The first review of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap (2020) finds that Australian governments have made little progress towards the Agreement, which is limiting improvements in life outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The report finds that, despite their commitment to do so, governments are not yet sharing power with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in a way that enables decisions to be made in genuine partnership. It also finds that little effort has been made to reform government agencies or to strengthen the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled sector. Instead, governments have largely taken a business-as-usual approach, pursuing thousands of initiatives that are disconnected from each other and the ambitions of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
The report finds that much stronger accountability mechanisms are needed to achieve the Priority Reforms and accelerate improvements in life outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Read and download the Report here.
Have your say. You are invited to make a submission or a brief comment. Submissions are due by 6 October 2023.
A Deafness Forum Australia perspective.
The National Agreement on Closing the Gap has 17 national socio-economic targets across areas that have an impact on life outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Two of the targets, 10 and 11, relate to ensuring that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are not overrepresented in the criminal justice system. Due to the clear links between hearing loss and high rates of incarceration for this population, it is imperative that hearing loss across the life span is considered in any action designed to meet these targets.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples experience high levels of ear disease and hearing loss from a very early age. It impacts speech and language development, cognitive development and auditory processing ability which inhibit listening skills and leads to poor attention. This can then result in disruptive behaviour in the classroom, poor school attendance and early school leaving. The lack of education then impacts on employment opportunities and income levels and can result in increased contact with the criminal justice system causing a “school to prison pipeline”.
Numerous reviews, inquiries and research findings have made recommendations to governments to break the cycle of disadvantage, however, the impact of hearing health is often overlooked due to the myriad of other chronic health issues requiring attention. Action is often neglected due to lack of clarity between Commonwealth and State responsibilities to implement such recommendations.
In order to address the impact of hearing health on Closing the Gap target 10 and 11, and to reduce the overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the criminal justice system, it is recommended that:
- a) existing programs that target ear disease and hearing loss in children, work to improve school attendance and help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples gain employment be strengthened. These programs will also support the Closing the Gap targets of Children Thriving in their Early Years (Target 4) and Students Achieve their Full Learning Potential (Target 5).
- b) targeted funding be made available for a culturally appropriate hearing program to be established nationally to address the needs people within the criminal justice system including the juvenile system. The program would need to include:
- Education programs for all staff working within both the juvenile and criminal justice systems, to increase awareness of the impact of chronic ear disease experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and adults and to provide information on appropriate strategies and programs to meet the needs of people with ear disease and hearing loss
- Education and counselling programs for individuals who may not realise they have a hearing loss or that treatment options are available, or, due to cultural reasons may feel shame about having a hearing loss or wearing an assistive listening device
- Community education on the link between hearing loss and involvement with the juvenile and criminal justice systems
- Provision of hearing assessment prior to a person’s court appearance
- If hearing loss is identified appropriate interventions must be provided before the court appearance or supports provided to ensure a fair hearing
- Provision of hearing assessment prior to a person being admitted to prison with regular assessments provided during the person’s stay in prison
- Clinical pathways to medical advice and treatment as well as rehabilitation options including assistive listening device fitting where indicated
- Provision of devices such as sound field amplification system and other mechanisms for improving the acoustic environment for those with hearing loss
- Access to hearing support services once the person leaves prison
- National data source on hearing loss among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in contact with the criminal justice system within the National Prisoner Health Data Collection.
It is essential the recommended services are culturally appropriate and involve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members in all aspects of the program to ensure initiatives are tailored to meet the cultural needs of individuals.
The implementation of these initiatives would lead to a reduction in the overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples involved with the juvenile and criminal justice systems and will also prevent further deaths in custody resulting from the consequences of unidentified and untreated ear disease.
Read more in our submission to the Australian Government, Closing The Gap: Addressing the Hearing Health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in the Criminal Justice System, NOV 2022.