Latest news with #ClosingtheGap
Sky News AU
03-08-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
Albanese unveils Indigenous economic plan at Garma Festival
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has returned to the Garma Festival in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, announcing a new partnership to drive economic development in Indigenous communities. The festival is a place for song, dance, and culture, but also a place for the serious business of Indigenous politics. On his fourth trip to Garma since taking office, Mr Albanese announced a new economic partnership with the Coalition of Peak Indigenous Organisations. 'This builds on our commitment to the Closing the Gap agreement, to its call for a new way of doing business and to the principle of shared decision making,' Mr Albanese said.
Sydney Morning Herald
02-08-2025
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
Broken Hill crisis response requires rethink
As Angus Thomson writes in today's Sun-Herald, new statistics have revealed two-thirds of Aboriginal children aged between one and five in Broken Hill have blood lead levels higher than the national guideline. Health workers and community leaders have urged Premier Chris Minns to invest in stable social housing for Indigenous families, labelling the situation a 'public health crisis' and warning that the current remediation program has worsened the situation, as tenants face rent hikes or evictions after landlords improved properties. The city's lead monitoring program was initially hailed as a public health success, but progress has plateaued. The average blood lead level for Aboriginal children between one and five years old has stayed above the national guideline in all but one of the past 10 years. Since 2015, taxpayers have spent more than $13 million managing the lead issue in Broken Hill, according to local community advocates. That's a lot of cash to spend on a situation that has not improved. Today's story notes that in 2023 the state government received briefing documents that the current approach, in which remediation occurs only when children have recorded high blood levels, was 'ad hoc'. It is unacceptable that any child is exposed to such environmental dangers, but it is particularly unacceptable that Indigenous children in Broken Hill are disproportionately being exposed to lead. Loading There is no known safe level of lead in blood, especially for children. NSW Health's fact sheet on lead exposure notes that such exposure, even at low levels, can affect children's physical and mental development. Among Australia's long list of Closing the Gap targets is to increase, by 2031, the proportion of Indigenous children assessed as developmentally on track by the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) to 55 per cent. That is the proportion of non-Indigenous children in NSW who meet those targets. But between 2018 and 2024, the proportion of Indigenous children meeting this metric went backwards on both national and state levels; last year just 34 per cent of Indigenous children nationally and 37 per cent in NSW were assessed as developmentally on track.
The Age
02-08-2025
- Health
- The Age
Broken Hill crisis response requires rethink
As Angus Thomson writes in today's Sun-Herald, new statistics have revealed two-thirds of Aboriginal children aged between one and five in Broken Hill have blood lead levels higher than the national guideline. Health workers and community leaders have urged Premier Chris Minns to invest in stable social housing for Indigenous families, labelling the situation a 'public health crisis' and warning that the current remediation program has worsened the situation, as tenants face rent hikes or evictions after landlords improved properties. The city's lead monitoring program was initially hailed as a public health success, but progress has plateaued. The average blood lead level for Aboriginal children between one and five years old has stayed above the national guideline in all but one of the past 10 years. Since 2015, taxpayers have spent more than $13 million managing the lead issue in Broken Hill, according to local community advocates. That's a lot of cash to spend on a situation that has not improved. Today's story notes that in 2023 the state government received briefing documents that the current approach, in which remediation occurs only when children have recorded high blood levels, was 'ad hoc'. It is unacceptable that any child is exposed to such environmental dangers, but it is particularly unacceptable that Indigenous children in Broken Hill are disproportionately being exposed to lead. Loading There is no known safe level of lead in blood, especially for children. NSW Health's fact sheet on lead exposure notes that such exposure, even at low levels, can affect children's physical and mental development. Among Australia's long list of Closing the Gap targets is to increase, by 2031, the proportion of Indigenous children assessed as developmentally on track by the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) to 55 per cent. That is the proportion of non-Indigenous children in NSW who meet those targets. But between 2018 and 2024, the proportion of Indigenous children meeting this metric went backwards on both national and state levels; last year just 34 per cent of Indigenous children nationally and 37 per cent in NSW were assessed as developmentally on track.
The Advertiser
02-08-2025
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Garma organiser urges action on 'horrors in statistics'
Political leaders have been warned their attendance at one of Australia's largest cultural festivals is not enough to make progress for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Speaking at the annual Garma Festival at Gulkula, in northeast Arnhem Land, to a crowd that included several senior ministers and the prime minister, Yothu Yindi Foundation chief executive Denise Bowden said their presence was a powerful signal. "But don't leave Garma and leave things on endless repeat," she said. "Don't be here to think your attendance here is enough." Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used his time at Garma to announce an economic partnership with Indigenous organisations, which he said built on Closing the Gap commitments and would empower communities to advocate for infrastructure on their lands. In her powerful address to the festival on Saturday, Ms Bowden told the crowd that despite the success of Garma, now in its 25th year, visitors would be leaving behind a "world that remains in crisis mode". "On Tuesday, we will return to a life dominated by the simple fact that Aboriginal people in remote areas of Australia remain the most marginalised people in the country, if not the world," she said. Ms Bowden highlighted high rates of rheumatic heart disease in Arnhem Land, saying the community of Maningrida, in the Northern Territory, has the highest rate of the condition in the world. She also pointed to the over-representation of First Nations people in custody to bring home her point, with the NT second only to El Salvador when it comes to incarceration rates. "We've become numb to this data and immune to the horrors that lie in the statistics," she said. Ms Bowden said the status quo was not acceptable, with recent Closing the Gap statistics showing four targets going backwards - adult incarceration, children in out-of-home care, suicide rates and child development. She said the Yothu Yindi Foundation had long argued the Closing the Gap data reflected a fundamental failure in Australia's governance systems, and that must change to make a real difference. "There are good intentions and what is described as hard work, but without crunching systemic change, there will be no betterment," she said. "People suffer because of these failures of governance that are imposed upon us." 13YARN 13 92 76 Lifeline 13 11 14 Political leaders have been warned their attendance at one of Australia's largest cultural festivals is not enough to make progress for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Speaking at the annual Garma Festival at Gulkula, in northeast Arnhem Land, to a crowd that included several senior ministers and the prime minister, Yothu Yindi Foundation chief executive Denise Bowden said their presence was a powerful signal. "But don't leave Garma and leave things on endless repeat," she said. "Don't be here to think your attendance here is enough." Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used his time at Garma to announce an economic partnership with Indigenous organisations, which he said built on Closing the Gap commitments and would empower communities to advocate for infrastructure on their lands. In her powerful address to the festival on Saturday, Ms Bowden told the crowd that despite the success of Garma, now in its 25th year, visitors would be leaving behind a "world that remains in crisis mode". "On Tuesday, we will return to a life dominated by the simple fact that Aboriginal people in remote areas of Australia remain the most marginalised people in the country, if not the world," she said. Ms Bowden highlighted high rates of rheumatic heart disease in Arnhem Land, saying the community of Maningrida, in the Northern Territory, has the highest rate of the condition in the world. She also pointed to the over-representation of First Nations people in custody to bring home her point, with the NT second only to El Salvador when it comes to incarceration rates. "We've become numb to this data and immune to the horrors that lie in the statistics," she said. Ms Bowden said the status quo was not acceptable, with recent Closing the Gap statistics showing four targets going backwards - adult incarceration, children in out-of-home care, suicide rates and child development. She said the Yothu Yindi Foundation had long argued the Closing the Gap data reflected a fundamental failure in Australia's governance systems, and that must change to make a real difference. "There are good intentions and what is described as hard work, but without crunching systemic change, there will be no betterment," she said. "People suffer because of these failures of governance that are imposed upon us." 13YARN 13 92 76 Lifeline 13 11 14 Political leaders have been warned their attendance at one of Australia's largest cultural festivals is not enough to make progress for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Speaking at the annual Garma Festival at Gulkula, in northeast Arnhem Land, to a crowd that included several senior ministers and the prime minister, Yothu Yindi Foundation chief executive Denise Bowden said their presence was a powerful signal. "But don't leave Garma and leave things on endless repeat," she said. "Don't be here to think your attendance here is enough." Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used his time at Garma to announce an economic partnership with Indigenous organisations, which he said built on Closing the Gap commitments and would empower communities to advocate for infrastructure on their lands. In her powerful address to the festival on Saturday, Ms Bowden told the crowd that despite the success of Garma, now in its 25th year, visitors would be leaving behind a "world that remains in crisis mode". "On Tuesday, we will return to a life dominated by the simple fact that Aboriginal people in remote areas of Australia remain the most marginalised people in the country, if not the world," she said. Ms Bowden highlighted high rates of rheumatic heart disease in Arnhem Land, saying the community of Maningrida, in the Northern Territory, has the highest rate of the condition in the world. She also pointed to the over-representation of First Nations people in custody to bring home her point, with the NT second only to El Salvador when it comes to incarceration rates. "We've become numb to this data and immune to the horrors that lie in the statistics," she said. Ms Bowden said the status quo was not acceptable, with recent Closing the Gap statistics showing four targets going backwards - adult incarceration, children in out-of-home care, suicide rates and child development. She said the Yothu Yindi Foundation had long argued the Closing the Gap data reflected a fundamental failure in Australia's governance systems, and that must change to make a real difference. "There are good intentions and what is described as hard work, but without crunching systemic change, there will be no betterment," she said. "People suffer because of these failures of governance that are imposed upon us." 13YARN 13 92 76 Lifeline 13 11 14 Political leaders have been warned their attendance at one of Australia's largest cultural festivals is not enough to make progress for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Speaking at the annual Garma Festival at Gulkula, in northeast Arnhem Land, to a crowd that included several senior ministers and the prime minister, Yothu Yindi Foundation chief executive Denise Bowden said their presence was a powerful signal. "But don't leave Garma and leave things on endless repeat," she said. "Don't be here to think your attendance here is enough." Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used his time at Garma to announce an economic partnership with Indigenous organisations, which he said built on Closing the Gap commitments and would empower communities to advocate for infrastructure on their lands. In her powerful address to the festival on Saturday, Ms Bowden told the crowd that despite the success of Garma, now in its 25th year, visitors would be leaving behind a "world that remains in crisis mode". "On Tuesday, we will return to a life dominated by the simple fact that Aboriginal people in remote areas of Australia remain the most marginalised people in the country, if not the world," she said. Ms Bowden highlighted high rates of rheumatic heart disease in Arnhem Land, saying the community of Maningrida, in the Northern Territory, has the highest rate of the condition in the world. She also pointed to the over-representation of First Nations people in custody to bring home her point, with the NT second only to El Salvador when it comes to incarceration rates. "We've become numb to this data and immune to the horrors that lie in the statistics," she said. Ms Bowden said the status quo was not acceptable, with recent Closing the Gap statistics showing four targets going backwards - adult incarceration, children in out-of-home care, suicide rates and child development. She said the Yothu Yindi Foundation had long argued the Closing the Gap data reflected a fundamental failure in Australia's governance systems, and that must change to make a real difference. "There are good intentions and what is described as hard work, but without crunching systemic change, there will be no betterment," she said. "People suffer because of these failures of governance that are imposed upon us." 13YARN 13 92 76 Lifeline 13 11 14
Perth Now
02-08-2025
- Politics
- Perth Now
Garma organiser urges action on 'horrors in statistics'
Political leaders have been warned their attendance at one of Australia's largest cultural festivals is not enough to make progress for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Speaking at the annual Garma Festival at Gulkula, in northeast Arnhem Land, to a crowd that included several senior ministers and the prime minister, Yothu Yindi Foundation chief executive Denise Bowden said their presence was a powerful signal. "But don't leave Garma and leave things on endless repeat," she said. "Don't be here to think your attendance here is enough." Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used his time at Garma to announce an economic partnership with Indigenous organisations, which he said built on Closing the Gap commitments and would empower communities to advocate for infrastructure on their lands. In her powerful address to the festival on Saturday, Ms Bowden told the crowd that despite the success of Garma, now in its 25th year, visitors would be leaving behind a "world that remains in crisis mode". "On Tuesday, we will return to a life dominated by the simple fact that Aboriginal people in remote areas of Australia remain the most marginalised people in the country, if not the world," she said. Ms Bowden highlighted high rates of rheumatic heart disease in Arnhem Land, saying the community of Maningrida, in the Northern Territory, has the highest rate of the condition in the world. She also pointed to the over-representation of First Nations people in custody to bring home her point, with the NT second only to El Salvador when it comes to incarceration rates. "We've become numb to this data and immune to the horrors that lie in the statistics," she said. Ms Bowden said the status quo was not acceptable, with recent Closing the Gap statistics showing four targets going backwards - adult incarceration, children in out-of-home care, suicide rates and child development. She said the Yothu Yindi Foundation had long argued the Closing the Gap data reflected a fundamental failure in Australia's governance systems, and that must change to make a real difference. "There are good intentions and what is described as hard work, but without crunching systemic change, there will be no betterment," she said. "People suffer because of these failures of governance that are imposed upon us." 13YARN 13 92 76 Lifeline 13 11 14
