00:00After spending five years in and out of jail, Felicity Chafer-Smith painted a new life for
00:08herself.
00:09The Nuttinjuri woman was taught about art while incarcerated.
00:12She's now a teacher in that same program, run by First Nations-led organisation, The
00:17Torch.
00:18Being able to create art and share what I'm going through, express that, it's so empowering.
00:24Re-offending rates for those involved in the program are significantly lower than the national
00:28average of about 76% for First Nations people.
00:32You can't just continue to do the same old and continue business as usual if we're expecting
00:37significant change.
00:39The latest Closing the Gap figures show only five of the 19 targets are on track.
00:45Four are worsening, including the rates of suicide, children in out-of-home care and
00:50adult incarceration, reigniting calls for governments to work closer with Aboriginal-controlled
00:56organisations.
00:58We have engaged substantially and I've engaged directly with communities.
01:04I continue to do so.
01:07The outcome's to be a key focus this weekend, as politicians gather for the annual Garma
01:11Festival.
01:13The newly sworn-in Minister for Indigenous Australians describing the data as deeply
01:18troubling, calling for a bipartisan approach.
01:21To see Indigenous affairs not treated as a political football.
01:25We've been quite specific in some of the things we want to see, but of course we approach
01:28this topic with goodwill.
01:30Close to a year after the failed voice to parliament referendum, the government is adamant
01:34it's still committed to closing the gap, but insists intergenerational inequality can't
01:40be resolved overnight.
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