Closing the Gap on Indigenous Outcomes

The 2025 Annual Data Compilation Report (https://www.pc.gov.au/closing-the-gap-data/annual-data-report/closing-the-gap-annual-data-compilation-july2025.pdf) reveals a sobering reality: only 4 of 19 Closing the Gap targets are on track to be met, with outcomes actually worsening in four critical areas including adult imprisonment, children in out-of-home care, suicide rates, and children's developmental progress. Despite decades of effort and billions in investment, the gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and other Australians persists across health, education, employment, and justice outcomes.
The National Agreement on Closing the Gap, developed in genuine partnership between Australian governments and the Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peak Organisations, represents an unprecedented shift toward Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people determining, driving, and owning desired outcomes. However, the 2025 data shows that while some targets like preschool enrollment and land rights are improving, fundamental challenges remain.
Life expectancy gaps persist, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men living 71.9 years and women 75.6 years - not on track to close by 2031. Tragically, suicide remains the leading cause of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15-39. Meanwhile, promising areas like healthy birthweights (89.6% in 2021) show that progress is achievable when the right conditions are met.
The challenge lies in the complexity of interconnected outcomes and the need for evidence-based, culturally appropriate interventions. Current data gaps prevent full assessment of progress, and governments have yet to agree on approaches to measure the four Priority Reforms that are key to achieving targets. There's an urgent need for analysis that can identify patterns across many vast datasets, predict intervention outcomes, and inform targeted strategies that respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data sovereignty principles.

High-Level Questions:
- Pattern Recognition Across Outcomes: Using Closing the Gap dashboard data, what patterns and new insights can be identified that point to opportunities where interventions could have multiplier effects?
- Are there specific types of analyses that would reveal novel insights, such as interconnected datasets, identifying communities or regions experiencing better outcomes, or using historical data?
- Priority Reform Implementation: How can government data reveal where the four Priority Reforms (shared decision-making, building Aboriginal Community Controlled sector, data sharing, transforming government institutions) are being effectively implemented and their correlation with improved outcomes?
- Digital Equity: How can use data or tools to ensure that a gap in digital and AI access and knowledge doesn’t accumulate and add to disparities in outcomes? Are we ensuring that cultural practices are respected when it comes to data and digital knowledge?

You are expected to:
- Use at least one Closing the Gap dataset or related government data to develop insights. Specify at least one Closing the Gap target that your analysis or solution genuinely addresses.
- Develop solutions that could be easily deployed or used by government agencies, Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations, or other stakeholders working toward Closing the Gap objectives, without needing a considerable amount of further analysis or wrangling.