“The impact that can be achieved, where competent independent MPs who are prepared to negotiate across the political spectrum, is becoming clearer each year,” writes political columnist MICHAEL MOORE.

The ACT has been remarkable for its leadership in adopting progressive policies that other jurisdictions have eventually followed.

The latest example is the successful adoption of legislation to ensure the National Agreement on Closing the Gap is taken seriously.

The Public Sector (Closing the Gap) Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 was adopted unanimously by the ACT Assembly. For the first time in Australia governments and bureaucrats will be held legally accountable for meeting the goals and targets set by national agreement.

What a way to conclude the final year of sittings in the Legislative Assembly. This legislation strengthens the commitment by the ACT to deliver on the National Agreement that has been signed by all jurisdictions in Australia.

The intention is to ensure that our First Nations Peoples do not continue to lag behind other Australians in health and socio-economics outcomes.

The National Agreement “has been developed in genuine partnership between Australian governments and the Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peak Organisations (the Coalition of Peaks)”.

To ensure compliance with the goals of the National Agreement, Independent MLA Thomas Emerson has implemented actions that were identified in a damning report by the Federal Productivity Commission in its 2024 review. 

With the aim of developing the best possible legislation, Emerson consulted widely with First Nations People and worked constructively with the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body.

He then consulted more broadly across the non-Indigenous community before finalising the legislation with all parties in the Legislative Assembly.

Emerson described the impact “with minor government amendments developed collaboratively”. Either way, having legislation like this receiving support from all MLAs bodes well for its success in the future.

The concerns he set out to address were clarified as “we’re nowhere near on track to meet our targets nationally, and here in the ACT the gap has remained stagnant or even widened in multiple critical areas”. 

To deliver on his concerns he explained “this bill reframes our Closing the Gap commitments as core government business,” and added “we’ve been talking about Closing the Gap for the past 20 years, and I really believe the ACT can be the first state or territory to actually do it”.

In a media release following the successful passage of the Bill, Emerson thanked his parliamentary colleagues and their offices for their collaborative approach. Specifically identified were Chief Minister Andrew Barr and Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith.

When a Private Member’s Bill receives unanimous support, it indicates a willingness on behalf of the community to recognise not only a problem, but an agreed solution.

Canberrans can now expect government officers and all MLAs, “to act with greater urgency and ambition in improving life outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, at a time when other parts of the country are taking backward steps.”

What does the Public Sector (Closing the Gap) Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 do?

It inserts into the Public Sector Management Act 1994 a new “closing the gap principle” by which all Senior Executive Service (SES) members and statutory office holders will be bound.

The principle requires them to “implement the provisions of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap that relate to transformation or governance of government agencies”.

There are a series of specific actions under this obligation that focus on cultural capability and safety while working to eliminate institutional racism. Additionally, annual reports will now identify measures taken to implement the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.

The role of independents within the parliaments of Australia is of growing interest to voters. The impact that can be achieved, where competent independent MPs who are prepared to negotiate across the political spectrum, is becoming clearer each year.

Thomas Emerson has illustrated the sort of impact that can be achieved when cross-bench power is used sensibly. By focusing, on this occasion, on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, he has shown the sort of leadership that it is hoped will continue for some time to come. 

As we approach the end of the year, it will be interesting to see the initiatives of the independents and other crossbench members in the ACT Legislative Assembly. It will also be interesting to watch if parliaments across Australia are sensible enough to mirror this legislation.

Michael Moore is a former member of the ACT Legislative Assembly and an independent minister for health. He has been a political columnist with “CityNews” since 2006.