You may have read the recent 2025 Closing the Gap Annual Data Report and felt a sense of déjà vu. I know I did. Despite the commitments made under the National Agreement, only four of the 19 socio-economic targets are on track. Gains in early childhood enrolment, employment and land and sea rights are encouraging - but they are far outweighed by a decline in crucial areas like life expectancy, adult incarceration, housing, and family safety.

This echoes findings from both the Productivity Commission's review and the Coalition of Peaks' landmark report, which together paint a troubling picture: governments are still failing to fully grasp the scale of reform required. Too often, funding and decision-making remain in government hands, while under-resourced Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations continue to do the heavy lifting on the ground. Unfortunately, these aren't new issues. But they demand urgent action - not just more reviews.

The Annual Data Report must pave the way for a new constructive conversation on change. As a Worora and Walmajarri woman and leading businesswoman, I understand that there is simply too much at stake to wait any longer.

A lack of informed economic partnerships between government and First Nations peoples have resulted in a trail of disappointment in areas like healthcare, housing, and disaster response. Increased collaboration is at the heart of achieving many shared goals and is the foundation of prosperity, cultural empowerment and recognition, and economic growth that benefit us all.

Culturally, the widening gap is fueling skills shortages, limiting diversity in leadership roles, and reducing capacity to deliver services that reflect the needs of communities working with First Nations peoples. This must be addressed.

Through my work as Co-Founder and CEO of IPS Management Consultants, cultural safety has been powerful in helping organisations make real progress in closing the gap. Cultural safety is not a box-ticking exercise, it is fundamental to how we close the gap in a way that's grounded in respect, not bureaucracy.

As a way forward, I encourage the Federal Government to commit to embedding First Nations voices at all levels of decision-making. Representation and leadership from First Nations people must be integral, not optional.

Since 2022, IPS has partnered with government agencies to co-design and deliver the Liminal program – a cultural transformation initiative grounded in First Nations knowledge, neuroscience, and human-centred design. Liminal reimagines workforce systems and unlocks the potential of underrepresented groups, while building inclusive leadership capability, empowering diversity, and addressing systemic barriers to equity and belonging.

This approach is reshaping how government agencies engage, lead, and build culturally safe workplaces for the future. Importantly, this work aligns directly with Closing the Gap Priority Reform 1 (Formal Partnerships and Shared Decision-Making) and Priority Reform 3 (Transforming Government Organisations). Embedding cultural safety is foundational to these reforms.

That leads me to another tactic for change - authentic engagement with First Nations peoples. Beyond tokenism, authentic engagement is how we honour our culture, knowledge and the right of First Nations people to define and lead their futures. It's about listening deeply, acting respectfully and embedding that collaboration in every layer of reform.

It builds genuine relationships grounded in trust and mutual respect, resulting in outcomes that are more sustainable, more relevant, and more likely to be embraced by community well into the future.

As a First Nations-led team, we have the lived experience, cultural intelligence, and deep-rooted community ties to all projects. We know how to speak to Mob because we are Mob. We know the importance of kinship and connection, and the protocols that underpin respectful engagement to make a real difference.

For example, IPS conducted a formative evaluation of the Nabu program for the NSW Department of Communities and Justice, in partnership with Waminda – South Coast Women's Health and Welfare Aboriginal Corporation.

Nabu is the first early intervention family support program in Australia conceptualised, developed, and delivered by an Aboriginal organisation. IPS applied a co-designed, culturally grounded consultation and evaluation approach to assess outcomes, cultural impact, and cost-effectiveness. It strengthened the evidence base for First Nations-led, culturally safe family services and informed future investment in community-led care models.

These efforts speak directly to Closing the Gap Priority Reform 1 - supporting governments and service providers to engage in shared decision-making with First Nations people in ways that are safe, authentic and empowering. And they reinforce Priority Reform 2 (Building the Aboriginal Community-Controlled Sector), by supporting communities to lead, define and drive their own solutions.

Closing the Gap is more than a policy goal. It's a long-term opportunity for all levels of government to transform and improve how public services are delivered. We're calling on our political leaders to develop bold, structural reform that fully embeds the Priority Reforms of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap report. This is essential, not optional. Future generations are counting on action.

Culturally-safe systems and genuine partnerships must become the norm, not the exception. If we want to get this right, culturally safe practice must underpin every decision, every reform and every outcome we seek to achieve.

When community voices are heard and power is genuinely shared, we move closer to a future where equity isn't just promised, it's achieved.

Derby-raised, from Worora and Walmajarri families, Katina Law co-founded IPS Management Consultants, a majority Indigenous-owned company providing professional services to government and corporate clients across Australia.