Kevin Rudd says he fears Australia could be facing another stolen generation of Aboriginal children.
And Tony Abbott has called on Government ministers to visit remote communities.
Yesterday marked the ninth anniversary of former prime minister Kevin Rudd's emotional apology to the stolen generations in federal parliament.
But delivering a speech at the Australian National University in Canberra, he lamented the failure to reduce the number of Indigenous children removed from their parents.
In 2006, almost 6,500 lived in out-of-home care nationally.
By mid-2015, the number had grown to almost 15,500.
Kevin Rudd has called for removed children to be placed with Indigenous carers to avoid what he says could be another stolen generation.
"Let's see the number of children needing to be removed drop for the first time in a decade. Let's live up to the promise that I made in the apology that this would never ever happen again."
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is presenting the Closing The Gap progress report addressing Aboriginal disadvantage to parliament today.
Last night, he greeted Indigenous professionals to a Canberra function with a traditional welcome.
The Prime Minister told the group it was setting a great example.
"Your people have shown a courage and resilience which is extraordinary. We acknowledge the remarkable lives of so many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians who are thriving and succeeding in their chosen fields. Your stories are not of deficit but of surplus, not of despondency but of a relentless and determined optimism. You lead and you inspire by your example."
The report card is showing mixed results on the wellbeing of the Indigenous population, with the overall outcome still showing efforts to reduce disadvantage are inadequate.
Malcolm Turnbull was keen to point to progress in education, though, particularly at the Year 12 and tertiary levels.
"In the seven years to 2015, the gap in Year 12 attainment shrunk by close to 15 per cent. And, in the decade to 2015, the number of Indigenous students enrolling in higher education nearly doubled. The higher the level of education, the smaller the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous employment. For tertiary-educated Indigenous people, there is no gap -- there is no gap. We want to have a nation where our Indigenous children are limited only by their imagination."
On other Close The Gap targets, the report includes good news on declining infant-mortality rates, reduced smoking rates, better life expectancy and fewer deaths from chronic disease.
But Indigenous incarceration remains an ongoing problem, with the Northern Territory reporting an alarming increase in the number of Aboriginal women being jailed.
On the eve of the report's parliamentary tabling, another ex-prime minister also criticised aspects of his successor's policies.
Mr Turnbull recently overhauled the Indigenous Advisory Council set up by Tony Abbott, with chairman Warren Mundine's term not extended.
Speaking to the ABC, Mr Abbott has hinted he thinks Mr Mundine was treated unfairly.
And Mr Abbott also lamented that Mr Turnbull has not continued his practice of spending a week a year in remote Indigenous communities.
"I think it is a little disappointing that there is no annual governmental pilgrimage to remote Aboriginal Australia any more."
Mr Abbott says the visits were not merely photo opportunities but a real chance to increase the understanding of issues on the ground to get better policy development.
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