Queensland's latest Closing the Gap report has been described as a "reality check", with Indigenous Queensland men still expected to die almost eight years earlier than their non-Indigenous counterparts.
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On the 11th anniversary of Kevin Rudd's national apology to the Stolen Generation, Queensland has become the first state to release a whole-of-government report card on efforts towards closing the gap.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the report showed the state's progress and also opportunities for improvement, one decade on from the landmark Closing the Gap report.
Targets not on track were:
- Close the gap in life expectancy within a generation by 2031
- Halve the gap in mortality rates for Indigenous children under five within a decade by 2018
- Halve the gap in employment outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people within a decade by 2018
- Close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous school attendance within five years by 2018
A target to have 95 per cent of all Indigenous four-year-olds enrolled in early childhood education by 2025 was on track.
Halving the gap for Indigenous children in reading, writing and numeracy achievements by 2018 was listed as "mixed progress".
Ms Palaszczuk said Queensland was making significant progress in key areas, including early childhood education, Year 3 reading and numeracy, Year 9 numeracy and Year 12 attainment.
"We want to duplicate this success across all areas, including school attendance, employment and child mortality targets," she said.
"Latest available data shows Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders now have the highest life expectancy in Australia for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples."
However, Indigenous life expectancy at birth for men was 72 years compared with 79.8 years for non-Indigenous men.
Indigenous women were expected to live to 76.4 years compared with 83.2 years for non-Indigenous women.
Indigenous children were 1.6 times more likely to die in infancy than non-Indigenous children, although there had been long-term improvements.
In 2016, almost half of Indigenous Queenslanders aged 15 to 64 were employed compared with almost three-quarters of non-Indigenous Queenslanders.
If the gap was closed, an extra 25,700 people would have been employed.
In 2017, the Indigenous student attendance rate was 85.4 per cent for Year 1 to 10 students, 7.6 percentage points lower than the non-Indigenous rate.
"Attendance rates have changed little over time and are not on track to close the gap by 2018," the report found.
School attendance among Indigenous young people was worse in remote and very remote areas of Queensland, particularly for secondary students.
There was an increase in the rate of Indigenous children living in out-of-home care in Queensland, up from 38.9 per 1000 in 2014 to 42.1 per 1000 in 2018.
In comparison, non-Indigenous rates remained stable.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners accounted for about one in three people in jail despite accounting for less than 5 per cent of Queensland's adult population.
Ms Palaszczuk said Queensland still had a lot more to do.
"This report card is a reality check and sets the tone as we develop meaningful, community-led solutions to create real change," she said.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Minister Jackie Trad said partnering with Indigenous people to co-design policies was vital for success.
"Gone are the days of doing things 'to' people as we reframe our relationship to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have every opportunity to truly thrive across all aspects of life," she said.
"Queensland is proudly home to the nation's second-highest Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population and we are determined to move towards an approach underpinned by the strengths, knowledge and rich cultural traditions of the world's oldest living cultures."
LNP Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander partnerships spokesman Christian Rowan welcomed the improvements in the report but said significant gaps still existed when it came to life expectancy, child mortality, employment and school attendance.
"Now is the time for Annastacia Palaszczuk to show some leadership and fund initiatives which effectively address each of the closing the gap targets," he said.
A COAG ministerial council on closing the gap is expected to be held in late February.
