First published in The Canberra Times, 5 August 2025

Two years ago, the ACT stood alone as the only state or territory to vote ‘Yes’ in the Voice to Parliament referendum. Now it’s time for us to turn that affirmation into action.

With the support and guidance of local First Nations community leaders, I tabled my first Private Member’s Bill in the Legislative Assembly earlier this year – a bill to Close the Gap in life outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The bill responds directly to the findings and recommendations of two damning independent reviews of Australia’s progress on our Closing the Gap commitments.

In early 2024, the Productivity Commission review found that governments across the country had consistently failed to uphold their commitments under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap – sometimes even directly contravening them. It concluded that “the transformation of government organisations has barely begun,” and that “accountability is lacking.”

Then, in June 2025, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led review criticised governments for continuing with business as usual despite having agreed to systemic reforms, and called for local governments to “step up to their Closing the Gap commitments.”

As if the message wasn’t already clear enough, just last week, the Jumbunna Institute’s review into the over-representation of First Nations people in the ACT’s criminal justice system echoed similar sentiments.

These reviews all demand genuine government accountability in bringing about the structural change needed to improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Without it, the data will continue to tell a tragic story of failure and abandonment; nationally, we’re on track to meet just 4 out of 19 Closing the Gap targets.

While we can’t force the rest of the country to change, we can turn things around for the 9,500 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in the ACT. And it’s my hope that in doing so, we can inspire other parts of the country to follow suit.

Canberrans are proud to be first movers on progressive issues.

In 2008, we became the first state or territory to appoint a democratically elected First Nations body to advise government decision-makers.

In 2019, that body – the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body – signed a detailed agreement with the ACT Government committing to improve the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Canberrans.

But now, six years on, First Nations community members continue to experience entrenched disadvantage. First Nations children in the ACT are 12.5 times more likely to be in out-of-home care; First Nations young people are 14.3 times more likely to be in youth detention; and First Nations adults are 22.2 times more likely to be incarcerated — the largest gap in the country.

48.6 per cent of First Nations people engaging with homelessness services in Canberra are suffering persistent homelessness — the highest rate in the country — and 76 per cent of First Nations people in our community report experiencing racial prejudice — also the highest rate in the country.

These are more than just statistics; they’re symptoms of systemic failure. For our First Nations friends, family, neighbours, and colleagues, that systemic failure is their daily reality. And it’s a reality that’s hard to reconcile with how we think of ourselves as Canberrans.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. While other jurisdictions are moving backward, we can be the first to really move forward.

Systemic failure requires systemic reform, and that’s what my Closing the Gap Bill will help bring about. The bill embeds the delivery of our Closing the Gap commitments deep within the ACT Government’s operational fabric by requiring government officials to implement the Closing the Gap principles in their work, including by building their cultural capability, promoting cultural safety and addressing institutional racism. It also requires government agencies to report annually on the concrete steps they’ve taken to follow through on their Closing the Gap commitments.

These aren’t symbolic gestures; they make responsibility and accountability for Closing the Gap a core function of the public institutions that exist to serve us all.

The bill will be debated later this year, and we need everyone in the ACT Legislative Assembly to know our community expects to see it pass.

I have sponsored a petition from local First Nations leader Natalie Brown calling on the Legislative Assembly to vote in favour of it.

I have also written to all Members of the Assembly requesting their support for the bill in an open letter signed by 38 prominent community leaders.

Now I am writing to you, asking if you will take this opportunity to not only say ‘Yes’ to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Canberrans, but to mean it.

I believe true reconciliation is possible, and I believe we can Close the Gap. But we all need to play our part to get there. So please consider signing the petition, sharing it with your network, and helping the ACT lead the way in improving outcomes for First Nations people.