National Close the Gap Day

National Close the Gap Day (NCTGD) is observed annually in Australia on the third Thursday in March, taking place on 20 March this year. It is a national day of action to raise awareness about the health disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians and pledge support for achieving Indigenous health equality by 2032. 

At Anglicare WA, we recognise NCTGD as part of our commitment to directly address the barriers to thriving faced by Aboriginal people throughout Western Australia, emphasising deep listening, healing, and honouring and respecting Culture.  

NCTGD was established in 2008 by the Close the Gap campaign, an Indigenous-led social justice movement launched in 2006 after Tom Calma, the then Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, released his Social Justice Report.   

The report highlighted the significant disparities in health outcomes and life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, emphasised health as a human right, and challenged Australian governments to achieve health equality within a generation. 

In 2008, then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and then Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson heeded this call to action when they signed the Close the Gap Statement of Intent, which committed future federal governments to “closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians on life expectancy, educational achievement and employment opportunities”. 

The Australian Government then adopted the goals of the Close the Gap campaign with a Closing the Gap strategy and annual progress reports to Parliament starting in 2009.  In 2020, the Closing the Gap strategy was overhauled to focus on a partnership approach between governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 

The result was the 2020 National Agreement on Closing the Gap, with 19 national and socio-economic targets overseen by the Productivity Commission. 

This year’s theme for NCTGD is ‘Agency, Leadership, Reform’, which speaks to the critical and successful role that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders and communities continue to play in shaping solutions to closing the health and wellbeing gap. 

However, despite some progress, a recent Productivity Commission Report reveals that only four of the 19 Closing the Gap targets are on track while four targets have worsened due to a lack of meaningful action by state and territory governments. 

NCTGD is an opportunity for governments and non-Indigenous Australians to step up and show up in order to truly close the gap and ensure the survival, dignity, and wellbeing of Indigenous peoples.  That is why Anglicare WA will continue to advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Recognition and Justice. 

To read the 2025 Close the Gap Report, please click here. 
 
To learn more about Anglicare WA’s Reconciliation journey and STRETCH Reconciliation Action Plan, please click here.   

To learn more about our advocacy priority ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Recognition and Justice’, please click here.