The Bass Coast Reconciliation Network and associated organisations are working to “close the gap”.

In 2008 the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) established Closing the Gap to provide the basic health, education and other services needed to put Indigenous Australians on an equal footing with other Australians.

Since then some targets, such as children’s school readiness, child-removal rates and incarceration rates, went backwards, and other measures have faced repeated delays.

In March 2019, a formal partnership saw, for the first time, Australian governments share decision making with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peak representatives to develop a new national agreement on Closing the Gap.

In February 2023, the Minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, announced more than $420m towards a new plan providing clean water, food security and housing to Indigenous Australians.

The announcement is part of the practical actions the government has promised to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia. 

The Minister said the government needed to do more, and new measures would be more specific and more targeted.

The Implementation plan covers water, housing, education, legal assistance and support for women and families experiencing violence, with a particular focus on rural and remote communities.

The funding is in addition to the $1.2bn announced in the October 2022 budget and will be delivered through formal partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and communities.

Closing the Gap in Bass Coast

The Bass Coast Reconciliation Network (BCRN) consists of community members and key organisations within the Bass Coast. These organisations are also working to Close the Gap.

Phillip Island Nature Parks has had a Reconciliation Action Plan for several years and has also developed an Aboriginal Employment Strategy and added two new employees to the Conservation team.

Westernport Water rolled out their second Reconciliation Action Plan in 2022.

Bass Coast Health is committed to working with First Australian communities to understand their health and well-being needs and to improve our health practices.

In 2020 Bass Coast Health employed an Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officer, in 2021 an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee was formed and will launch their Reconciliation Action Plan in 2023.

The Bass Coast Reconciliation Network is proud to be working and walking with these organisations and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our community to close the gap.

In 2022 the community joined the BCRN and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community to walk across the San Remo – Phillip Island bridge in support of reconciliation.