This year's Closing the Gap report shows Indigenous men and women still die, on average, about a decade younger than non-Indigenous Australians. Unemployment for Indigenous people is also on the rise.
There are some positives though, in the latest Closing the Gap report, with a drop in infant mortality and signs that the country is on track to halve the gap in year 12 completion.
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Overall, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Mick Gooda, says he's confident Australia is well positioned to close the gap in Indigenous disadvantage by 2030.
"We're happy with the places, the areas where we're doing well and that's in infant mortality and things like that, with literacy and numeracy we're not going so well. So they are the areas that we are going to start looking at and tweaking to make sure what we're doing is actually producing results. But generally I think, and it was last year as well, we've seen the train is heading in the right direction, things are starting to improve."
However, president of the Indigenous Social Justice Association, Ray Jackson, disagrees, saying statistics need to be looked at comprehensively.
For instance, Mr Jackson says although Indigenous participation in education is picking up, there are also high rates of dropouts.
He says he doubts it will be feasible for Australia to achieve the 2030 parity target.
"These targets that they set are based on computer figures, they're based on conjecture. They're based on more of a wish list than anything else. They fit into the computer data that they believe is going to happen. Now, in 16 years, the way the world is going we all may not even be here. It's a ridiculous target, all these targets. Anything over five years is absolute rubbish."
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Close the Gap efforts 'need to focus on health'
The Closing the Gap Campaign has also released its own gap report, saying efforts to tackle inequality should focus on health issues first.
Chairman of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, Justin Mohamed, says investing in services run by Aboriginal people for Aboriginal people should be a priority.
Mr Mohamed says giving Indigenous people direct control of their health care will result in improved health outcomes, but he says there's no time to waste.
"I think this particular report shows that we've got a lot more work to be done and we just can't continue at the same pace. We've got lift up pace and obviously if you lift that pace you're going to change the mechanisms of how resources, how projects and programs can roll out services, to get those gains and ensure to have equality around those gains."
The association representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses, CATSINaM, agrees that the key to closing the gap in health is to devolve Indigenous healthcare to communities.
One of its Board Directors, Faye Clarke says having more Indigenous nurses as well as culturally-trained staff is fundamental to achieve the 2030 target.
"You know we can be really of help to the efforts to close the gap. We are the people that work in community, we are part of the community and we know our families in our community. In terms of the wider workforce I think it's really important to make sure that the non-Aboriginal health workforce is also working appropriately, that they are sensitive to the cultural needs of the Aboriginal people, and that they make great efforts to work with communities and to work with other Aboriginal staff."
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PM outlines plan to boost school attendance rates
Looking at education, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has vowed to work to dramatically improve the school attendance of Indigenous children within five years.
He says recruiting truancy officers for 40 communities has already resulted in attendance rates rising from 60 per cent to 90 per cent in some schools since the start of term one.
But Indigenous Social Justice Association president, Ray Jackson, says punitive measures won't be enough.
He says the education system should be made more culturally relevant to Indigenous communities to lift attendance rates.
"Education for Aboriginal children has to be recognised that it is not use giving a white-blind-view of Australia's history to an Aboriginal child. We see and live every day the racism, and the colonialism which is still being perpetrated upon our people. Kids will go to school if they can learn their language also."
Social Justice Commissioner, Mick Gooda, says the federal government should also make sure that it'll negotiate with the states and territories a new National Partnership Agreement to deliver the necessary funds to Indigenous health.
But he says he remains confident equality won't be out of reach in 2030.
"I don't think we can actually contemplate failure here, we are a modern country, we have one of the most sophisticated health system in the world. It would say so much of the people of Australia if we can't close it."
