First Nations disadvantage in Australia

 In 2008, the Australian government made a formal commitment to address First Nations disadvantage in Australia, known as “Closing the Gap”, but what's ‘the gap’?

The gap refers to the vast health and life-expectation inequality between First Nations people and non-Indigenous people in Australia. This inequality includes:

• shorter life expectancy
• higher rates of infant mortality
• poorer health
• lower levels of education and employment.

The Closing the Gap strategy has resulted in some improvements, but national statistics indicate there's still a long way to go. In 2017, the government came under pressure to add a target to lower the imprisonment rates of First Nations people. Other areas where statistics show a concerning gap in the experience between First Nations people and non-Indigenous Australians are child removals, and community and family violence.