As an Indigenous woman, I am statistically likely to die 8.7 years before the average non-Indigenous woman.
Closing the Gap might seem like a well-meant cliché to some, but when you are looking at almost a decade less with your loved ones, or lower chances of a promotion, or lower average pay, or the chance of prolonged ill-health for you or your family, then the cliché evaporates and just the stark reality remains.
There is good news to be told, though, and National Reconciliation Week – commencing on Monday – is a rare opportunity to tell it.
Firstly, Australia has reached an unprecedented place in its history. All governments, both major parties, and by all accounts, the vast majority of Australians want Indigenous people to get a better deal – enjoying the health, life expectancy, career, education and income opportunities afforded to non-Indigenous people.
This is important in reconciliation week because all ofAustralia benefits if Indigenous people can fulfil their potential. All Australia benefits if the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people can be narrowed or, even better, closed.
The second piece of good news is that Indigenous people have developed a solution. Sure, it’s not The Solution – many answers are required – but it’s a solution to the need for leadership in Indigenous communities.
I am the CEO of the Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre (AILC), founded in 2001 by Indigenous leaders and still Australia’s only national provider of accredited Indigenous leadership courses. Since its establishment, more than 1200 Indigenous leaders have gained nationally-certified qualifications, equipping them with skills and knowledge that help them fulfil their potential.
People like Michelle Deshong, who has returned to her hometown of Townsville to complete a PhD on opportunities to increase the political representation of Indigenous women, after spending years working in a variety of high profile roles in Canberra. She is a woman of tremendous natural talent, but credits her AILC course experience with unlocking new opportunities in life.
And Ivan Copley, who has been working in his home state of South Australia to complete and publish the First Language Map to chart Indigenous languages across the nation – earning him an Order of Australia Medal.
Indigenous communities will not overcome disadvantage without strong leadership from Indigenous people themselves – and an approach that draws on bothIndigenous cultural understandings and Western models of leadership.
The importance of this is now recognised across Australia – nominated by the Federal Government as a key strategy to help Close the Gap and actively supported by many of the nation’s leading corporations.
More support is needed, but together we are working towards building a critical mass of leaders across the country.
I’m excited for what is to come.