Productivity Commission release the Closing the Gap 2025 Annual Data Compilation Report – SNAICC in the News

The Productivity Commission has, this week, released the latest Closing the Gap Annual Data Compilation Report, which shows how efforts to improve life outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are progressing under the National Closing the Gap Agreement.

According to the Closing the Gap 2025 Annual Data Compilation Report, which was released Wednesday night, July 30, only four of the 19 national socioeconomic Closing the Gap targets are currently on track to be met, with rates of adult incarceration, children in out-of-home care, suicide rates and childhood development expected to worsen.

As reported by National Indigenous Times, Gungarri man and Productivity Commissioner Selwyn Button said the data demonstrates that ‘outcomes can’t easily be reduced to a number’; rather, the figures reflect deeper systemic failures in the current approach. He said that each outcome is interconnected, painting a broader picture of a system that continues to fall short of meeting the needs and lived realities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Commissioner Button also pointed towards the ongoing lack of disaggregated data at local and regional levels, saying that without this data, communities are left without the tools to develop effective, place-based strategies and solutions. At its core, he said, the data points to the limited progress governments have made in implementing the Agreement’s Priority Reforms, particularly in sharing decision-making and data with communities, strengthening the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled sector and transforming the way governments work.

The 2025 Annual Data Compilation Report includes updated data for 10 socioeconomic targets and introduces 16 new supporting indicators. It also takes a closer look at outcomes for young people, people living with disability and people living in remote communities. While there have been improvements in early childhood education enrolment, fewer children have been assessed as developmentally on track. Additionally, healthy birthweight rates have improved, with 89.2 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander babies born at a healthy weight; however, the target remains off track.

Summary of the Closing the Gap targets progress

The 2025 Annual Data Compilation Report reveals that only four of the 19 socio-economic targets are currently on track, with the majority either stagnating, worsening or unable to be assessed due to insufficient data, and these are viewable on the Closing the Gap Information Repository Dashboard.

Commissioner Selwyn Button response to the findings

Speaking on the report findings, Commissioner Selwyn Button drew a clear link between punitive jurisdictional policies and worsening outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, pointing to recent legislative changes in the Northern Territory as a key example. As reported by ABC News, he said these changes have directly contributed to rising incarceration rates, noting that ‘you can’t actually arrest your way out of an issue.’ Commissioner Button emphasised the need to shift focus towards early intervention, calling for greater investment in programs delivered in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations, particularly those offering diversionary and therapeutic supports.

Commissioner Selwyn Button also highlighted a strong alignment between the findings of the Annual Data Compilation Report and the independent, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led review of the National Agreement released earlier this year. Both reports, he said, make it clear that governments are failing to meet their commitments to transformational change. Instead, many jurisdictions continue to take a business-as-usual approach. Commissioner Button pointed to the Northern Territory’s implementation plan as an example of this, saying it reflects a flawed status quo that is delivering little progress towards Closing the Gap targets. As reported by SBS News, Commissioner Button reinforced that genuine change will only come when governments centre Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations in driving solutions. He said progress depends on governments truly listening to communities and delivering on their commitment to shared decision-making under the National Agreement.

SNAICC’s response to the 2025 Annual Data Compilation Report

SNAICC – National Voice for our Children has responded to the Productivity Commission’s Closing the Gap 2025 Annual Data Compilation Report, pointing out that where governments make a genuine effort to work in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organisations, there are improvements in Closing the Gap outcomes.

Arrernte and Luritja woman Catherine Liddle, CEO of SNAICC, says the latest results do not reflect a lack of solutions, but a lack of government follow-through. The Annual Data Compilation Report shows worsening outcomes across a number of critical areas for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, including a drop in the proportion of children assessed as developmentally on track, continued over-representation in child protection systems and no improvement in youth detention rates. Catherine said that federal, state and territory governments hold both the power and the responsibility to turn these outcomes around by fully honouring the commitments they have made under the National Agreement. These are, she said, ‘not the failings of our children, families, or communities’, instead, they are the failings of governments that continue to fall short of their obligations under the National Agreement.

Speaking on ABC Radio National Breakfast on 31 July, Catherine said the data clearly shows that ‘when government leans in, the results are better’. She pointed to the targets showing progress, ,such as employment, native title, and preschool enrolments, as areas where governments have made meaningful commitments, and outcomes have improved. That same morning, on ABC News Breakfast, she added that the report sends two strong messages: change is possible, and it happens when governments genuinely commit to the National Agreement and empower communities to lead. She said this requires investment in community-controlled approaches and listening to what communities say they need.

