Australia Pledges $350M for Aboriginal Education

- This funding is part of Australia's broader "Closing the Gap" strategy, a national agreement developed in partnership with the Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peak Organisations (Coalition of Peaks) to improve the life outcomes of Indigenous people. - The "Closing the Gap" framework, significantly revised in 2020, includes specific educational targets, such as increasing the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children enrolled in early childhood education to 95% by 2025. - Another key education target is to increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 20-24 attaining a year 12 or equivalent qualification to 96% by 2031. - By 2031, the strategy also aims for 70% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 25-34 to have completed a tertiary qualification (Certificate III or above). - The federal government's role in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education has been significant since the 1967 Referendum, primarily providing supplementary funding to states and territories who have the main responsibility. - In February 2025, the Australian Government announced a separate $35 million investment to support Indigenous students, with $33.6 million allocated to the Clontarf Foundation to support up to 12,500 boys and young men in their schooling. - As part of that same 2025 funding, $1.5 million was provided to the MultiLit program, which delivers phonics-based literacy programs in 42 regional and remote primary schools with a majority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. - Despite these investments, the 2023 Closing the Gap report indicated that key education targets, such as "students achieve their full learning potential," were improving but not on track to be met.