Close the Gap: What the NGOs are saying

The original Close the Gap campaign was started by a group of Non-govnerment Organisations (NGOs). What do they have to say about Close the Gap day? Of course the following listed NGOs are not comprehensive: see the full list on the Close the Gap website.

Amnesty International renews calls to Close the Gap

Oxfam says the campaign to Close the Gap has achieved real progress this year.

World Vision has an extraordinary amount of information in the always-excellent Stir.

The Australian Human Rights Commission (HREOC) announces that Rugby League became the first national sporting code to pledge its support for a national action plan to close the 17-year life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and other Australians and argues that the historic formal statement of support from the federal government for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples should be backed immediately with a comprehensive national action plan to Close the Gap in health equality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

The Fred Hollows Foundation publishes a personal reflection on Closing the Gap.

Close the Gap: the Great CAEPR Caper

OK, technically that post title makes no sense but I have always wanted to use it. The Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR) at ANU is an island of evidence-based thinking in a sea of policy confusion.

Staff at CAEPR have produced a plethora of papers regarding overcoming indigenous disadvantage. They were also active in the period around Closing the Gap day in getting the message regarding Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage (OID) out into the media.

Following are some links to some more academic analyses on Closing the Gap:

Nick Biddle from CAEPR tells the SMH we need a more urban focus to Close the Gap

"Because 75 per cent of the indigenous population lives outside of remote Australia, and the outcomes of those outside remote Australia are still substantially worse than the outcomes of the non-indigenous population, in order to close the gaps there's no way you can ignore urban Australia."


Professor Jon Altman from CAEPR considers the Closing the Gap progress after the apology in this piece printed on the Crikey website.


Professor Jon Altman from CAEPR writes that the Closing the Gap rhetoric buys into the Howard legacy.

"Despite its rhetoric, the government does not have a plan to tackle Indigenous disadvantage Australia-wide, and its policy framework for Closing the Gap is captured by 2008-09 commitments to the NT National Emergency; these commitments are all subject to ‘independent’ review and face funding uncertainty."


Janet Hunt from CAEPR writes in the National Indigenous Times that governance arrangements hold the key to closing the gap.

"Culturally legitimate and practically effective governance lies at the heart of improved Indigenous outcomes. Indeed, 'Closing the gap' between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia will remain a pipedream unless workable and legitimate governance arrangements are created and sustained in Aboriginal communities. We now have robust evidence of what such governance arrangements might look like, and how they can be developed."


Jon Altman, Nicholas Biddle and Boyd Hunter from CAEPR analyse the challenges of OID by
using available Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data from the five yearly censuses to examine change in Indigenous socio-economic outcomes in absolute and relative (to the non-Indigenous population) terms. They also use observations from data collected in past censuses to estimate when the existing statistical gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous outcomes might close and make some general observations about what these findings might mean for government policy at the national level.

Mind The Gap: Amnesty International blog entry

Read what Amnesty blogger Lucas Jordon has to say about Close the Gap day last week:

http://www.amnesty.org.au/aus/comments/20753/#When:04:01:40Z

Close the Gap Day: Background reading

If you're interested in learning about how we can all help close the gap on Indigenous disadvantage, the following background reading will help. The main question to keep in mind from a negotiated knowledges perspective is: are we trying to assess "statistical equality" only and is this the best way to measure comparative disadvantage?

Kevin Rudd's apology to the Stolen Generations

Ampe Akelyernemane Meke Mekarle “Little Children are Sacred” report into child sexual abuse (warning: some readers will find the content of this report disturbing and upsetting)

Close the Gap: original website set up by a coalition of NGOs. Although most government frameworks on overcoming indigenous disadvantage use the name "Close the Gap" or "Closing the Gap" (often used synonymously), their policies may differ considerably from the ones outlined in this website.

Transcript of Rudd's speech when tabling the first annual report card on Closing the Gap progress

First annual Closing the Gap report card

Closing the Gap

Today is national 'Close the Gap' Day so it seems an appropriate time to start discussing different perspectives on service provision to Indigenous people, both within discrete communities and in urban areas. Over the next few days, I'll be providing links to relevant articles, media releases and campaigns, as well as summarising papers on the issue. There is a 17-year gap in life expectancy between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous people within Australia and closing it requires innovation, consultation and informed policy.

If you have an opinion on CTG or have read something or informative on the issue, please feel free to contribute. It's only through the free-flow of ideas that the status quo changes in a constructive way.