Greater Western Sydney is home to one of the largest urban populations of First Nations people in the country, with more than 54,000 people identifying as Indigenous.
Labor currently holds 10 of the 14 federal electorates in the region, making it a critical political battleground this election.
A recent community survey conducted by GWS Ngaliya, a local place-based partnership established under the National and State Closing the Gap initiative to improve outcomes for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people living in the area, has highlighted some of their top priorities.
Health emerged as the number one issue for participants, followed by housing, justice, family, and education.
Speaking to NITV, Krystle Carroll, Project Coordinator at GWS Ngaliya, said the survey, while not directly tied to the election, might give insight into what mob are thinking and how they might vote as they head to the polls.
“I think that mob's thinking about all of those things that are important to all of us — health, looking after our old people, keeping our kids healthy,” said Krystle.
"Education is a big one. Families, keeping our families together and safe. Housing is a big issue as well."
More than 300 Aboriginal residents took part in the survey, which was conducted mainly face-to-face with some online participation.
“Our mob in Western Sydney have spoken to us about what their issues are," said Max Duncan, CEO of Link-Up NSW, one of the 11 Aboriginal Organisations in the GWS Ngaliya partnership.
"One of the key issues is health, families, justice, and how the justice system works with us, and I think those are matters that will be on their mind when they consider which party they vote for in this election.
"And I hope that government is listening, whomever the government is after the election."
Lizzie May, a western Sydney Resident, said she thinks cost of living will also have a lot of bearing this election.
“It has to be like everyone else. The cost of living, who's going to do the right thing by our mob is another one”.
She also spoke of the concern about the lack of dedicated focus on Indigenous issues from major political parties during this campaign.
“It was gammon, gamon, gamon, gamon," she told NITV.
"There was no focus on Indigenous issues unless it was racist and Welcome the Countries or why it shouldn't happen, and not standing in [front of] the flags and pushing the racist beliefs of people who are uneducated or ignorant people to push their cause to get votes.”
“Unfortunately, we just used to it. We are getting too used to it. It's disheartening, of course."
No matter the outcome, they say they hope the Government will listen to improve outcomes.
“We hope that whomever forms government will really have a listening ear for the Closing the Gap priorities. And that's what we'll be advocating through our Western Sydney partnership, to make sure that government is listening,” said Max.
“We're all here. We're ready to talk to all the parties if they want to come out and talk to us. And in terms of policies,” said Krystle.
