By Matt Walsh
CANBERRA, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Australia is failing to "close the gap" on Indigenous disadvantage, with the government conceding it has, for the ninth consecutive year, failed to hit its targets in tackling the major social issue.
Accompanying the release of the 2017 Closing the Gap report, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Australia was failing to hit its targets for reducing Indigenous disadvantage in six of the seven categories, which are life expectancy, child mortality, employment and four education-based indicators.
Turnbull told Parliament that the government was not seeing "sufficient national progress" in closing the gap in life expectancy, with Aboriginal Australians still expected to die 10 years younger than non-Indigenous Australians, while there had not been a significant decline in child mortality rates since 2008.
"This report demonstrates that all Australian governments have much more work to do," the Prime Minister said. "I'm very saddened and disappointed that the target to halve the gap in Indigenous child mortality is not on track."
"We must redouble our efforts to reduce smoking rates during pregnancy, continue to improve immunization rates, lift rates of anti-natal care, reduce fetal trauma and keep our children safe," he said.
Turnbull said while the Closing the Gap report showed "improvements" in reducing mortality from chronic diseases, life expectancy was "not accelerating at the pace it should", while Indigenous incarceration rates and rates of domestic violence amongst Indigenous communities were deemed to be far too high.
Overall, just one of the seven targets - halving the gap in Year 12 attainment in high school - was on track. Indigenous Australians remained behind their non-Indigenous counterparts on a number of other, education-related targets.
"We've seen improvements in reading and numeracy for Indigenous students, but this target is not on track. Last year, 640 more children needed to read at the Year 3 benchmark to halve the gap. This year, that figure is around 440," Turnbull told Parliament.
Concluding his address to Parliament in front of a number of Indigenous community leaders, Turnbull said his government would "not shy away from responsibility".
"We will uphold the priorities of education, employment, health and the right of all people to be safe from family violence," he said.
Meanwhile Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said a "new approach" was needed to help the government reach his targets. He said Indigenous leaders should be consulted in.
"The first Australians must have first say in the decisions that shape their lives. A new approach that means a stronger voice for the National Congress of Australia's First People and the resources to make it happen," Shorten told Parliament.
Earlier, former Prime Minister and instigator of the Closing the Gap program, Kevin Rudd said Turnbull "must place" closing the gap at "the top" of his political agenda.
"It doesn't happen unless you have a Prime Minister who really cares. I will call upon Mr Turnbull to put this at the top of his Prime Ministerial agenda, otherwise people do fall away," Rudd told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Monday night.
