A/HRC/36/46/Add.2 51. Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services have achieved remarkable success in delivering culturally appropriate services for primary health care. However, the Special Rapporteur was informed by multiple stakeholders during her visit about inequalities in the resources available for rural and remote service delivery and of cuts to community managed primary health care, which play an essential role, for example in the prevention of chronic diseases. 52. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders also told the Special Rapporteur about their feelings of powerlessness, loss of culture and lack of control over their lives. Suicide rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are escalating at a shocking rate and are double that of non-Indigenous Australians. The current situation was described to the Special Rapporteur as a suicide epidemic. While visiting the Kimberley region in Western Australia, she learned about youth-developed and -driven projects to prevent suicide among Aboriginal adolescents. She strongly urges that such initiatives be supported and replicated. Adopting a holistic approach to social and emotional well-being that recognizes the need for cultural connection is essential to achieve sustainable improvement in health indicators. 53. Aboriginal-led health research capacity has been established and should be drawn upon to inform policies. Strengthened financial and political support for Aboriginal- and Torres Strait Islander-led expertise, professional development and research is crucial in order to close the gap in relation to key health inequalities faced by indigenous peoples. In order for such measures to be sustainable, longer-term funding agreements are necessary. I. Access to education 54. In the area of education, large gaps remain, notably between children living in urban versus remote areas. Despite the adoption of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Strategy, there had been no real change in school attendance rates between 2014 and 2016. The Special Rapporteur was informed that Aboriginal community involvement in early childhood, primary and secondary education has declined over the past decade, particularly in the formulation and delivery of programmes, and that centralized decision-making without appropriate cultural awareness has led to poor policies and practices in Aboriginal education. 55. It is essential to increase parents’ and community engagement with schools, for example, by introducing Aboriginal parents’ groups in schools or community-controlled school boards. A trauma-informed approach to education should identify the barriers to attendance and help parents and families to improve it. The current application of financial penalties should be discontinued as they further disadvantage children who already live in poverty, and who are likely to be exposed to overcrowded and poor housing, family violence, chronic illnesses and food insecurity. Unless such action is taken, Aboriginal children, especially in remote areas, are set up to fail. 56. Regrettably, Aboriginal languages are seen as a barrier to education rather than an asset, and bilingual education programmes have been wound back in remote communities. The lack of secondary school provision in remote communities forces parents to send children to secondary boarding schools, far away from family, community and their country. J. Unemployment and housing shortage 57. Equal opportunity of employment is critical to overcoming disadvantage. Efforts to reach the “Closing the Gap” target of halving the gap in employment between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians within a decade (by 2018) have been unsuccessful and rather indicate negative trends. The national unemployment rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is 20.8 per cent, compared with the national average of approximately 5-6 per cent. 58. In 2015, the Government introduced the Community Development Programme in remote areas. Among the jobseekers enrolled in the Programme, 83 per cent identify as 10