Australia adds $300 million in funding for Indigenous pledge

Fifteen years after the Australian Parliament’s historic apology to its Indigenous people for past wrongs, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese Monday announced 293 million USD in new funding to improve the lives of Australia’s original inhabitants.

Albanese told Parliament the new funding reaffirms “closing the gap as a top priority" for his government. Indigenous people, accounting for 3.2% of Australia’s population in the 2021 census, are the most disadvantaged ethnic group in country. They die younger than other Australians, are less likely to be employed, achieve lower education levels and are overrepresented in prison populations.