MEDICUS MARCH 2016

O P I N I O N

Opening the Conversation to Closing the Gap Sid Narula President, Medical Students’ Association of Notre Dame

I n 2015 Tony Abbott described the previous Closing the Gap report as “profoundly disappointing”. Last month, the 2016 Closing the Gap report was released, and it revealed a failure to meet most health, education and employment targets. Most notably, the report demonstrated that the life- expectancy gap still sits at greater than nine years and that no progress has been made against the employment target since 2008. The employment target has been labelled as the most disappointing aspect, with the Prime Minister’s report bluntly stating that “no progress has been made against the target since 2008”. Education shows close to a 10 per cent disparity in attendance between the Indigenous and non- Indigenous populations, with “little change” in the last year. track. In relation to the environment, variable progress is being made in overcrowding, reducing homelessness and protecting women and children. It is, however, pleasing to note that the gap in child mortality is on target to halve by 2018. As an initiative originating from the Council of Australian Governments, the chief criticism of this program is that the solutions which are being created are coming from government rather than from communities. For real progress to be made, the discussion needs to be redirected to people who work within the sectors i.e. teachers, doctors, Indigenous health workers, and the activists outside the mainstream. In relation to reading and numeracy targets, four out of eight are on

Looking at our Parliament, there are only three

To quote Luke Pearson from @IndigenousX, “As long as the

attitude of ‘Aboriginal people can't be trusted’ to look after our own affairs prevails, we’re going to keep moving backwards.” As a nation, we pride ourselves on being an egalitarian society. However we cannot truly call ourselves a land of equal opportunity until our Indigenous brothers and sisters have the same opportunities for education, health and employment. Professor Tom Calma, Chancellor of the Australian National University and Co-Chair of Recognition Australia made two very pointed comments on the lack of progress. Firstly Prof. Calma noted that the Closing the Gap program has only existed for 10 years, and in that time we’ve seen some progress, but we’ve also seen major changes within government and in the economic climate. As such, we cannot expect too much just yet. Secondly, he believes that the failure to meet the targets is not a failure of the Indigenous people, but rather a failure of bureaucracy, and a failure of the politicians to appropriately engage the community. As the search for solutions continues, we must re-evaluate the engagement of Indigenous leaders in policy making. Looking at our Parliament, there are only three Indigenous Australians presently serving. These members account for 1.3 per cent of the 226 seats across the House of Representatives and the Senate – well below the 3 per cent population demographic. Furthermore, it is woeful in a time where we frequently discuss

reconciliation, that our Federal portfolio for Indigenous Affairs is not, and has not been, occupied by an Indigenous person. Parliament could certainly take a leaf out of the book of the Canadian Liberal Party which included 18 Indigenous candidates at the 2015 election, eight of whom were chosen with two in cabinet portfolios. Moving forwards, we must empower the Indigenous people with the resources to take control of their health and their quality of life. Kevin Rudd’s 2008 apology to the Stolen Generation was the first step in the right direction. Progress needs to be made on amending our Constitution to remove sections 25 and 51(26) which permit racial discrimination, and include a separate section to to recognise our nation’s first peoples. Only then can we truly be the land of equal opportunity. ■ members account for 1.3 per cent of the 226 seats across the House of Representatives and the Senate – well below the 3 per cent population demographic Indigenous Australians presently serving. These

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