Roger Jaensch,Minister for Aboriginal Affairs
The Tasmanian Liberal Government is committed to delivering better outcomes for Tasmanian Aboriginal people, more opportunity for them and their families, and to dignify the relationship with Tasmanian Aboriginal people to achieve a truly reconciled community.
The new National Agreement on Closing the Gap - the first national agreement to be developed in partnership between governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as represented by the Coalition of Peaks - recognises that a partnership between the State Government and Tasmanian Aboriginal people must be supported and strengthened and that Tasmanian Aboriginal people are best placed to determine and deliver services to meet their needs and cultural requirements.
In line with our commitments under the National Agreement, the Tasmanian Implementation Plan for Closing the Gap (2021-2023) was tabled at today's meeting of the Joint Council on Closing the Gap.
The Tasmanian Plan, which is for an initial two-year period, focuses on embedding broad actions aligned to the Closing the Gap four key Priority Reforms and includes Jurisdictional Actions that the Tasmanian Government is required to undertake, and Partnership Actions that all Governments and Peaks must collectively work on and implement nationally.
To support this work, the Tasmanian Liberal Government will allocate an initial $5.3 million, including up to an additional $4 million towards building capacity in Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations to better meet the local and regional needs of Tasmanian Aboriginal people, on top of the existing $1.3 million committed in last year's budget.
We are clear on our commitments under the National Agreement, and we will work with all Tasmanian Aboriginal people to deliver the Tasmanian Closing the Gap Implementation Plan 2021 – 2023.
