Lidia Thorpe has condemned the “shameful” number of Indigenous deaths in custody, including 17 this year, as the latest figures show just four of 19 Closing the Gap targets are on track to be met.
Key targets, including youth and adult imprisonment rates, children in out-of-home care, suicide and childhood development are continuing to worsen, according to the latest data from the Productivity Commission.
Thorpe moved a condolence motion, in the Senate on Thursday morning, supported by Labor and the Greens, extending sympathies to the families of the 17 First Nations people who have died in custody this year. They include 24-year-old Warlpiri man Kumanjayi White, who died in May after being restrained by officers at an Alice Springs supermarket.
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The motion urged all parliamentarians to do better to prevent further deaths in custody. Since the release of the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, there has been 602 Indigenous deaths in custody.
“These are not just statistics. They are sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, cousins, siblings, grandchildren – lost to a system that continues to harm our people,” Thorpe said.
“This motion is about preventing that pain from continuing. It’s about doing what we can, here and now, to ensure that Kumanjayi’s death is not just another entry in a long and shameful list. It must be a turning point.”
One of the Closing the Gap targets aims to reduce the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults held in incarceration by at least 15% by 2031.
The 2023-24 data showed the rate had worsened since the 2019 baseline, from 1,906.1 per 100,000 adult population to 2,041.5 per 100,000.
The number of Indigenous youths under 18 in prisons had also increased year-on-year and remained off-target – but had improved from the 2019 baseline.
“We need more action by states and territories to keep First Nations people out of justice systems and ensure they are safe when in custody,” the environment minister, Murray Watt, told the Senate.
“The government is working to keep people out of the justice system and ensure they are safe when in custody, but when there are steps backwards, we need to call them out and listen to those calling for change.”
Attorney generals from state and territory governments will meet in August to discuss Closing the Gap targets. They will also discuss the Northern Territory’s decision to re-introduce spit hoods for 10-year-old children in custody.
Without changing the approach to Closing the Gap, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will continue to “pay the price”, Indigenous organisations say.
While there have been improvements in year 12 attainment, tertiary education and housing access, these targets are also not on track to meet deadlines.
“It’s not enough to hope the gap will close, governments must hold themselves to account for the commitments they’ve made under the national agreement,” the Coalition of Peaks lead convener, Pat Turner, said.
“That requires smart investment, longer-term flexible funding and full implementation of the four priority reforms – shifting power, not just policy.
“Without real power shift, we’ll keep seeing the same patterns repeat and our people will continue to pay the price.”
The Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council chief executive, Paula Arnol, said the latest Closing the Gap report card was disappointing.
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“It’s 2025 and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are still not experiencing the health outcomes that non-Indigenous Australians enjoy. This is unacceptable,” she said.
The data follows a recent review of the Closing the Gap agreement, commissioned by the Coalition of Peaks.
The review found Indigenous community-controlled organisations are key to progress, and governments must listen to First Nations people and share decision-making power to create positive change.
Productivity commissioner Selwyn Button said the review shows the outcomes of the agreement are falling well short of what governments have committed to.
“What the outcomes in the agreement reflect most of all is the limited progress of governments in collectively acting on the priority reforms: sharing decision-making and data with communities; strengthening the Aboriginal community controlled sector and changing the way governments operate,” he said.
Turner said improvements in early education enrolments, employment and land and sea rights show what’s possible when government partner with Indigenous organisations “in the right way”.
But she said when governments fail to meet their commitments to work with community-controlled organisations, the gap widens.
“What’s important for Australians to understand is that Aboriginal community-controlled organisations are not fringe services,” Turner said.
“We’re not asking for special treatment. We’re asking for a fair share. When we get that, we deliver.”
Indigenous Australians can call 13YARN on 13 92 76 for information and crisis support; or call Lifeline on 13 11 14, Mensline on 1300 789 978 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
