self-sufficient."

The group urged the federal government to also prioritise the establishment of an Australian Indigenous Foods and Botanicals Authority, and investment in Indigenous-led startups and digital skills programs.

Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy told the ABC after the data was released that the federal government remained committed to improving the lives of First Nations people, but acknowledged more work was required.

"The National Agreement ... remains the critical framework for delivering improved outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, in partnership with states and territories, local government and First Nations Peak organisations," Senator McCarthy said.

Previous data showed just five of 19 targets were on track. The fifth Annual Data Compilation Report is scheduled for July 2.