The National Indigenous Health Leadership Alliance has reaffirmed its position on Indigenous affairs ahead of the upcoming federal election and following the publication of key documents, including the Productivity Commission review and Close the Gap Day report.
A partnership of Indigenous health and wellbeing organisations committed to dismantling systemic barriers within Australia's mainstream health system, the National Indigenous Health Leadership Alliance (NIHLA), says it welcomes all commitments to improve the effectiveness, accountability, and outcomes of government investment in Closing the Gap.
In acknowledging Jacinta Nampijinpa Price's recent remarks about auditing expenditure and inefficiencies in the Indigenous affairs portfolio, it says a focus on efficiency "must not come at the cost of equity, cultural safety, or self-determination," while saying any review of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap "must be comprehensive and impartial".
"As Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations working across all levels of the health system, we are also frustrated with the lack of meaningful progress," NIHLA says.
"Progress has been held back by inconsistent implementation of government commitments under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap."
Closing the Gap data released last month indicted despite some states and territories reporting gains in key health indicators, targets relating to child protection and suicide remained critical areas requiring urgent attention, prompting Tasmanian Aboriginal figure Michael Mansell to say "throwing money" at underlying causes of the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians "has achieved nothing".
NIHLA says a funding stream review must "including those going to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous organisations" that claim to contribute to Closing the Gap, as the barriers to progress are not a lack of funding "but systemic failures in how that funding is governed, allocated, and delivered".
In reiterating the findings of the 2024 Productivity Commission report which revealed a substantial increase in the number of Indigenous children placed in care, NIHLA called on all political leaders, regardless of party, to ensure that reforms to Indigenous Affairs are guided by the principles embedded in the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
They include; formal partnerships and shared decision making, building the community-controlled sector, transforming government organisations and shared access to data and information at a regional level.
"Where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have driven the implementation of the Priority Reform Areas in our communities, we have seen real progress," NIHLA chair Karl Briscoe recently said.
"This demonstrates the power of our leadership when governments listen, trust, and act in good faith."
NIHLA says it remains committed to working with governments of all stripes to ensure taxpayer investments in Indigenous affairs are not only efficient but effective, culturally safe, and community-driven.
It says a smarter, stronger approach is only possible if governments commit to co-designing solutions with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and hold all recipients of funding to the same standards of transparency, performance, and respect.
