NIHLA congratulates Senator Malarndirri McCarthy and Rebecca White MP: Closing the Gap needs all-of-government leadership

The National Indigenous Health Leadership Alliance (NIHLA) warmly welcomes the reappointment of  Senator Malarndirri McCarthy as Minister for Indigenous Australians, and welcomes Rebecca White MP in her new role as Assistant Minister for Indigenous Health.

Senator McCarthy brings a deep understanding of the community, commitment to truth-telling, and an unwavering focus on improving outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

NIHLA looks forward to working in respectful partnership with both Ministers to ensure the National Agreement on Closing the Gap is implemented in full, with integrity, urgency and transparency. We know that success depends on all levels of government honouring their commitments to shared decision-making, long-term investment, and structural reform.

We echo the recent statement by the Coalition of Peaks: Closing the Gap must be driven by all of government — not just those in Indigenous-specific portfolios. That requires every Minister, every department and every public servant to work differently, in genuine partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and organisations.

Senator McCarthy and Assistant Minister White step into their roles at a time when trust in government must be rebuilt. We urge them to champion a whole-of-government approach to Closing the Gap — one that respects community control, delivers on Priority Reforms, and ends the cycles of short-termism and top-down policy failure.

There is no Closing the Gap without shared power. There is no equity without accountability. With their leadership, we have an opportunity to move forward together — and to make real change.

The National Indigenous Health Leadership Alliance, formerly known as the National Health Leadership Forum, is a partnership of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing organisations, whose purpose is to drive systemic and structural change of the mainstream health system, including institutional racism in alignment with the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan and other health strategies.  As a partnership we hold expertise across health, aged care and disability politic and service delivery, as well as workforce, research, organisational and business development, healing, mental health, and social, cultural and social emotional wellbeing.