Federal Closing the Gap Target 11 Review 2024

What happened

The Productivity Commission conducted its first three-yearly review of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, examining whether Australian governments were fulfilling their commitments under the Agreement. The review found that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to be disproportionately detained in youth justice systems, with detention rates having increased in four of eight jurisdictions since Target 11 was set. Governments were found to have largely relabelled business-as-usual activities as reform efforts rather than undertaking the fundamental structural and cultural changes required by the Agreement. The Commission heard from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organisations that governments persistently failed to share power or recognise Indigenous-led solutions.

What the court decided

Annual review found Target 11 (reduce Aboriginal youth detention by 30% by 2031) is NOT on track. Aboriginal youth detention rates have INCREASED in 4 of 8 jurisdictions since the target was set. Only the ACT is on track, primarily due to raising the age of criminal responsibility.

How the court got there

This is not a court decision but an independent government review report by the Productivity Commission; there is no judicial ratio decidendi. The Commission's conclusions were grounded in documentary analysis, submissions, and site visits, finding that governments had relabelled business-as-usual activity as reform without delivering genuine power-sharing, structural transformation, or accountability mechanisms required under the Agreement. The Commission reasoned that progress on socio-economic outcomes (including youth detention) is causally linked to the failure to implement the four Priority Reforms — particularly shared decision-making and transforming government organisations — and that without legislated independent oversight and genuine devolution of power to Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations, the Agreement would fail.

Statutes and cases cited

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