Northern Territory Indigenous Business Network CEO Naomi Anstess says review findings that the Territory's audit system is highly vulnerable to government influence reveal how governments evade accountability over Closing the Gap failures.
"When audit independence is weak, governments can avoid scrutiny for failing Closing the Gap outcomes, while Aboriginal organisations are left carrying the blame for programs they didn't design or control," Ms Anstess told National Indigenous Times.
Northern Territory Auditor-General Jara Dean has warned that outdated legislation has left his office the least independent in Australasia, following a review conducted by the Australasian Council of Auditors-General (ACAG).
The NT was ranked last for audit independence across all Australian jurisdictions, as well as New Zealand, Fiji and Papua New Guinea.
Mr Dean described the results as "disappointing but not surprising", noting the NT Audit Act was established in 1995 and has not been substantively updated for more than 20 years.
Ms Anstess said the fractured audit system has real-life, devastating impacts for Aboriginal people across the Northern Territory, with programs designed to address systemic injustice left underfunded.
"Poor program design, weak commissioning and missed Closing the Gap targets can go unaudited, while community organisations are over-scrutinised," Ms Anstess said.
The Productivity Commission's 2025 Closing the Gap Annual Data Compilation Report found the NT was the worst-performing jurisdiction in the country, with gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous outcomes widening on key measures including incarceration and youth detention.
According to the data, more targets in the NT are going backwards than improving, reflecting deep and persistent disadvantage.
For Ms Anstess, those results are often misread as failures of Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, rather than potential government misspending when auditing processes are weak.
"Without independent performance audits, system failure gets pushed onto Aboriginal organisations, while government decisions escape scrutiny," she said.
