"A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy ..." (Kevin Rudd)
"We are making gradual gains ..." (Julia Gillard)
"To halve the gap in reading and numeracy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, and to halve ..." (Tony Abbott)
"We will not waver in our quest to achieve these outcomes." (Malcolm Turnbull)
Australians have been hearing about Closing The Gap for a long time.
It has been almost 10 years since federal, state and territory governments pledged to reduce the education, health and employment disadvantage facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
But on National Close The Gap Day, a report from the Close The Gap campaign says efforts from all levels of government have not been good enough.
Close the Gap campaign co-chairwoman Jackie Huggins says government reports like this year's that show a failure to effectively address the issue have become a familiar story.
"The initial reaction from me was the extreme disappointment and how, year after year, we come back and have a look at the report and we seem to go backwards. So, for me, it was extremely disappointing, and, hopefully, you know, there is a way forward if we all are able to work together."
The federal government released the latest statistics last month, showing improvements in some areas, such as literacy rates and Year 12 schooling completion.
But of the seven targets, halving the gap in high-school completion is the only one on track to be met.
Other areas such as life expectancy and child mortality have shown no significant improvement.
Dr Huggins says government programs are imposed on Indigenous Australians in a rushed manner and without proper engagement.
"The coordinated approach is that there must be partnership, that the peak bodies, in relation to Aboriginal health, should be informed, resourced and able to give proper and sound advice to governments, who make policies around the health status of our people."
One of the reasons life expectancy has not been improving is the extremely high suicide rate for Indigenous Australians.
The mental-health organisation Beyond Blue's research and evaluation leader, Stephen Carbone, says more needs to be done to address racism, a significant factor.
"The rate of suicide amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is twice the rate of the general, non-Indigenous community. And levels of psychological distress, which are often a sort of precursor, or one of the things that contribute to suicide risk, are up to three times higher amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people than non-Indigenous Australians."
Many of the Closing The Gap targets are meant to be met by the end of next year.
Dr Huggins says, going forward, there needs to a more holistic focus on a range of issues that contribute to health.
And she says the government cannot ignore racism and the imprisonment rate just because they are difficult to address.
"Health is not an issue in isolation. Poor housing can relate to health issues. (There are) issues around employment. All the social and cultural determinants of health need to be addressed and looked into, because they are all interconnected of each other. We're living in a very rich country in Australia. This needs to be addressed so that people can have opportunity of life."
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