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by Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
||Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Australia
||12 February 2014
The Prime Minister tabled the sixth annual report on progress in Closing the Gap in Indigenous disadvantage in Parliament on 12 February 2014. This is the first report card delivered by Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
The Closing the gap Prime Minister's report 2014 outlines the commitments made by the new government, including:
- consolidating the administration of Indigenous programs from eight government departments into the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
- establishing the Prime Ministers Advisory Council
- increasing Indigenous school attendance through funding $28.4 million for a remote school attendance program
- improving Indigenous access to employment by commissioning a review and funding employment initiatives
- supporting a referendum for the recognition of the First Australians in the Australian constitution.
The report also outlines progress made towards meeting the close the gap targets:
- Close the life expectancy gap within a generation (by 2031): there has been a small improvement, but progress will need to accelerate for the gap to close by 2031.
- Halve the gap in mortality rates for Indigenous children under five years within a decade (by 2018): on track to be met.
- Ensure all Indigenous four-year-olds in remote communities have access to early childhood education within five years (by 2013): data not available until April on whether the 2013 target was met.
- Halve the gap for Indigenous children in reading, writing and numeracy within a decade (by 2018): progress has been made but only two of the eight areas have improved since 2008. This target is not on track.
- Halve the gap for Indigenous people aged 20-24 years in Year 12 or equivalent attainment rates (by 2020): on track to be met.
- Halve the gap in employment outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within a decade (by 2018): no progress has been made.
Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract