Coalition of Peaks report identifies urgent need to transform how governments work with First Nations
24 July 2025
● News and media
A new report from the Coalition of Peaks (CoP) has found there is limited evidence of any of Australia’s governments making the systemic changes they need to make to meet their commitments under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
The report underscores the importance of ANZSOG’s 2025 First Nations Public Administration Conference – Leave a Legacy: Be a Transformer, to be held in Meanjin Brisbane from 26-28 November, with its focus on the National Agreement’s Priority Reform of Transforming Government Organisations.
The CoP report states that: “There has been a lack of transformational change across all services and systems, policies and programs aligned to the Priority Reforms. A significant contributing factor to this is the lack of governmental knowledge about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of being, knowing and doing necessary to comprehend the work required.”
“Governments continue with business-as-usual approaches that are inconsistent with their commitments under the National Agreement and are not yielding widespread impact,” the Review found.
Pat Turner, Lead Convenor of the Coalition of Peaks, said, “Our people have kept their side of the bargain. Governments have been slow to shift power, slow to share control, and slow to transform systems. This Review is both mirror and mandate: the architecture is there. Now governments must get on with the job.”
ANZSOG’s 2025 First Nations Public Administration Conference is a unique event which will bring together public servants, academics and First Nations and Māori community leaders, to explore how governments can transform themselves to work more effectively in partnership with First Nations communities.
Over three days, 26-28 November, 24 dynamic and engaging speakers will highlight the work required to transform government organisations and will explore why, despite goodwill and good intentions, progress has remained challenging.
Like our four previous First Nations Public Administration conferences, it will be a chance for attendees to build their knowledge, hear stories of success, and network with others who are also committed to change.
They will direct a frank conversation about what is blocking transformation and ask attendees to reflect on the attitudes, values, norms, and power dynamics that may be working against their best intentions.
Attendees will hear from organisations that have begun their own transformation, learn more about practical tools for making change, and what has kept the flame of transformation burning.
Already confirmed speakers include:
- Lil Anderson – former CEO of the Office of Māori Crown Relations/Te Arawhiti
- Donna Flavell – Chief Executive of Waikato-Tainui and Chair of the Iwi Advisors Group for Freshwater, Aotearoa New Zealand
- Geoff Richardson PSM – former senior public servant, Chief Executive of First Nations Development Services
- Jason Ardler PSM – former senior NSW public servant, co-founder and director of Thiriwirri
- Craig Leon – Managing Director, Conscious Solutions
- Dr Lisa Conway – Assistant Secretary First Nations Employment Policy & Programs Branch, DEWR
- Justin Tipa – Chairman of Te Rūnanga Ngāi Tahu, Aotearoa New Zealand
- Selwyn Button – Commissioner at the Productivity Commission
In addition, ground-breaking journalist and Wiradjuri man Stan Grant, will address the Conference Dinner on Thursday 27 November.
The Review of the National Agreement – based on feedback from CoP member organisations – called for a human rights-based approach that relinquished total governmental control and adequately invests in community-controlled solutions as the ‘new normal’.
“The Priority Reform areas provide a roadmap for elevating First Nations self-determination and sovereignty. To achieve this, governments must rethink what genuine partnership entails, moving beyond inclusion within existing systems and toward reimagining those systems. This transformation continues to be constrained by the State’s reluctance to de-centre its authority,” the Review found.
The CoP reports back findings from the Productivity Commission in 2024 that governments at all levels are failing to move fast enough to make the changes required under the National Agreement and need to do more to change the work they work with First Nations communities.
The National Agreement on Closing the Gap was signed by all Australian governments and the Coalition of Peaks, and its four key priorities – Formal Partnerships and Shared Decision-making, Building the Community-controlled Sector, Transforming Government Organisations, and Shared Access to Data – were designed to work together to build First Nations self-determination and genuine power-sharing partnerships.
“This limited commitment to the new ways of working under the National Agreement is the barrier to transformative change and the realisation of the human rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples,” the report concluded.
Early Bird registrations for the 2025 ANZSOG First Nations Conference Leave a Legacy – Be a Transformer are OPEN until 29 August. NB: Conference Dinner tickets are only available when registering.
For more information on ANZSOG’s previous First Nations Conferences, resources are available here on our website. These include the ANZSOG Explainer ‘The National Agreement on Closing the Gap and what it means for public servants’ which outlines how public servants at all levels need to change how they work, to meet the goals of the Agreement.
To receive further updates on the Conference program, please subscribe to our First Nations e-news.