Half of the targets set by the New South Wales state government to enhance residents’ quality of life are not on track to be met, despite assurances from the premier, Dominic Perrottet, that the goals “remain core” to his agenda.
Education, disability representation and domestic violence are among those falling short in targets set by then premier Gladys Berejiklian following the 2019 state election. These form part of 14 “premier’s priorities” setting benchmarks for progress in key areas.
“I am a firm believer that what gets measured, gets done and I will be watching closely how we track against these new priorities,” Berejiklian said at the time.
Efforts to keep women and children safe are among those areas lagging, including reducing the number of domestic violence reoffenders by 25% by 2023.
Recently released data found there had instead been an increase from 1,814 reoffenders in 2015 to 1,886 in 2020.
Domestic Violence NSW chief executive Delia Donovan warned lives would be lost if the trajectory was not changed.
“This goal being brought back on track will save lives,” she said.
“We can’t bring rates of offending down if we lack crisis accommodation options and long-term housing solutions, which continue to be a concerning issue.”
She said it was critical to keep domestic violence prevention top of mind, despite the coronavirus pandemic.
“Domestic violence thrives on fear and isolation,” she said.
“This means frequency and severity of violence has increased during the pandemic, leaving victim-survivors further trapped and in danger.”
Government data also revealed a consistent year-on-year increase in “risk of significant harm” reports for children and young people – despite the goal to see a reduction of cases by 20% by 2023.
Key among the education priorities was increasing the proportion of public school students in the top two Naplan bands for literacy and numeracy by 15% of the 31.6% baseline by 2023.
The data showed results had risen just 0.8% between 2019 and 2021 – still 3.4% short of the target, which would see 36.4% achieving at the top level.
Also falling short in education was the goal to see a 50% rise in the number of Indigenous students finishing year 12 with an HSC while maintaining their cultural identity.
Interim results for 2020 showed a dip to 45% – far short of the 69% target for 2023.
NSW Coalition of Aboriginal Peak Organisations (CAPO) co-chair Charles Lynch said it was important to recognise the impact Covid had on learning outcomes, but that it was vital to boost completion rates.
“Sometimes when our kids are pushed outside the school gate, whether it be through suspensions or the disruption of Covid, they can become out of mind, out of sight,” he said.
Despite the fall, Lynch was hopeful the rollout of a joint CAPO and government initiative in regional NSW would see completion rates increase in coming years.
“It is about making sure those that are having those rocky times, having distractions, how do we help to get through that,” he said.
“This is where we will make a big difference in closing the gap.”
While the government has already exceeded its goal to bolster senior Aboriginal leaders in public sector jobs and is on track for senior women, it is far behind on its disability employment.
The government wants to lift the proportion of government jobs held by people with disabilities to 5.6% by 2025, however it is sitting at just 2.5%.
People with Disability Australia president Samantha Connor said there was no excuse for the dire number, at a time when there should be more flexibility than ever before.
“In a time of enormous opportunity where most employers have progressed to working online it’s very sad to hear that that hasn’t happened in NSW,” she said.
She wants the government to overhaul its strategy, looking at other jurisdictions that are doing better.
“There is a range of measures that people can take and they’re all pretty well known,” she said.
“You can’t just say ‘we have a target’ and then fail every five years.
“We need to make sure that we put measures in place to make sure that people are safe during the pandemic and also that they’re able to work from home.”
Goals to improve timely treatment for hundreds of thousands of people who seek treatment for imminently or potentially life-threatening conditions in emergency departments was also lagging.
Perrottet said the bar had been set high “so that our actions will deliver genuine and lasting improvements”.
“The priorities remain core to ensuring we’re improving outcomes, particularly for the vulnerable, and will continue to be progressed.”
The premier said the areas he outlined in December – including quality of life, strong foundations, lifelong learning and homeownership – would be built upon this year.
“Further announcements will be made over the coming months on reforms and initiatives the government is putting in place to make progress against these areas,” he said.
NSW opposition leader Chris Minns said the government needed to refocus on the targets.
“We understand there is a pandemic but Covid must not mean these important issues get put on the back burner,” he told Guardian Australia.
“These are vitally important initiatives that deserve the government’s serious attention.”
