The ACT has failed to halve the learning gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children and will likely miss its 2018 school attendance targets for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
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A report into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander outcomes in Canberra schools shows Indigenous students are two to three years behind their peers in NAPLAN with little improvement recorded in reading or numeracy since the standardised test was introduced in 2008.
Canberra's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students were more likely to classify as exempt from the test than Indigenous students interstate with withdrawal the main reason for non-participation.
The territory's own strategic plan for education aimed to halve the learning gap by 2017 - a target that will almost certainly be missed.
"Nationally and in the ACT, results for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students were two to three years of schooling behind non-Indigenous students," the report said.
"The [Education] Directorate is seeking to support all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in our public schools through the development of learning environments of cultural integrity which support leadership, high expectations and successful pathways for students."
The ACT will also likely fail to meet the COAG Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student attendance target of 90 per cent and its own of 92 per cent by 2018.
In 2016, Indigenous children recorded an 86.8 per cent attendance rate in primary school, 79.9 per cent in high school and 86.8 per cent in college.
The report said the ACT government's Future of Education community conversation would help inform strategies to improve the education system for everyone.
"Through the conversations, the directorate will plan strategies to provide the best possible outcomes for every child, especially from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, multicultural and disadvantaged backgrounds," the report said.
Public schools educate 80 per cent of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student in the ACT. The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children enrolled in government schools climbed from 1337 students in 2012 to 1844 in 2017.
Successes noted in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education 2016-17 included an apparent retention rate of 98.8 per cent from year 7 to 12 in 2016.
The proportion of Indigenous students achieving a Senior Secondary Certificate has trended upwards since 2014 with a completion rate of 73 per cent recorded last year.
Education Directorate director-general Natalie Howson earlier this year admitted it was a "good question" why the ACT's Indigenous students lagged behind their peers.
In June, University of Canberra Indigenous education expert Chris Sarra said there was an opportunity for swift change if the directorate moved quickly.
Professor Sarra, who is part of the Future of Education project, pointed out the relatively low numbers of Indigenous students in the ACT and called for schools to "scaffold around their individual interests" to close the gap.
