In light of Reconciliation Week, has the federal government done enough to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the 2026/2027 Federal Budget? The government announced over $1.2 billion for Closing the Gap initiatives, but this budget is seen as funding “some of the symptoms, not the cure,” according to the CEO of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO), Dawn Casey. Other senior Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders have also agreed. 

The Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, said in a statement that the federal government is committed to “improv[ing] outcomes for First Nations people […] and focussing investment in key areas that will make a real difference.” As a part of the Closing the Gap investment, almost $300m is going to the Remote Jobs and Economic Development Program (RJED). 

There is also $144 million for Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service infrastructure upgrades, and funding for youth, education and food support. The Budget also contains $218 million for implementing the recommendations from the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Plan to End Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence. 

Countless reports, from government, NGOs, universities and more have all recommended structural change in the policy areas that most affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. According to First Nations Economics’ analysis of the budget, this has not occurred, and even now the Coalition of Peaks is calling on the government to collaborate with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations to ensure the success of this year’s Budget’s initiatives. 

The $37 billion cuts to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) will have an impact on disabled people nationwide, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are no exception. The First Peoples Disability Network (FPDN) told media that this year’s Budget “exposes First Nations people with disability to the greatest policy risk since the NDIS was created […] offering no dedicated pathway, no culturally validated assessment tool, and no funded governance mechanism for the 63,000 First Nations people on the scheme.” This is a common criticism of these cuts. The FPDN also notes that disability is not listed as a focus in the $1.5 billion Closing the Gap funding. 

Over 63,000 First Nations people are NDIS participants, making up 8% of all participants. The CEO of the FPDN, Damian Griffis, a Worimi man, said “We are not opposed to reform. We have been calling for reform of this scheme since day one, because it was never designed for our mob in the first place. But you cannot cut $37.8 billion and call it reform unless what replaces it works for everyone.”

The National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) responded to The Budget, saying it has “genuine investment in this Budget that reaches community, and NACCHO welcomes it.” However, they are also calling for the government to go further, with particular emphasis on supporting community-controlled organisations to reform and improve the health system. 

Travis Lovett is a Kerrupmara Gunditjmara man who completed his 900 kilometers Walk for Truth from Melbourne to Canberra this week, after walking from Portland to Melbourne in 2025. He issued a statement after the Budget, saying that “Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Government are still failing to prioritise First Nations people in this country. […] Truth telling cannot continue to be treated as optional. […] You cannot strengthen “social cohesion” while continuing to leave First Nations voices, lived experience and truths behind.” Lovett arrived at Parliament House on May 27th, met by the Prime Minister and many other ministers. 

The Budget comes just before the anniversary of National Sorry Day and the Bringing Them Home Report, which documented the experiences of the Stolen Generation. Only 6% of the recommendations from this report have been implemented, as outlined in the 2025 report, Are You Waiting For Us To Die? The Healing Foundation, the peak body for Stolen Generations survivors, has long called for Stolen Generation Redress Scheme payments to be excluded from aged care means testing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Funding for this was included in The Budget. 

However, Professor Steve Larkin, head of the Healing Foundation, raised concerns, telling the ABC that many First Nations people prefer to be cared for at home rather than being re-traumatised in a facility, and that they would still have to pay for in-home care. The CEO of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ageing and Aged Care Council (NATSIAAC) agreed. 

The most discussed Budget change in the wider community is the changes to negative gearing and the capital gains discount, which aim to allow more first home buyers into the housing market. First Nations principal advisor at the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute Shaun Middlebrook told the ABC that this was unlikely to significantly affect First Nations people, and that although the government funding a First Nations peak housing body was a positive, it still fell short of what is needed to assist both homeowners and renters. 

The Closing the Gap targets, established in 2008, continue to go backwards. This is why leaders are calling for structural reform, including former Lead Convenor of the Coalition of Peaks Pat Turner, saying that “Governments have misled the public by painting the lack of progress on the targets as something outside of their control, and not something that is a direct result of their policy failings.” Many of the 17 Closing the Gap targets are not on track to be met or are going backwards, particularly health- and justice-related targets. This is why many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders believe drastic and urgent action is necessary. 


Image source: Lukas Coch (AAP)​