NIHLA Welcomes New Government, Reaffirms Call for Structural Change in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health
National Indigenous Health Leadership Alliance (NIHLA)
The National Indigenous Health Leadership Alliance (NIHLA) extends its congratulations to the newly elected Government and Parliament and looks forward to continuing strong, constructive engagement with all political parties to improve the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
We reaffirm our commitment to work alongside governments to transform Australia’s healthcare system so that it is culturally safe, responsive, and delivers real outcomes — not just promises — for our communities.
NIHLA urges all elected leaders to uphold and strengthen bipartisan support for the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, particularly its Priority Reform Areas which remain critical to genuine, lasting change. These reforms must not remain words on paper — they must be actively and consistently implemented across all government portfolios and departments.
As we have highlighted in recent statements and our recent 2025 Senate Inquiry submission:
- The barriers to progress are not a lack of funding, but a failure to reform government systems, processes, and attitudes. Bureaucratic resistance to power-sharing has slowed implementation of the Priority Reforms and undermined co-design.
- Self-determination, cultural safety, and Indigenous-led solutions must guide all policy development, funding, and service delivery — this is not optional, it is essential.
- “Nothing About Us Without Us” must be the foundation of all reform efforts. It is time for public sector institutions to move beyond consultation to shared decision-making and accountability.
- Anti-racism must be embedded into the Closing the Gap implementation process, including mechanisms for transparency, monitoring, and culturally safe service provision.
As affirmed by the Productivity Commission and the Close the Gap Campaign, governments must stop treating the National Agreement on Closing the Gap Priority Reforms as aspirational statements. These are commitments to change how governments work, not just what governments fund.
Karl Briscoe, Chair of NIHLA, has consistently stated: “Where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have driven the implementation of the Priority Reform Areas in our communities, we have seen real progress. This demonstrates the power of our leadership when governments listen, trust, and act in good faith”.
We call on the incoming Parliament to:
- Ensure bipartisan political support continues for Closing the Gap and the full implementation of its Priority Reforms.
- Direct public sector agencies to operationalise their commitments, including partnering with ACCOs and Indigenous-led organisations to co-design solutions.
- Prioritise data sovereignty, strengths-based measurement, and healing-informed responses to address systemic inequities and intergenerational trauma.
- Implement the long-overdue recommendations of the Bringing Them Home report and embed these into Closing the Gap frameworks as unfinished national business.
The path forward requires courage, trust, and partnership. NIHLA is ready to work with all parties in building a stronger, fairer, and culturally safer health system — for all.
About us:
The National Indigenous Health Leadership Alliance, formerly known as the National Health Leadership Forum, is a partnership of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing organisations, whose purpose is to drive systemic and structural change of the mainstream health system, including institutional racism in alignment with the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan and other health strategies. As a partnership we hold expertise across health, aged care and disability politic and service delivery, as well as workforce, research, organisational and business development, healing, mental health, and social, cultural and social emotional wellbeing.
Contact details:
Colleen Gibbs Executive Officer, [email protected] 0447 277 202
