VACCA welcomes the today’s first historic meeting of the Joint Council on Closing the Gap in Brisbane.
Announced by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in December 2018, the Joint Council is a key part of COAGs commitment to a formal partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the development, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of a refreshed Closing the Gap framework.
Speaking after the meeting, the CEO of the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA) and Chair of SNAICC – National Voice for our Children, Muriel Bamblett said, “After the first ten years of the original Closing the Gap Framework, it was clear that little progress was made against targets. We believe that one of the reasons is insufficient ownership and engagement by Aboriginal and Torres Strat Islander Peoples. This new and historic approach is a very important first step. Now begins the real work of refreshing targets, implementing measures we believe are necessary to achieve real change and monitor the progress of this new framework”.
In a communique, the Joint Council said, “Ministers of the Commonwealth, state and territory governments and representatives of the Coalition of Peaks will work together for the first time as genuine partners in an agenda of major national significance. The Coalition of Peaks is a group of almost 40 community controlled Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peak bodies, operating across a range of sectors important to Closing the Gap.
The Joint Council, the first ever COAG Council that includes members from outside Governments, comprises 12 representatives elected by the Coalition of Peaks with broad geographic and subject matter coverage, a Minister nominated by the commonwealth and each state and territory government, and one representative from the Australian Government Association.”
