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

I thank Senator Brockman for his question on this really, really important issue for all Australians. The release last week of the first implementation plan was a really important milestone towards closing the gap measures and targets as set out by the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. The plan highlights the real and practical actions that need to be taken across all governments, including, most importantly, across the social services portfolio area.

The social services package is a $98 million package across four particular initiatives that will have direct, positive and meaningful impacts on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. One of these measures is $49 million to support states and territories to review and redesign frontline services. The initiative brings together a range of professionals across a wide, wide cross-section of the community—workers such as social workers, mental health workers, medical professionals, drug and alcohol specialists, domestic violence support services, legal services, financial counsellors, child protection workers, disability support providers, teachers, childcare providers and police—to make sure that the support they're providing these families is integrated as best as it possibly can be. The social services package also includes $38.6 million towards the Outcomes and Evidence Fund to encourage incentive based and evidence based service delivery and deliver tangible and improved outcomes to support child and family safety.

The new Closing the Gap outcomes and targets together with the implementation plan support embedded cultural competency and trauma responsiveness training in the Indigenous and the non-Indigenous support sector. These new measures go to the heart of the new model of working together under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap and ensure that we work towards targets of accountability and genuine partnership.