The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to refresh the Closing the Gap framework ahead of four of the seven targets expiring in 2018. In 2017-2018, the Australian Government held 29 national roundtables with more than 1200 people across the country. In February 2018, at a special gathering with prominent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, COAG were presented with the ‘Special Gathering Statement’ for the Closing the Gap Refresh, which outlined priorities for a new Closing the Gap agenda. The Special Gathering Statement called for Closing the Gap reforms to be guided by principles of empowerment and self-determination and community-led, strengths-based strategies that enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to thrive.

In December 2018, COAG committed to a genuine formal partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to finalise the Closing the Gap Refresh, releasing a draft Closing the Gap framework which included a set of draft targets, accountabilities and reporting requirements as the foundation document for further discussion with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities. In March 2019, the Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap (2019-2029) between all Australian Governments, the Coalition Peaks and the Australian Local Government Association was signed.

The new Closing the Gap Reform Priorities for collective action were endorsed and were later built into the new National Agreement to accelerate improvements in life outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. With the new National Closing the Gap Agreement coming into effect in July 2020 there was agreement on the four Priority Reforms target indicators, two new socio-economic targets, and the funding priorities for developing the housing and early childhood care and community-controlled sectors.

The four Closing the Gap Priority Reform areas are:

1. Priority Reform 1: Formal Partnerships and Shared Decision Making
2. Priority Reform 2: Building the Community-Controlled Sector
3. Priority Reform 3: Transforming Government Organisations
4. Priority Reform 4: Shared Access to Data and Information at a Regional Level

(Adapted from the Closing the Gap website)

Resources
Special Gathering Statement
Partnership agreement on Closing the Gap
National Closing the Gap Agreement