• Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs

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09 February 2011In this third annual report on closing the gap, the Government sets out the progress being made towards reaching the targets to:

• Close the gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians by 2031.

• Halve the gap in mortality rates for Indigenous children under five by 2018.

• Ensure access to early childhood education for all Indigenous four year olds in remote communities by 2013.

• Halve the gap in reading, writing and numeracy achievement for Indigenous children by 2018.

• Halve the gap in Year 12 or equivalent attainment rates for Indigenous young people by 2020.

• Halve the gap in employment outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians by 2018.

Progress is being made against the closing the gap targets. For example, significant improvements have been made in child mortality in recent years, although the gap still remains too large. These improvements are encouraging, but after decades of inaction and neglect achieving tangible results in all areas will take ongoing investment and time.