Despite the data findings, Catherine noted that there are ‘always pockets of light’. She said that where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations are properly funded and supported to design services that meet their communities’ needs, outcomes are stronger. On Radio National, Catherine said every report tells the same story: ‘where it works, it works really well, but governments need to lean in and try harder, because without genuine effort, we’ll never close the gap’.

SNAICC is calling on all levels of government to bring the same level of commitment where targets are improving to areas where outcomes are stagnating or worsening, particularly early childhood development, child protection and youth justice. Catherine said that where there has been progress, it shows what is possible when communities are empowered and governments step up. These improvements, she said, have not happened by chance; they are the result of governments working directly with communities and backing Aboriginal-led solutions.

During ABC News Breakfast on 31 July, Catherine also addressed Northern Territory progress, which the report identified as the worst among all jurisdictions. She strongly criticised the NT Government’s move to introduce new youth justice legislation that could reinstate spit hoods and remove detention as a last resort. She described the proposed legislation as ‘cruel, ineffective, and ignorant’, calling it a deliberate betrayal of the National Agreement. She said the government is ignoring its responsibilities to improve outcomes and that ‘it’s our children who suffer most from a lack of commitment, action and, frankly, care’. She also pointed to the NT Government’s backflip on raising the age of criminal responsibility as a particularly damaging decision, noting that the Territory had once been the first to take action on this front. Now, she said, the same government is looking to reintroduce spit hoods, an inhumane practice condemned by the Royal Commission into youth detention and recognised nationally and internationally as torture.

On Radio National, Catherine said the data in the 2025 Annual Data Compilation Report points to an urgent need for better investment in early intervention and prevention. Known risk factors, such as children in out-of-home care, families without access to health care, high rates of contact with the justice system and increasing racism, are all linked to poor outcomes. She stressed that the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples must be paramount, saying, ‘we’re not asking for special treatment, we’re asking for a fair go’.

Speaking on the target for preschool enrolment, Catherine said that the target has benefited from long-term, focused attention since the inception of the Closing the Gap framework. She said that the evidence is clear; if children go to preschool, they are more likely to get to Year 12. However, she said that enrolment alone is not enough, that if a child is not developmentally ready by preschool age, enrolment won’t deliver its full benefit. She called for earlier investment in quality, culturally strong early education and care, particularly in Aboriginal community-controlled services that are designed by and for community. She also pointed out persistent service gaps, with entire areas lacking access to the kinds of care children need. Catherine said early childhood education and care is foundational to lifelong outcomes, and without improvements in these early years, the opportunity to support not just the child, but the whole family, is lost, allowing cycles of disadvantage to continue. For years, she and SNAICC have said that ‘closing the gap starts with our children’, which Catherine says means investing in systems that support families, not systems that perpetuate removal and criminalisation.

For full coverage, find our media release below.

Government response to the 2025 Annual Data Compilation Report

Political leaders have also responded to the Productivity Commission’s latest Annual Data Compilation Report this week.

Yanyuwa woman and Minister for Indigenous Australians, Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, said the worsening outcomes, particularly in incarceration, out-of-home care, and suicide, demand more consistent and coordinated implementation of the National Agreement. Speaking on ABC Radio National Breakfast, she said she would raise the issue of incarceration rates at the upcoming attorneys-general meeting, expressing deep concern about the continued over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in detention, especially young people. She pointed out that the Northern Territory, where nearly half of all detainees are on remand, is a stark example of systems failing communities. McCarthy called on state and territory governments to honour their commitments under the National Agreement with tangible actions to drive change.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers, speaking to ABC News Breakfast, acknowledged that while there has been ‘a little bit of progress’, several outcomes had gone backwards in ‘worrying ways’. He backed Minister McCarthy’s leadership, praising her for ‘working in her characteristically diligent way with all of the stakeholders, all of the communities, to try to turn these numbers around’. Chalmers concluded, ‘overall, we need to do more and we need to do better’.

Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurring woman and Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe questioned the effectiveness of the Closing the Gap framework, pointing to the lack of accountability when governments fail to meet targets. She asked ‘if there are no consequences to not closing the gap, then what’s the point of having it year after year?’ Thorpe also called for urgent action on deaths in custody, following the recent death of 24-year-old Warri man Kumanjayi White in the Northern Territory. She said deaths in custody had been a national crisis for over three decades and warned that without immediate action at all levels of government, Australia risks ‘losing another generation’ of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to the criminal justice system.

