The Productivity Commission has found governments have largely not fulfilled their commitments under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap and has made four recommendations to drive progress.

The four recommendations to government are: share power; recognise and support Indigenous Data Sovereignty; fundamentally rethink mainstream government systems and culture; and implement stronger accountability.

Sharing power with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to make decisions about their communities lies at the heart of what governments committed to. The Commission found evidence of a failure to relinquish power and the persistence of ‘government knows best’ thinking.

To address this, the report’s first recommendation proposes five actions, including amending the agreement to better emphasise power sharing, and having governments recognise the expertise of Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations in what works for their communities.

The report finds that progress is unlikely unless government organisations fundamentally rethink their systems, culture and ways of working. It recommends that all government departments take a series of actions to overhaul how they work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, including developing and executing an evidence-based transformation strategy.