Closing the Gap: more than $420m to be spent on water, housing and food security

More than $420m will be spent on a new plan providing clean water, food security and housing to Indigenous Australians, the government will announce today.

The next step in the Closing the Gap implementation plan accompanies the Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peak Organisations (Coalition of Peaks) annual implementation plan.

The Coalition of Peaks lead convenor and chief executive of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, Pat Turner, welcomed the commitments to accelerate the priority reforms.

The implementation plan, released under the name of three ministers, Burney, Jason Clare and Tanya Plibersek, along with the assistant minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, covers water, housing, education, legal assistance and support for women and families experiencing violence, with a particular focus on rural and remote communities.

The funding is in addition to the $1.2bn announced in the October budget and will be delivered through formal partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and communities, with support from state, territory and local governments.

It includes accelerating the implementation of the four priority reforms in the national agreement; formal partnerships and shared decision making, building the community-controlled sector, transforming government controlled organisations and shared access to data and information at a regional level.

The Closing the Gap statement has also been restored to its original place at the start of the parliamentary year, after the Morrison government moved it to August.

The statement will be delivered on Monday, which coincides with the the 15th anniversary of the national apology Kevin Rudd made to Indigenous Australians, particularly those of the stolen generations.