Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators 2011
Media Release
Australian Productivity Commission 25 August 2011
The latest Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage report was released on 25 August 2011. This is the most recent in a series of reports commissioned by the Council of Australian Governments in 2002, to track the extent to which government policies and programs are making a difference to the lives of Indigenous Australians.
Gary Banks, who chairs the inter-governmental Steering Committee responsible for the report, said 'the latest data still reveal considerable disparities in outcomes between Indigenous and other Australians. This applies across the six COAG 'closing the gap' targets, as well as for over 40 other significant indicators. And progress in closing those gaps has been mixed'.
Of the 45 quantitative indicators in the report, available data show improvement in outcomes for 13 indicators — including in employment, educational attainment and home ownership. For 10 indicators, including many health and school education outcomes, there has been no significant improvement, while for another seven, including social indicators such as criminal justice, outcomes have actually deteriorated.
The report reflects ongoing improvements in data collections, but data to measure change over time were not available for one third of the indicators in this edition. Gary Banks strongly supported governments' commitment to improving data availability and quality. He also praised the contributions of all those who participated in report consultations, from within government and the wider community, particularly Indigenous people.
The report is a product of the Review of Government Service Provision. It is overseen by a Steering Committee comprising senior officials from the Australian, State and Territory governments and supported by a secretariat from the Productivity Commission.
Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators 2011 Overview
Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators 2011 Report
To download full copies of all of the reports documents go to the Productivity Commissions website
