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CAN THE ACT BE FIRST TO CLOSE THE GAP?

Two years after the ACT voted ‘Yes’ in the Voice to Parliament referendum, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our community continue to experience entrenched disadvantage.

Multiple reviews have called for increased accountability in delivering on our Closing the Gap commitments. It’s time for the ACT Government to answer those calls.

I believe we can be the first state or territory to actually Close the Gap in life outcomes for First Nations people, and my Closing the Gap Bill can help us get there.

BUSINESS AS USUAL IS NOT WORKING

In 2020, the ACT Government signed the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, committing to work toward equal outcomes for First Nations people. Five years later, our country is on track to meet just 4 of the 19 Closing the Gap targets.

The 2024 Productivity Commission review and 2025 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led review of progress under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap both found that ‘business as usual’ is not working. This is borne out in the statistics, which show the gap remains wide here in the ACT.

The reviews called for greater accountability, with a focus on bringing about systemic change in how governments work with and for First Nations people.

In consultation with our local First Nations community, I've prepared a Private Member’s Bill that will drive that change by turning our Closing the Gap obligations into law.

My Closing the Gap Bill:

  1. Requires all senior government officials to implement the Closing the Gap principles in their work, including by developing their cultural capability, promoting cultural safety, and eliminating institutional racism; and
  2. Requires all government agencies to report annually on the concrete steps they’ve taken to follow through on their Closing the Gap commitments, and to do so in a format agreed to by our local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body.

WHAT'S NEXT?

I tabled the bill in the Legislative Assembly on 26 June 2025, and it has since been scrutinised by a multipartisan Assembly Committee. Hearings were held on Thursday 9 October 2025, where the head of the ACT Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, indicated, alarmingly, that his current workplace is the least culturally safe he has ever encountered. 

The Committee’s final report was handed down on 21 October 2025. It recommended that the bill be passed with three amendments; that only senior public servants and statutory office holders be bound by the new Closing the Gap obligations, that the provisions in the bill commence on 1 July 2026 to allow time to prepare for its requirements, and that a post-implementation review be undertaken twelve months after commencement. I have circulated amendments that give effect to these recommendations.

The bill was supported unanimously by the ACT Legislative Assembly with minor amendments on 2 December 2025.