This is the first Annual Data Compilation Report to inform the reporting on progress under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. Central to the Agreement are four Priority Reforms that aim to change the way governments work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and are designed to strengthen Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and cultures.

These Priority Reforms commit Australian governments and the Coalition of Peaks to the following:

• Developing new partnerships that empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to share decision-making authority with governments.
• Building Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled sectors to deliver services.
• Transforming mainstream government organisations to improve accountability and respond to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
• Improving the sharing of data and information with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organisations.

As they are part of a new approach, no data are currently available to report on the progress of their implementation. Future editions of this report will aim to address this significant monitoring gap.

Key Findings:

• Progress toward the seven targets is mixed. Three are on track (healthy birthweight babies, the enrolment of children in the year before full time schooling and youth detention rates), while the remaining four are not on track (life expectancy, adult imprisonment, out-of-home care for children and suicides).
• The Priority Reforms commit Australian governments and the Coalition of Peaks to developing new partnerships that empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to share decision-making authority with governments, while ensuring that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s own governance and decision-making structures are supported and strengthened.
• This Agreement takes a different approach to the previous agreement (the National Indigenous Reform Agreement), where monitoring focussed on socioeconomic outcomes. While monitoring the socioeconomic outcomes is important and will continue, direct monitoring of the Priority Reforms will also be undertaken. Monitoring the implementation of the Priority Reforms will show if the Parties have done what they committed to.