Our Commitment to Closing the Gap
Strengthening cultural capability and cultural safety across the ACT Public Service is a key priority as we prepare for the commencement of the Public Sector (Closing the Gap) Legislation Amendment Act 2025 (the Closing the Gap Act) on 1 July 2026. These reforms introduce new expectations for culturally safe leadership, system‑level accountability and the elimination of institutional racism across government systems and workplace practices, and give effect to the longstanding commitments governments have made under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
The ACT Government is supporting leaders and directorates through this transition by providing tools, guidance and capability development to support embedding the Closing the Gap principle into everyday work. This includes uplift in cultural capability, strengthened performance and reporting requirements and the introduction of whole‑of‑Service resources that support culturally safe behaviours, decisions and organisational cultures.
The ACT Government and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body continue our commitment to deliver real outcomes that improve the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Canberra, as outlined under the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Agreement.
Closing the Gap Obligations
The Act embeds a Closing the Gap principle in the Public Sector Management Act 1994 and introduces new expectations relating to cultural capability, cultural safety and system‑level accountability.
These obligations include:
- leaders uplifting their own cultural capability and strengthening organisational cultural capability by supporting teams to develop theirs,
- annual reporting through the State of the Service Report and directorate Annual Reports,
- consistent, visible demonstration of culturally safe leadership, and
- responsibility for identifying and addressing institutional racism within systems, processes and practices.
Identified Recruitment
Identified recruitment is a key mechanism for strengthening the cultural integrity and diversity of the ACTPS and ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge, expertise and lived experience are recognised and valued.
Leaders play an important role in ensuring:
- identified recruitment processes are applied appropriately
- cultural knowledge and expertise are recognised in selection processes
- recruitment practices reflect cultural safety and respect.
Cultural Safety Care Plans
Cultural Safety Care Plans provide a structured, culturally informed approach to supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff in the workplace. These plans are designed to help leaders, managers and staff recognise cultural needs, understand the impact of cultural load and respond in ways that uphold cultural identity, safety and wellbeing.
The Cultural Safety Care Plans will:
- support tailored strategies that reflect individual circumstances and cultural needs, and reduce cultural load,
- help build workplace environments that are respectful, culturally safe and genuinely supportive, and
- provide a proactive framework for acknowledging, protecting and strengthening cultural identities across the ACTPS.
Executive Performance Agreements
All executive positions include updated cultural capability expectations to reflect the requirements introduced by the Closing the Gap Act. These changes ensure leadership accountability for embedding culturally safe practice, strengthening cultural capability across the workforce and addressing institutional racism.
To support this shift, the ACTPS is introducing standardised cultural capability wording for all Executives. A consistent approach will help reduce variation across directorates, lift cultural capability and support the whole‑of‑Service transformation required under the new legislation.
Building Cultural Capability
Building cultural capability is a shared effort across the ACTPS and an essential part of creating culturally safe, respectful and inclusive workplaces. As encoded in the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Agreement 2019 - 2028, the ACTPS is committed to working with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body and community to promote cultural integrity, support community leadership, connect community, and to support life-long learning, economic participation, health and wellbeing, housing, and justice for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people.
The ACTPS has a range of cultural capability building programs to support staff for commencement of the Closing the Gap Act, and leaders and teams are encouraged to continue developing their cultural capability on an ongoing basis.