Minister Barr: New National Agreement on Closing the Gap
- Written by ACT Government
Released 30/07/2020 - Joint media release
Today marks a significant day for the ACT and entire country with the signing of the new National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
This Agreement is a commitment from all Australian Governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives to fundamentally change how we develop policies and programs that impact the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The leadership of the Coalition of Peak Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Organisations has been instrumental in achieving an Agreement with clear priorities for action as well as additional targets that reflect the breadth of people’s lives.
The ACT was the first jurisdiction to join the National Closing the Gap Partnership to guarantee that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and organisations would sit alongside Commonwealth, State and Territory Ministers, to co-design the new Closing the Gap framework and ensure it is implemented effectively.
The ACT Government has an ongoing commitment to self-determination and strongly believes in empowering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the experts in their own lives, to lead decision making that impacts them directly.
There is strong alignment between the priorities identified in the new Closing the Gap Agreement and the focus areas of the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Agreement 2019-2028.
We look forward to continuing to work with the Elected Body and our local Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations as we strive together to deliver the goal of equitable outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Canberrans.
As Chair of the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body, Katrina Fanning has been a powerful voice for Canberra’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community through the Coalition of Peaks and played a key role in the development of the new Agreement.
Quotes attributable to Chair of ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body, Katrina Fanning:
“The National Agreement further commits to the work we have underway here in the ACT, built on the principles of self-determination that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people hold the expertise and experiences on what is needed and what works in order to close the gap.
"Strengthening and developing the community controlled service sector is key to this work, we have great organisations here in the ACT leading the way and the Agreement commits to better support for them, and to create even more opportunity for direct service delivered by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations in the future.
"The ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body are focussed on achieving equity in outcomes for our community and will continue to seek out opportunities and hold people accountable for service delivery in our pursuit of equality, today marks a significant step in our collective ability to achieve this.”
- Statement ends -
Section: Andrew Barr, MLA | Rachel Stephen-Smith, MLA | Media Releases
