Just four out of the seventeen targets are on track according to the annual Closing the Gap report released on Wednesday 30 November.

The report was first initiated in 2020 after an agreement between the Australian Government, the Coalition of Peaks and other key stakeholders to commit to achieving equality between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous people in all areas of life.

The report found birth weights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander babies, preschool aged children attending early childhood education, and youth detention rates are all trending in the right directions.

However, rates of suicide, adult incarceration, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in- out- home care are not on track, and in fact have worsened rather than been reduced.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Chair at The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Dr Karen Nicholls said the report has made it clear that limited progress has been made.

"It is very disappointing that the annual report on Closing the Gap is once again showing limited progress on key targets to improve the health, wellbeing and life outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander people," Ms Nicholls said.

"While there has been progress in some key areas, other areas have gone backwards. The report makes it clear that there is much more work that needs to be done, and it needs to happen urgently," she said.

 ABOVE: An example of one of the seventeen targets that have not been met in the 2022 Closing the Gap annual report.

Although the Closing the Gap Report states that there has been an increase in preschool aged children attending early childhood education, there are still other grave concerns that need to be acknowledged said SNAICC- National Voice for Children CEO Catherine Liddle.

"It is very concerning to see the numbers of children starting formal schooling years assessed as being developmentally on track decrease markedly," Ms Liddle said.

"This demonstrates pretty clearly that focusing just on children being enrolled in pre-school isn't working for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. All evidence shows that we need to focus earlier on children aged 0-3. It is those three years that are so critical to setting children up for the best start in life," she said.

The Australian Federal Government has made youth reform a priority, however to close the gap they must take into account the unique needs and barriers that are faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families.

"It's also positive to see the rates of our young people ending up in detention are declining," Ms Liddle said.

"But the figures are still awful- an Aboriginal young person is still almost 18 times more likely to be in detention than a non- Indigenous young person," she said.

More programs and services should be targeted towards young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in helping efforts to close the gap, said Ms Liddle.

"Services should be developed by community to meet the needs of community. We need a dedicated program to build and increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander integrated early years services because we know these services work for children and families," she said.