Turning reviews into reform: A call to action
Communique from workshop of the Coalition of Peaks
Date: 22–23 July 2025
Location: Ngunnawal and Ngambri Country
The senior leadership of the Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community-Controlled Peak Organisations (Coalition of Peaks) met on Ngunnawal and Ngambri Country to chart a next phase of reform under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
This workshop follows two landmark reviews into the implementation of the Closing the Gap Agreement: the Productivity Commission review and the Independent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led review.
We reflected on where we stood before the Agreement: shut out of government decisions about our lives, our organisations decimated, funding stripped from our communities, and our rights – both as First Peoples and as human beings – ignored or denied.
The Coalition of Peaks took up the challenge to change that course. Our organisations have long fought for rights, recognition, and beter outcomes for our people. We knew we had to stand together.
It was the Coalition of Peaks that proposed the Closing the Gap Agreement – a clear statement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership, calling for governments to work in a new way with our people to:
share decisions with governments on policies and programs that impact on our lives
build the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled sector
transform government organisations so they work beter for our people
share government and information with our communities to support the decisions on our futures.
While not enshrined in legislation or the Constitution, the Closing the Gap Agreement is the only national framework that centres Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership in government decision-making and provides a foundation to hold governments accountable for the outcomes they deliver.
Because of that Agreement, and the unity and collective strength of the Coalition of Peaks, we are beginning to shift the course for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across the country.
Elevating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices
The Closing the Gap Agreement has lifted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices in policymaking like never before:
New community-controlled peaks have been established in sectors like education and housing, where our voices were previously disparate or excluded
Underfunded organisations and peaks in areas such as languages, First Nations media, and social and emotional wellbeing are now recognised and resourced
In the Northern Territory, Aboriginal organisations are working alongside government to shape major investment decisions that impact our communities for the first time since the Intervention
A landmark agreement between the Commonwealth, NT Government, Land Councils, and Aboriginal Housing NT is enabling shared decision-making on remote housing and a new community-controlled housing model
Previously ignored, mainstream intergovernmental agreements in areas such as health, education, housing, skills and training require governments to deliver beter outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
New regional community-controlled governance structures are being established across the country.
All our voices are being heard because of the largest coming together of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations in our history, through the Coalition of Peaks, creating a powerful platform for collective leadership and self-determination.
Power is shifting to our organisations
We are also seeing real steps to shift power to our organisations:
Out-of-home care is transitioning to Aboriginal community-controlled organisations
More than 30 health services across the country are moving to community control
Funding under the Indigenous Advancement Strategy is now 75% Aboriginal-delivered, up from 35%
Language centres are receiving targeted support.
And lives are beginning to change
More of our people and communities are accessing culturally safe services delivered by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations
There are more jobs and more of our people are employed in our own organisations
Aboriginal Registered Training Organisations are being recognised and beter funded
More Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are living in safer, more suitable housing, and homelands in the NT are being recognised and supported
Early childhood services are being beter coordinated so it is easier for our kids and families to get the support they need; AECD data has stabilised for the first time in decades
Our languages are being revived and maintained.
Our people have shown up. We’ve delivered services, built programs from the ground up, and brought forward solutions. We’ve leaned into every opportunity to share decision-making and change the system. While other ideas and agendas have been pursued, we’ve never wavered.
But governments haven’t always leaned in with us. Too often, they tick a box instead of sharing power, arrive late, act alone, or shut the door when decisions really mater.
The reviews confirm what we already know: governments are falling back on old habits. Business-as-usual continues in a time that demands bold change. People feel let down. We feel it too - the anger, the fatigue, the disappointment. But it’s not our commitment that’s been lacking. It’s governments that have failed to do the hard work of reform.
We won’t walk away. We will dig in.
In response to the reviews, the Coalition of Peaks discussed ways the Closing the Gap Agreement can be strengthened and how government implementation and accountability can be improved.
We identified practical actions governments could take to translate the major structural changes under the Closing the Gap Agreement into faster, more tangible improvements in our people’s lives.
The Coalition of Peaks will now engage with our full membership, of over 80 peak and member organisations and 800 organisations, and our communities to shape a collective response to the reviews. We will work with governments to agree a joint path forward by the end of 2025. We expect governments to meet our ambition.
Who we are
The Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled peak organisations is made up of more than 80 peak and member organisations across Australia, that represent some 800 organisations.
Coalition of Peaks members have their own unique histories, needs and priorities and share a commitment to legitimate community-controlled representation of our communities on maters that are important to our people. We came together as an act of self-determination to work in partnership with Australian governments on Closing the Gap.