The latest Closing the Gap report highlights worsening trends in child protection, incarceration, and suicide rates among Indigenous populations.

Despite government commitments to reduce incarceration rates by 15% by 2031, the rate of imprisonment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people has surged by 12% in the last year and 20% since 2019.

Suicide rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have reached 30.8 per 100,000 in 2023, the highest level since 2018, necessitating caution due to changes in population data.

Recent data from Closing the Gap reveals a troubling rise in the imprisonment rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, now at 2,304.4 per 100,000, marking a 30% increase since 2019.

Commissioner Selwyn Button noted that the review indicated insufficient meaningful action by governments to meet their commitments under the Closing the Gap Agreement.

Incarceration rates for Indigenous individuals have escalated from 1,906 per 100,000 in 2019 to 2,042 per 100,000 in 2023, ultimately reaching 2,304 per 100,000 in 2024.

The over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care has intensified, with rates increasing from 47.3 per 1,000 in 2019 to 50.3 per 1,000 in 2024.

Out of the 19 Closing the Gap targets, only four are currently on track to be met, while six others show some improvements.

Selwyn Button, a productivity commissioner, stressed the importance of governments taking their commitments seriously and involving community-controlled organizations in decision-making processes.

Pat Turner, lead convenor of the Coalition of Peaks, urged that solutions must be led by Indigenous communities rather than imposed, calling for full implementation of the priority reforms of the Closing the Gap agreement.

The youth detention rate for Indigenous children stands at 26.1 per 10,000, reflecting an increase over the past four years, although there has been no change from the baseline data of 2018-19.

While there has been progress in areas such as land and sea rights and digital access, Turner pointed out significant setbacks in critical areas like incarceration and child protection.