The Northern Territory's failure to halt the regression in half of the Closing the Gap targets is "no longer surprising," experts have said.
With a quarter of the population Indigenous - three quarters of whom live remotely or very-remotely - the "unacceptable backwards steps" in the latest data from the Productivity Commission for the NT reveals governments are "failing to deliver on their commitments", according to the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT).
According to the latest data, life expectancy for First Nations women has gone backwards, as well as targets around employment, birthweight, early childhood education, child development, employment, and youth engagement.
There has also been a regression in the targets around adult incarceration, and youth detention.
Concerningly, the data does not yet take into account the highly criticised and punitive lowering of the age of criminal responsibility by the CLP government, as well the enactment of several other policies, all of which has seen incarceration levels sky-rocket, corrections staff offer their no-confidence in the department head, and an NT politician call for the UN to become involved due to the appalling conditions in prisons.
AMSANT chief executive Dr John Paterson said the government's failure to deliver on its commitment to the Closing the Gap agreement came at the "expense of the health and well-being of our people" who already continue to be over-represented in rates of illness as well as having "significantly shorter lives than non-Indigenous Territorians".
"We are particularly failing vulnerable children, who are increasingly displaced, more likely to end up in jail, and tragically, more likely to die by suicide than in previous years," he said.
"It is alarming that the target to increase the rate of babies born at a healthy weight is now unlikely to be met. As a baseline, we must prioritise giving all children an equal start to life."
In a statement to the ABC, the NT's Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Steve Edgington, said the CLP government remained committed to the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
This, despite introducing policies experts have repeatedly said will cause increased Indigenous incarceration.
"The Northern Territory has the highest proportion of Aboriginal residents living in remote and very remote areas (74.5 per cent) and faces unique and complex challenges," Mr Edgington said.
He also said the government, with the support of the Commonwealth, was making major investments into remote services across the Territory, including $842.6 million over six years for communities to have access to critical services.
A spokesperson for the Alice Springs-based organisation Children's Ground said the data makes it clear: "Progress is too slow, and the current approach is not working."
"While there have been steps towards community control, the continued failure to meet key targets reflects a lack of serious commitment to shifting power and investing in First Nations-led solutions," they said.
They said governments had to "move beyond rhetoric and deliver meaningful action on the ground," highlighting the need to implement Indigenous-led decisions with well-resourced, place-based solutions.
"Our people are a captive audience who rely on government investment in communities," the spokesperson said.
"Every day they suffer a harsh reality as the rates of suicide prevention, incarceration, child removal and much more continue to worsen."
It is sentiment echoed by Dr Paterson, who noted whilst "collaboration of this kind is never easy…inaction is not an option".
"These results demand urgent, meaningful action from all governments for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people," he said.
"Closing the health gap requires addressing the social determinants of health—poverty, inequality, inadequate housing, and poor education—issues that must be taken far more seriously by all levels of government."
