Engaging with Indigenous Australia: Exploring the conditions for effective relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities

To implement the Closing the Gap policy, Australian Government policy aims to strengthen government engagement and partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, recognising that without genuine engagement it will be difficult to achieve the key policy targets. This paper overviews the research-based evidence on how such engagement can be developed and maintained. It examines what research shows about: the conditions that enable governments and others (non-government organisations and the private sector) to engage effectively with Indigenous communities; how these conditions can be enhanced for effective engagement between governments and Indigenous communities.