Social Justice Commissioner Condemns Critical Closing the Gap Failures
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Katie Kiss has expressed outrage over new Productivity Commission data revealing that only 1 of 19 Closing the Gap targets has been met.
Harry Taruva 
Canberra — Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Katie Kiss has issued a damning rebuke of Australian state, territory and federal governments following the release of the Productivity Commission’s latest annual tracking data, which confirms that the national Closing the Gap strategy has stalled or deteriorated across most key socio-economic indicators.
The Annual Data Compilation Report, which monitors performance across 19 national targets established under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, reveals that past the halfway mark of the 2031 target timeline, only one objective, preschool enrolment, has been successfully met.
Three targets remain on track, five show slight improvement but fall short of projections, and four critical metrics have actively worsened, particularly surrounding adult incarceration, youth detention and child removals into out-of-home care.
Commissioner Kiss stated that the figures demolish government assertions that current administrative frameworks are effectively addressing systemic disadvantage, attributing the declining metrics directly to state policies that contradict existing intergovernmental commitments.
“I am appalled by this, though sadly not surprised. We are now past the halfway mark of the 2031 Agreement, and nowhere remotely near being able to meet even half, let alone all, of the targets,” Commissioner Kiss said.
“Governments are responsible for these failures. The National Agreement was a promise made by Australian governments to First Peoples, and that promise is being broken.” She said.
The Commissioner highlighted that the Federal Government has yet to formally respond to the six key recommendations delivered by the Joint Standing Committee’s 2023 Inquiry into implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
To reverse the trend, Commissioner Kiss outlined core policy demands from Indigenous communities, including incorporating UNDRIP directly into domestic law, enshrining protections within a national Human Rights Act, creating independent statutory oversight bodies, and shifting funding directly to First Nations-controlled community organisations.
“Today’s figures demolish any claim that we don’t know what works,” Commissioner Kiss added.
“The evidence is overwhelming: when governments back Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations, share decision-making and support self-determination, outcomes improve. When they don’t, progress stalls or goes backwards," she said.
