Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak about Closing the Gap, and to speak honestly about where we have fallen short in lifting up First Nations communities across the country. As Minister McCarthy has acknowledged, there is still a way to go to close the gap for our mob. We all know we need more than hope and promises. The latest Closing the gap data makes this painfully clear: only four the 19 targets are on track to be met. Every single year, we see more First Nations people impacted by disadvantage. Too many of our kids and communities are not getting the Australian 'fair go'. We are not progressing. This should be a wake-up call to every single person in this chamber, and we must speak frankly about where and why we are falling short.

Let's start with youth justice. First Nations children are being incarcerated at staggering rates. They are 27 times more likely to be locked up than other Australian kids, and 10 times more likely to be taken into out-of-home care. These figures unveil a justice system that is deeply out of balance. In Queensland, for example, First Nations people make up 4.6 per cent of the population but 37 per cent of the adult prisoners in custody and, staggeringly, 69 per cent of young people in detention. I don't need to be the one to say the math ain't mathing.

Then let's look at health. It's abundantly clear that our communities all over Australia are hurting. The suicide rate for Aboriginal people is approximately 2½ times higher than it is for other Australians. As the Prime Minister remarked, suicide shatters families and it tears apart communities, and it is the most urgent of crises to fix for our mob. Another lingering issue is preventable illnesses that have disappeared elsewhere, like rheumatic heart disease, for example. Yet, shamefully, it still affects First Nations community, and especially First Nations kids. Preventable deaths and diseases should never be accepted as normal anywhere, particularly in First Nations communities. For too many First Nations families, this is still their reality. We are letting them down when we do not close these gaps, when we lag behind.

This gap is also apparent in education. Only a handful of education targets are on track. Early childhood development—lagging; school attendance—far too low. If these gaps are left unchecked, they lock families and communities into cycles of disadvantage that last for generations.

Economic opportunities for First Nations people tell a similar story. Work and income gaps remain huge. We are still seeing housing shortages and food insecurity rampant through our communities. Too many people who want to and lots of people who do work hard still don't get a fair go. How is that fair? As politicians, we can often get caught up in the numbers. But First Nations people are facing real problems, and we are real people. We see and feel this in our towns, in our families and in our communities. The lives of First Nations people will not improve unless this parliament, and parliaments in every state and territory jurisdiction, do something about it. The Productivity Commission tells us that so many of the commitments and measures in the Closing the Gap framework are failing not because of First Nations communities but because parliaments and governments around the country have failed them and failed on their part in the Closing the Gap commitments.

It is well past time for that to change. Closing the Gap was agreed to by all governments, not just the federal government. State, territory and local governments agreed to joint accountability under the national agreement. But, too often, this work—the heavy lifting—has fallen back on Aboriginal communities themselves. We can't let the burden be left with communities who are underresourced to fix problems that they did not create. Every state and territory signed this agreement. Every one of them should be a part of the solution. But every jurisdiction is worsening on at least one priority measure; none of them have met all of their targets. Again, they're lagging behind. Queensland and the Northern Territory also face deeply concerning incarceration rates. Minister McCarthy has described these figures as alarming, and I echo her sentiments.

We know something else here: when governments invest properly, when programs are designed well and when barriers are removed, we see results on the ground. We see lives changed—real results. Let's look at Labor's free TAFE, for example. Across Australia, there have now been more than 44,000 enrolments by First Nations peoples. That represents 6.1 per cent of all free TAFE enrolments nationwide. That is incredible. This means thousands of people are gaining skills, building careers and creating new opportunities for themselves and their families for generations. This has a flow-on effect, too. We know that education and training opens so many doors. It creates independence and strengthens communities. Here in Victoria, we are seeing that impact as well. Since January 2023, there have been 143,000 free TAFE enrolments across the state. Within that, 1,800 have been First Nations students.

Behind those numbers are people who are helping their fellow Australians when they are sick. These numbers are the same people who are teaching our little ones when their parents have to work. They are the ones building homes across the country or upgrading your local parks. Theirs are skills that our economy needs and careers that change lives. These outcomes give insight into something important. Investment works. Removing financial barriers works. Access to education works. We need to see more action from state and territory governments to ensure the best chance for First Nations people. We must go further. This work is absolutely not done. While progress like this matters, it must happen at scale across education, health, housing and employment—and the list goes on.

Closing the gap does not happen through words alone. Governments need to have sustained investment and genuine partnership with communities at every level, taking responsibility for the commitments that they've made to their fellow Australians. We are lagging, and it's time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. We owe it to our communities, and we cannot let them down.