Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I acknowledge the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples as the traditional custodians of the Canberra region where the Australian parliament meets. I pay my respects to their elders, past and present, and I extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people here today. Closing the Gap is not a slogan or a line item. It is a whole-of-government obligation, an obligation on all Australians, to change outcomes by changing how government works—shared decision-making, community control and accountability. The Commonwealth annual report 2025 shows practical progress in communities in jobs, essentials, housing, health, rangers and education, but the national data says we are not moving fast enough where it matters most, especially on justice, safety and children.

My remarks today land in a significant national moment. 2026 marks the 18th anniversary of the national apology, delivered in parliament on 13 February 2008. It was a formal acknowledgement of the profound harm done to stolen generations by government policies. Anniversaries matter because they remind us that the apology was never meant to be the end of the story but the start. It was meant to be the beginning of that commitment to undo that harm, and of a different relationship built on truth, healing and action. Closing the gap: Commonwealth annual report 2025 andCommonwealth implementation plan2026 shows us whether the 2008 apology is being matched by system change, genuine partnership and measurable progress, especially for children and families.

In Warringah, our community has shown it wants to walk forward as an ally. In the 2023 Voice referendum, Warringah voted overwhelmingly yes, at nearly 60 per cent, for recognition of a voice, because if we can't learn from the past, including the lessons of exclusion and harm, we can't make the changes we need for the future. That's why recent events are so alarming and must be raised in this context. The alleged attempted bombing at the Perth Invasion Day rally on 26 January 2026, now treated as a terrorism matter, was a stark reminder that racism escalates into violence. It sits alongside a broader, deeply concerning rise in white supremacist and Neo-Nazi activity, including incidents targeting First Nations people and places of cultural significance. Our response to all forms of racism, including white supremacy, must be strong, consistent and unequivocal, because there is no place for hate in a country serious about closing the gap. If we are a country where Australian values include equality, then closing the gap is a priority.

My electorate office in Manly has taken the initiative and proactively developed a reconciliation action plan—I encourage all other members of parliament to consider that for their own office operations—to embed First Nations consultations, stories and lived experience into the everyday work of our office. This applies across legislation; we regularly engage with Indigenous representative bodies in Warringah and nationally so that the views of Indigenous Australians are captured in the way my office considers legislation. It also applies to constituent liaison officers in my dedicated correspondence team, which has direct connections with First Nations organisations and proactively engages with them when undertaking individual case work. It also applies to events, and of course we have a welcome to country and acknowledgement at all events, including guest speakers and youth ambassadors, ensuring we have that truth-telling and acknowledgement. It also applies across our grants process, with individual case-by-case grant identification and writing support, including letters of support. It also applies through employment pathways, and we are looking at a First Nations intern and work experience program being implemented as part of our rolling Warringah and Canberra intern program. These are just a few ways in which a RAP can be a meaningful engagement with First Nations.

Closing the Gap today sits under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, developed in partnership between governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peak bodies. The agreement includes four priority reforms that focus on transforming systems—formal partnerships, building community controlled sectors, transforming mainstream agencies, and shared access to data, with 19 national socioeconomic targets tracked through the Productivity Commission's information repository and dashboard. This matters because the evidence is blunt. As of the July 2025 data release, only four targets were assessed as being on track, and several key targets are worsening. The national apology on 13 February 2008 acknowledged the deep harms inflicted on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, especially the Stolen Generation, and there was a commitment to action across those key areas, yet we are falling behind. The Productivity Commission's annual data shows the worsening outcomes in particular areas, including adult imprisonment, which is target 10; children in out-of-home care; suicide; and children developmentally on track. That means some targets are being achieved, but so many system-level indicators are telling us the pace and scale of change is falling far short.

The first step to tackling these problems is being honest about where the failures are and why, and a credible plan begins with the truth. We can make 2026 the year of structural change, not just more well-intentioned announcements and initiatives. I would argue the stakes are highest for children. We must put children's rights at the centre of the response, not just add-ons. Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, governments must treat the best interests of the child as a primary consideration in decisions affecting children. This connects to Closing the Gap's child protection target, target 12—by 2031, reduce the overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care by 45 per cent. But national reporting shows this target is actually worsening.

Warning lights in the national data are not abstract. When out-of-home care is worsening, that means more children separated from family, kin, culture and country. When early childhood development is worsening, that tells us that kids are starting school already behind, and catching up later is harder and more expensive. When adult imprisonment worsens, it affects families, children's stability, economic participation and community safety. A high-stakes game plan for children should look like prevention. We must invest early in maternal and child health, family supports, education, housing, food and security. We need to strengthen Aboriginal community controlled child and family services so families can get culturally safe supports early before statutory systems come in, and we should measure progress by whether children are safer and remain connected to kin, culture and country. Where Commonwealth funded services interact with children—health, early childhood, disability supports and family violence responses—the plan should specify who is responsible for outcomes and how progress is being tracked in relation to children.

If we want proof that a different approach can work, we should look to, for example, Scotland's whole-system approach, which deliberately diverts children from prosecution, from incarceration and from criminality. What we've seen across the country is shameful. The policies around adult crime, adult time are shameful approaches. When you look at Scotland's whole-system approach, it shows how you can do this well. They focus on early intervention. They coordinate responses across police, education, health and social services. The outcomes have been dramatic. Between 2008 and 2022, Scotland has recorded a 92 per cent reduction in the number of children and young people prosecuted in courts and a 97 per cent reduction in 16- to 17-year-olds sentenced to custody. And Scotland has gone further by embedding children's rights in law. The rights in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child are legally protected and enforceable in Scotland. This should happen in Australia, and it should happen here at Commonwealth level because that will override absolutely inhumane laws that are happening at state and territory level.

It has also ended the practice of holding children in young offender institutions. Reforms commencing 28 August 2024 meant children could no longer be remanded or sentenced to prisons, instead being placed in smaller, trauma informed, secure care settings. If we compare that to what we're seeing in Australia, the difference is stark. In Australia the approach has been to just throw more people in jail—adult time, adult crime—no matter the cost to our economy and to our society. We are making the problem worse.

I urge us to be real, when we talk about closing the gap, about the policies that actually make a difference. Don't just put on a bandaid. It's convenient and populist to prey on people's fears, but that does not do anything about actually making the problem better.

There are so many areas we can talk about when it comes to closing the gaps, but, for me, my focus overwhelmingly has to be a focus on the rights of the child and, in particular, on young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, who are at the moment being absolutely let down by Australia.

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