Tamworth council Closing the Gap Strategy still in development after 15 months

In an interview with the Leader, Cr Sutherland said he was "disappointed" by the referendum result, but wants to press on with the development of Tamworth Regional Council's (TRC) Closing the Gap Strategy, which has been in development since July 2022.

"There's a great opportunity for change to happen, and to be embedded, in local communities. Local communities can drive change. We have a responsibility to take leadership in this space and not rely on constitutional change to support better outcomes," he said.

The strategy is being designed to reflect the national Closing the Gap agreement by directly adapting five of the agreement's 17 socio-economic targets to a local level.

Those targets include formal partnerships and shared decision making; building the community-controlled sector; transforming government organisations; shared access to data and information; and employment, business growth and economic development.

Cr Sutherland says the first priority is building formal partnerships.

"The success of council being able to create and maintain an appropriate Closing the Gap strategy that reflects the needs of the local community is hinged on the partnerships council can make and maintain with local Aboriginal people," he said.

"Part of that partnership is formalising some kind of structure to make sure Aboriginal people have a voice within Tamworth Regional Council."

Tamworth Regional Council was contacted for comment.

At council's latest meeting, TRC's executive manager of strategy and performance Jason Collins provided some insight into how efforts to close the gap have been progressing at a local level.

"There's been some progress in terms of Aboriginal purchasing policy and around our procurement process more generally," Mr Collins said.

He also referenced the hiring of Kamilaroi man Wayne Cain as TRC's first Indigenous liaison officer, a role that was specifically created to support council's Closing the Gap Strategy once developed.

But Mr Collins said development of the strategy itself has hit a snag in the form of the state and federal governments' "minimal engagement" with council's efforts.

"We remain ready and waiting to action whatever needs to happen in that space once the parliaments come to us with that," he said.

READ ALSO:

Given the strategy would be the first of its kind, Cr Sutherland told the Leader it's important not to rush the policy's development even though it's been more than a year since TRC committed to it.

"I'm not disappointed in the progress. TRC is the first local government in Australia to embark on this approach, so there's no blueprint for us to look at," the councillor said.

"There are a lot of other councils looking at this space and waiting to see how it can work so they can replicate, and so instead of rushing this process for the sake of status, I think it's appropriate that the time is spent to make sure we create something that is going to be meaningful and help achieve the outcomes our community deserves."

Given the federal government is on track to meet only four of its 17 Closing the Gap targets, Cr Sutherland said it's crucial for local governments to get involved in supporting Indigenous communities.

"Some of the targets, like health or education, are clearly driven by state government organisations, and in those spaces there are roles Tamworth Regional Council can play in either championing and advocating on behalf of our Aboriginal community, or finding spaces that allow for those services and programs to run that are culturally appropriate," he said.

In addition, formalising a Closing the Gap strategy would integrate TRC more closely with state and federal initiatives, making the pipeline of funding support easier to access for both the council and local organisations.

"The resources Aboriginal-community-controlled organisations are applying for are competitive tenders in a competitive funding market, meaning there are a number of organisations applying for the same pool of resources," Cr Sutherland said.

"Aboriginal-community-controlled organisations having formal partnerships with TRC will add to their level of competitiveness when they apply for those tenders. For our local organisations to be able to say they have the full support of TRC adds weight to those applications."

Lastly, Cr Sutherland said adopting a formal strategy would increase the transparency and accountability of council's efforts to close the gap.

"There's a number of things we're doing in this space, but having a coordinated approach will mean we have a clear pathway of what success looks like and we'll be able to report back and measure against those targets," he said.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: