Transcript Closing the Gap Improving outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Closing the Gap
Improving outcomes for Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander people
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I see closing the gap as a genuinely
important national goal… that all
Australians will have the same
opportunities
The Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon Julia Gillard MP, 9 February 2011
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The disadvantage experienced by Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander people is profound and long standing
Twice as many Indigenous children will die before the age of 5
8 times more Indigenous children are likely to be under care and protection
orders
13 times more Indigenous people are likely to be in prison
An Indigenous man can expect to live to 63, an Indigenous woman to 73 whereas
a non-Indigenous man lives to 88 and a non-Indigenous woman to 89
30%–50% of the life expectancy gap is due to factors other than health, especially
education and employment
A person’s wellbeing and quality of life are directly related to DEEWR’s work
Disadvantage accumulates. The longer or more frequently a person experiences
ill-health or poor social and economic circumstances, the lower their quality of
life overall and life expectancy
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The Indigenous population is relatively young and
geographically dispersed
The median age for Indigenous Australians is 21 years compared to 37 years for non-Indigenous
Australians
4 in 10 Indigenous Australians are aged less than 15 years compared with 2 in 10 non-Indigenous
Australians
5 in 10 dependent children living in Indigenous families, live in one parent families compared with
2 in 10 dependent children living in non-Indigenous families
6 in 10 Indigenous Australian adults identify with a clan, tribal or language group
1 in 9 Indigenous Australian adults speak an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language as their
main language at home
Three-quarters of Indigenous Australians live in major cities or regional areas of Australia, compared to
almost all of non-Indigenous Australians
32% of Indigenous Australians live in major cities (vs 69% of non-Indigenous), 43% live in regional
areas (vs 29% of non-Indigenous), and 25% live in remote areas (vs 2% of non-Indigenous)
The Indigenous population is likely to become more urbanised. The greatest increase in the Indigenous
population to 2021 is expected in major cities (up 50%) and regional areas (up 46%), with limited
growth in remote Australia (up 14%).
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DEEWR is making a positive difference to the lives
of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
In 2008, the Australian Government made a historic commitment to close the gap in life expectancy
and life opportunities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians
Six targets to close the gap in Indigenous disadvantage were agreed by the Council of Australian
Governments and these form the pillars of the Government’s national Indigenous reform agenda
DEEWR has lead responsibility for four targets related to early childhood, education and employment:
• Ensure all Indigenous four year olds in remote communities have access to quality early
childhood education by 2013
• Halve the gap for Indigenous students in reading, writing and numeracy by 2018
• Halve the gap for Indigenous 20–24 year olds in Year 12 or equivalent attainment rates by 2020
• Halve the gap in employment outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians by
2018
Indigenous business is everyone’s business. This means that all our programs, services and policies
need to improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
We need to work together to ensure that mainstream and targeted initiatives across all clusters
reinforce each other and produce positive outcomes for all Indigenous Australians
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Experiences during early childhood affect outcomes in
education, employment and health later in life
Ensure all Indigenous four year olds in remote communities have access to quality early childhood
education by 2013
Why is this target important?
• Early childhood is a critical stage in human
development—children’s experiences can
harm or benefit their later health, learning
and behaviour
• Indigenous children are almost 4 times
more likely to be developmentally
vulnerable in literacy and numeracy in their
first year of full-time schooling
• Ensuring all children have access to high
quality early childhood education gives
them the best start in life, and sets them on
the path to success in school, further
education and work
What is the gap and how are we going?
• Available data suggest that 87 per cent of Indigenous children in
remote locations are enrolled in preschool, compared to 70 per
cent nationally
• We have made significant progress in ensuring access to early
childhood education, and are likely to meet this target in 2013
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Indigenous Australian children will have quality early childhood
education for the best start in life
What are we doing?
• Building a quality workforce and developing quality standards for early childhood
education and care including through the implementation of the Early Years
Learning Framework
• Ensuring all children have access to early childhood education in the year before
formal schooling under the National Partnership Agreement on Early Childhood
Education
• Funding 38 Children and Family Centres to bring together important services
including child care, early learning, and parent and family support programs as part
of the National Partnership Agreement on Indigenous Early Childhood
Development
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Gaps in literacy and numeracy skills increase
with age and location
Halve the gap for Indigenous students in reading, writing and numeracy by 2018
Why is this target important?
• Achieving literacy and numeracy benchmarks
in Years 5 and 7 promotes greater
participation in Year 12 and entry into higher
education
• Indigenous students are 5 times more likely
to achieve below the national minimum
standards in Year 9 reading in very remote
areas compared with non-Indigenous
students
• School leavers who have sound skills in
literacy and numeracy have much better
employment prospects
What is the gap and how are we going?
• The size of the gap differs across domains and across year levels, ranging
from a low of 17.6 percentage points (Year 3 Writing) to the largest gap
29.7 percentage points (Year 9 writing) in 2010
• Small improvements were made between 2008-2010 and seven of the
twelve national literacy and numeracy targets were met in 2010
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Indigenous students with good literacy and numeracy skills
are more likely to finish Year 12
What are we doing?
• Improving literacy and numeracy standards, producing high-quality teachers, and
supporting disadvantaged students under the Smarter Schools National Partnerships
• Investing in school infrastructure, Trade Training Centres and the Digital Education
Revolution to improve the quality of every student’s education
• Providing transparency in school performance data through MySchool, and the
development of world-class national curriculum
• $56.4 million over four years from 2008–09 to expand intensive literacy and numeracy
programs and provide for personalised learning plans to assist Indigenous students who
are not achieving at the level of the rest of their class
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A Year 12 or equivalent qualification is vital for today’s
labour market
Halve the gap for Indigenous 20-24 year olds in Year 12 or equivalent attainment rates by 2020
Why is this target important?
• Finishing Year 12 gives young people better choices
and access to further education, training,
employment and opportunities in life
• People who have attained Year 12 are more likely to
be employed and have a higher income
• Finishing school can reduce the need for remedial
education and social welfare services
• Staying at school reduces the likelihood of young
people being involved in crime
What is the gap and how are we going?
• There was a good trend of increasing rates of attainment from 2001 to 2006
• 17,000 more 20-24 year old Indigenous Australians must have a Year 12 or equivalent qualification
by 2020 over and above the current rates
• In 2008, if you were a working age Indigenous Australian with Year 12 or equivalent qualification,
you were almost twice as likely to be employed than those without these qualifications
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Young people at risk of not finishing school
need tailored support
What are we doing?
• Linking young people with Youth Connections and School Business Community
Partnership Brokers to support them to go back to school or get a job
• Promoting personalised learning for Indigenous students through to Year 10 under the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Action Plan
• $4.1 million over three years in the 2011–12 Budget to provide the opportunity for Indigenous
students to develop the skills and knowledge to become a ranger through the Indigenous
Ranger Cadetships program
• Strengthening education outcomes through initiatives such as Parent and Community
Engagement, Sporting Chance and Indigenous Youth Leadership programs
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Employment is the key to economic independence for
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
Halve the gap in employment outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians by 2018
Why is this target important?
• Having a job provides families with a better
standard of living and better health in the long run,
especially for children
• Secure employment is vital to breaking the cycle of
poverty and welfare dependency
• Economic participation improves the choices open
to people and improves the national economy
What is the gap and how are we
going?
• There have been small improvements
from 2002-2008 with employment rising
by 5.6 percentage points, labour force
participation rising by 1.9 percentage
points, and unemployment falling by 6.4
percentage points
• 100,000 additional Indigenous
Australians must have a job by 2018
• This target is not just about
unemployment—participation in the
labour force must increase
• In 2004-05 almost 50% of 15-64 year old
Indigenous Australians relied primarily
on income support, for non-Indigenous
Australians this figure was less than 20%
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DEEWR is supporting Indigenous Australians to secure
employment
What are we doing?
• Job Services Australia is the most significant employment program and is improving
services to Indigenous Australians
• Employers are supported to create and sustain jobs through the Indigenous Employment
Program
• $50.7 million in the 2011–12 Budget to provide up to 6,400 Indigenous students over four
years the opportunity to get a school based traineeship through the Indigenous Youth Career
Pathways Program
• Indigenous staff comprise almost 6% of the DEEWR total
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Our work affects a person’s life in many ways
The work we do is interconnected
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In Summary...
It has been 3 years since the Closing the Gap targets were set and we have made
some inroads
We have delivered a major reform agenda across all targets
Our mainstream and Indigenous-specific programs and initiatives are currently
making a difference for Indigenous Australians. However, there is more to be
done
We think we are close to on track to achieve the early childhood target
There are some positive signs with the literacy and numeracy and Year 12
attainment targets
The employment outcomes target is our biggest challenge
The greatest challenge will be achieving the last few per cent of the targets
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