Catherine Liddle also addressed deaths in custody on ABC News Breakfast on 31 July, responding to a question about the NT Government’s inaction on recommendations from the coronial inquest into the 2019 police shooting of Kumanjayi Walker. She said the government’s response has been too slow, saying the only clear response has been concern over the cost of the inquiry. Catherine said that immediate changes are possible, noting that remote communities have long-standing, effective agreements with local police that are negotiated in culturally appropriate ways. She praised the Walker family’s dignity and continued advocacy in the face of unimaginable loss, saying that the family has been so gentle, and they are being so kind and saying, “Listen, step up. We will meet you there. Our communities just want to understand why this continues to happen to us”.

Sector reaction to the 2025 Annual Data Compilation Report

The Coalition of Peaks has welcomed the latest Closing the Gap data as further proof that genuine partnerships with Aboriginal community-controlled organisations deliver meaningful results. Gudanji-Arrernte woman and Lead Convenor of Coalition of Peaks Pat Turner AM said the 2025 Productivity Commission report, alongside the recent Independent Review, confirms that when governments respect, resource, and support Aboriginal-led organisations, progress follows. Turner stressed that closing the gap requires more than good intentions: it demands full implementation of the Priority Reforms in the National Agreement, smarter and more flexible long-term investment, transformation of government systems, and shared access to data. Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, she said, are not fringe services but trusted, place-based providers grounded in culture and community accountability. The call is not for special treatment, but for a fair share, and when that’s provided, Aboriginal organisations deliver.

The Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council (QAIHC) has urged governments to show stronger commitment to the National Agreement. Gunggandji woman and QAIHC CEO Paula Arnol described the 2025 Productivity Commission data as a clear failure to deliver on agreed reforms and called for urgent, locally driven solutions. She said that despite the passing years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to experience poorer health outcomes than non-Indigenous Australians, a reality that cannot be accepted. Arnol highlighted the critical role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled health organisations, backed by over five decades of experience. She said QAIHC is working closely with the Queensland Government to strengthen this role and ensure culturally safe care, particularly in regional areas. Building data capability across the sector is also a top priority, with Arnol highlighting that community-led data collection and analysis enables progress tracking, service design, and self-determination.

The National Indigenous Health Leadership Alliance (NIHLA) have said the findings of the report confirm what Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have long said: governments are failing to meet their own commitments and are actively undermining progress through systemic resistance to reform. Kuku Yalanji man and NIHLA Chair Karl Briscoe said that the evidence is clear that the problem lies not with communities, but with government inaction and a failure to implement structural reform, shared decision-making, and cultural safety as standard practice. He warned that without these shifts, poor outcomes will continue to worsen across areas like suicide rates, incarceration, child development and children in out-of-home care.

Arrernte man William Tilmouth, Chair of Children’s Ground, said the latest Closing the Gap data confirms that governments are continuing to uphold harmful systems that devastate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, particularly in the Northern Territory where outcomes are deteriorating across health, education, child development and incarceration. He condemned government inaction that delays progress on community-backed initiatives, despite philanthropic investment and strong evidence supporting their effectiveness. Tilmouth called for an end to punitive policies and demanded government trust in and sustained support for community-led, evidence-based solutions that are already delivering impact.

Alyawarre woman Aunty Pat Anderson AO and Cobble Cobble woman Professor Megan Davis, have described the continued failures found in data as a national disgrace. They condemned the lack of progress on core targets and the compounding impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lives, particularly children. They said there is no accountability and expressed deep frustration that, despite nearly two decades of promises, the same institutions remain in control, delivering the same results. Speaking ahead of the Garma Festival, where Prime Minister Albanese is due to give a keynote, Anderson and Davis dismissed the event as a ‘performative opportunity’ and criticised the government’s apparent backtracking on its commitment to implement the Uluru Statement in full. Davis and Anderson declared that enough is enough, emphasising that their people’s calls for justice and change continue to fall on deaf ears.

Garma Festival 2025

Garma Festival 2025 is Australia’s largest Aboriginal cultural gathering, held over four days from 1 to 4 August at the Gulkula ceremonial site in remote northeast Arnhem Land. Hosted by the Yothu Yindi Foundation, the festival celebrates Yolngu life through art, song, dance and storytelling. This weekend, thousands of people from across Australia and around the world will gather in a remote corner of Arnhem Land for the festival’s 25th anniversary. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and several of his senior ministers are expected to attend this weekend, as will representatives from the Northern Territory government and leaders of key national and state agencies.

For full coverage, find the relevant news stories linked below.