‘The destructive and false claims made in Janet Albrechtsen’s opinion pieces (published in The Australian 12/10/2024 and 15/10/2024) are based on a fundamental error of logic.

She presents a false dichotomy, railing against self-determination while demanding that Australian institutions instead deliver jobs, training, education and other economic benefits for First Nations people.

On the one hand, her articles attack reconciliation and Reconciliation Action Plans. On the other, she bemoans the lack of progress on closing the gap. The solution to these concerns is hidden in plain sight.

The Productivity Commission’s January 2024 Review of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap identified the cause of ‘persistent barriers to progressing the [Closing the Gap] Agreement’s Priority Reforms’ as ‘the lack of power sharing needed for joint decision-making, and the failure of governments to acknowledge and act on the reality that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people know what is best for their communities.’

Commissioners Romlie Mokak and Natalie Siegal reinforced this assertion in a subsequent opinion piece published in February 2024, by describing a ‘government knows best’ attitude as a significant blockage to success in closing the gap.

In short, effective action towards closing the gap requires decisions in partnership with, and listening to, First Nations communities.

There are many examples of such successful initiatives to reduce disadvantage, developed and managed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in partnership with organisations with Reconciliation Action Plans (RAPs).

In 2022 Australia’s largest providers of out-of-home care, Life Without Barriers launched their RAP in which it committed to step away from the provision of care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and advocate for the support and investment of resources into community-controlled organisations.

This transformative action was possible through a respectful partnership with First Nations peak body for children, SNAICC. The action clearly demonstrates the potential for RAPs to profoundly support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander aspirations for self-determination.

In Far North Queensland, Goodstart Early Learning has partnered with the community of Ngurupai (Horn Island) to improve early childhood outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Through this community partnership, and funding support from The Paul Ramsay Foundation, a monthly playgroup has been established with plans to reopen an early learning facility on the island under a community-controlled model.

However, it is important to remember that RAPs are not the sole solution to 230 years of colonisation.

Rather, they are an accessible and robust framework for organisations to commit to respectful relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and a useful starting point to contribute to a more just, equitable and reconciled country, in which there is no longer a gap in the social indicators between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

By Albrechtsen’s own analysis, Australia needs a framework to enable organisations to contribute to meaningful economic benefits in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

For almost 20 years, Australian organisations of all shapes and sizes have used the RAP framework to do just that.

As Albrechtsen notes, RAPs were launched by John Howard. They have always been nonpartisan, embraced by diverse companies from every sector and across the political spectrum.

Reconciliation Action Plans are not political documents.

They are a public and voluntary commitment made by organisations across Australia from small nonprofits to large global companies; from sporting clubs to universities. Each RAP is different – a unique document owned by the organisation. They use Reconciliation Australia’s framework to develop a plan tailored to the organisation’s areas of operations and their sphere of influence.

The network has grown from just eight organisations in 2006 to over 3,300 today, including the publisher of Ms. Albrechtsen’s articles, News Corp Australia.

Each company has entered the arrangement voluntarily and enthusiastically and the data backs up the impact these RAPs continue to have.

In 2023 almost 77,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were employed by an organisation with a RAP, more than $3.5 billion worth of goods and services were procured by RAP organisations from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-owned businesses, and over 600 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people sat on RAP organisation boards.

This is exactly the kind of meaningful economic empowerment that Ms. Albrechtsen claims she wants to see.

We invite Ms. Albrechtsen, and all who care about closing the gap to learn more about how RAPs are having real practical impacts that meet the aspirations of First Nations people.

Professor Tom Calma AO 
Ms Melinda Cilento 
Co-Chairs Reconciliation Australia