Changes to the types of data collected about First Nations people, how it is used and who controls it are needed if Australia wants to progress towards improving the lives and futures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, a report commissioned by the Actuaries Institute suggests.
The report, “Getting to Grips With Indigenous Data”, says that despite significant attention on the rights and outcomes of First Nations people in the past few decades, major issues remain for their communities amid limited progress on meeting “Closing the Gap” targets, including Priority Reform 4 which targets improved data sharing to empower communities.
The “Closing the Gap “ National Agreement, officially formed in July 2020, is based on the belief that when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a genuine say in the design and delivery of policies, programmes, and services that affect them, better life outcomes are achieved. Under the agreement, there are four priority reforms, including Priority Reform 4.
Authors and actuaries Dr Hugh Miller and Dr Laura Dixie from Taylor Fry suggest that better progress could be made if the types of information collected about First Nations people are expanded. Currently, most focus on traditional Western definitions of data. More "Indigenous data” is needed to provide more context and details about Indigenous culture, the environment, land, skies, and resources.
The paper supports “Indigenous Data Sovereignty”, which is defined as the right of Indigenous people to own, control, access, and possess data that derive from them, and which pertain to their people, knowledge systems, customs or territories.
“These kinds of measures would ensure that data is more reflective of the things that are important to First Nations communities. Part of the data challenge though is that the things that Indigenous communities are most interested in measuring progress on are the things that, in some ways, are the hardest to measure or aren’t being measured,” Dr Miller said.
The indicators we have in Closing the Gap are not really designed for Indigenous communities at all. The emphasis on gaps with non-Indigenous people is deficit-based and reproachful; the diversity of cultures across First Nations communities is not reflected in reporting; and context, such as the often-strained relationship between police and First Nations people, or cultural values, is stripped out.”
The report suggests that given the growing role of Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations and other Aboriginal businesses in the delivery of services, they could play a greater role in the collection and use of Indigenous data, which could be used to demonstrate the value of their activities. It also highlights several programmes – at government, research, and programme levels – that have successfully embraced Indigenous data sovereignty principles to help improve outcomes for First Nations people. These programmes highlight how progress is being made and can continue.
Actuaries Institute CEO, Elayne Grace, said, “There remains a collective need to improve the lives of First Nations communities, which still endure significant disadvantage. Improving our approach to Indigenous data is central to both enabling and measuring what really matters as progress, as well as empowering First Nations communities.”