National Closing the Gap data shows the challenge. Central Australia shows what works.

Yesterday’s Closing the Gap annual data release shows Australia is still falling well short of meeting its commitments to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The Productivity Commission’s report found the country is not on track to meet most of its targets – just one has been met, five are improving but off track, and four are going backwards.

Central Australian Aboriginal Congress says those national figures only tell part of the story.

Congress is urging governments to look beyond the averages and examine regional data, where decades of Aboriginal community control demonstrate that sustained investment can deliver measurable improvements in health.

Congress Chair Paul Ah Chee said the recently released Making History: Transforming Aboriginal Health in Central Australia 1973–2023 report provides compelling evidence that progress is possible.

“Yesterday’s Closing the Gap data rightly focuses on the work that still needs to be done. We know the gap remains far too wide and many Aboriginal people continue to experience unacceptable health inequality.

“But if we only look at national averages, we miss something equally important: where progress is being made and why,” said Mr Ah Chee.

The Making History report documents more than 50 years of Aboriginal community controlled primary health care in Central Australia. It shows considerable improvements in life expectancy, infant mortality, premature mortality, low birthweight and alcohol-related harm.

Since the 1970s, Aboriginal male life expectancy in Central Australia has increased from 47.3 years to 65.6 years and Aboriginal female life expectancy has increased from 61.3 years to 69.8 years.

Since 1999, the gap in life expectancy to non-Indigenous Territorians has narrowed by 8.9 years for Central Australian men and 3.4 years for women.

These gains have been achieved through:

• long-term investment in Aboriginal community controlled primary health
• advocacy for a safer and more appropriate hospital system
• action on petrol sniffing and alcohol availability
• and Aboriginal organisations being at the table with government to plan and implement services

Dr John Boffa, Congress’ Chief Medical Officer Public Health, said to continue to invest in Aboriginal controlled primary health care and to make a further concerted effort to address the other social determinants of health, especially poverty, education and housing. The Making History report shows that since 2001 these key areas have either worsened or not substantially improved.

“No one should look at yesterday’s Closing the Gap data and conclude that improvement isn’t possible.

“The experience in Central Australia shows that when Aboriginal communities control the design and delivery of healthcare, health outcomes improve.

“The lesson isn’t that the job is finished. Far from it. The lesson is that we already know what works,” said Dr Boffa.

“Closing the Gap isn’t about finding a new solution every year. We already know what delivers better health outcomes. Governments at all levels need to back Aboriginal community control for the long term, through sustained investment.

“But without serious and ongoing improvement in poverty, education and housing, the gap cannot be closed by the health system alone.”

Congress said the national conversation should shift from asking whether Closing the Gap is failing, to asking where progress is happening and how those lessons can be applied elsewhere.

“The national data tells us where Australia is falling short,” Dr Boffa said.

“Regional data tells us what works.

“If we want to close the gap, we have to learn from the places where Aboriginal communities have been leading change for generations.”

• Making History: Transforming Aboriginal Health in Central Australia 1973–2023 was compiled by experts from Menzies School of Health Research, NT Health and Central Australian Aboriginal Congress and released in April this year.
• The sixth Closing the Gap Annual Data Compilation Report was released by the Productivity Commission on 29 July 2026.

Media Contact: Kate Buckland media@caac.org.au 0408 741 691