Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Senator Dodson, for your question—all the more pertinent because it is today. In relation to the new targets that will be set following consultation with the peaks and through the COAG process, obviously that is something that I'm more than happy to take on notice and ask the Minister for Indigenous Australians to respond to the specifics of the last part of your question.

More broadly in relation to closing the gap, I think everybody in this place—on this side, on that side, on the crossbenches and in the other place—accepts the fact that today the update on the Closing the Gap targets was not what we would have liked to have seen. However, I can assure this place and I can assure all Australians—Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians—that this government is absolutely committed to working with Indigenous Australians on closing the gap, to make sure every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander in this country grows up with the same opportunities as every other Australian.

We also understand the progress that we've made over the previous decade has not been successful, and I think today everybody has acknowledged the reason it hasn't been successful is because it has been a top-down approach used by governments of different persuasions and in different places, both here in Canberra and around Australia. But today probably heralds one of the most important changes, and that is changing how we intend to approach addressing the Closing the Gap targets and initiatives. That will be by greater consultation with Indigenous Australians and starting to build on the way that we approach this by being informed and consulted and designed by Indigenous Australians. So whilst today has not been the day that we would have liked to have seen—we would like to have seen significant improvement in the Closing the Gap indicators—I think we can celebrate the fact that we have acknowledged we haven't done well in the past and must do better in the future.