In 2007, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) committed to closing the gap in life outcomes and opportunities between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous Australians.
In November 2008, COAG endorsed the National Indigenous Reform Agreement (NIRA) , which has 6 key targets:
- close the life expectancy gap within a generation
- halve the gap in mortality rates for Indigenous children under 5 years old within a decade
- halve the gap in employment outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within a decade
- halve the gap in reading, writing and numeracy achievements within a decade
- ensure all 4 year olds in remote communities have access to early childhood education within five years
- at least halve the gap for Indigenous students in Year 12 attainment or equivalent attainment rates by 2020
The NIRA also establishes a number of strategic areas for action or 'Building Blocks'. The Building Blocks underpinning COAG reforms are Early Childhood, Schooling, Health, Economic Participation, Healthy Homes, Safe Communities and Governance and Leadership. The Closing the Gap report is structured around these Building Blocks.
Funding the Indigenous reforms
Under National Partnership Agreements, the Australian Government has allocated the following funds across Australia:
- $564 million over 6 years for Indigenous Early Childhood Development
- $291.2 million over 6 years for Indigenous Remote Service Delivery
- up to $228.8 million over 5 years for Indigenous Economic Participation
- $5.48 billion over 10 years on Remote Indigenous Housing
- $1.58 billion over 4 years on Closing the Gap on Indigenous Health Outcomes
- $6.967 over 4 years on Remote Indigenous Public Internet Access
You can download copies of the partnership and agreement in both PDF and RTF formats documents from the COAG website.
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