Productivity Commission finds Australian governments making Indigenous disadvantage worse

Government decisions do not reflect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's priorities and exacerbate, rather than remedy, disadvantage and discrimination, according to a scathing new report from the Productivity Commission.

The Productivity Commission's first review of the 2020 national Closing the Gap agreement says some governments continue to make choices that "disregard or contradict" their commitments. The Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, said: "This report shows once again that the status quo is not working. We have to do better.

"The report demonstrates why an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we must take to help close the gap and improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians."

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