I'm pleased to be able to make a brief contribution taking note of this important document. I'm particularly pleased to have been in the chamber for the contribution of my friend the member for Macnamara—a beautiful and important contribution to such an important debate. Before beginning my remarks on the report, I want to acknowledge that I am making them on the land of the Ngunawal and Ngambri people and make clear my view that this land and all of the land that is Australia always will be Aboriginal land.
This is an important debate. As we deal with it every year in the parliament as we have done since that wonderful occasion, that promise that was the apology, we are required to confront some hard truths. This report does again put before us some hard truths. It is a prompt for greater truth-telling and a prompt to look beyond the numbers in the report and the language of its foreword, the language of the Prime Minister—which I will turn to in a moment—to think about our substantive obligations and how much we have failed them.
In thinking about closing the gap, we think about the targets and we think about the data but we also must think about what it means for us as a nation. The concluding remarks of the member for Macnamara encouraged us—hopefully, those on the government side as well as on our side of this House—to think about completing our work in responding to the Uluru statement, in enshrining an Indigenous voice to the parliament and in completing our Constitution.
In making this contribution on taking note and making some remarks on the detail of the report, let's not forget about that. This report and this debate are drivers towards truth-telling in this place and accountability to the Australians who send us to this place. They demand that we do better, and First Nations people in particular are entitled to demand that we do better on the metrics that are before us and on the broader commitments that we have failed to realise, to our enduring shame.
I am concerned by the tone of some of the remarks of the Prime Minister. I note that this is a report that has been broadly characterised by bipartisan engagement. That's something we would like to continue, but we will never stand for bipartisanship at any price. We will never ignore the half-billion dollars cut from Indigenous programs at the start of this government. So it's fine for him to speak of a new era and of true partnership, but this can't be spin, because we're not going to have true partnership without a constitutionally enshrined voice, without listening to the views of First Nations people on how a fundamental democratic arrangement should be framed. That's just more marketing and falls so far short of the aspirations of, I believe, all Australians as to be risible.
So I turn to the report itself. We note that across the journey since 2008 progress against the targets has been mixed at best. We have seen some progress and we should acknowledge that. We can see signs of improvement now in key areas, but we can also see, more particularly and more concerningly, areas of great concern that require more work and more action, particularly from those of us in this place, particularly on the government's side, which has the capacity to deliver real change.
I do note some important notes in the report that go beyond the targets—particularly the challenge of better defining our goals through better data-sharing arrangements with the states and territories. This is important, but it can't be a distraction. It can't be a distraction from recognising that we are missing halving the gap in child mortality rates by 2018. We have seen some progress in maternal and child health, but improvements in mortality rates have not been strong enough to meet the target. The target to halve the gap for Indigenous children in reading, writing and numeracy within a decade passed two years ago. It has driven some improvements in these foundational skills, but considerably more progress is required if we are to meet our aspirations, if we are to secure equality—recognising, as I think all of us in this place do, how fundamental this is not just to success in learning but to success in life. There has not been improvement in school attendance rates, despite this being a particular feature of the approach driven by former Prime Minister Abbott. We have failed to close the gap there.
The national Indigenous employment rate has remained stable against the target to halve the gap in employment outcomes. That's just not good enough. As the member for Maribyrnong highlighted very effectively in the previous parliament and the parliament before that, there isn't a justice target. I'll touch briefly on that. That is another failing of Australian public policy, because it is a huge challenge.
It is encouraging that two of the continuing targets are on track. One is the target to have 95 per cent of Indigenous four-year-olds enrolled in early childhood education by 2025. That is heartening and is important as a foundation on which we can and we must build. I note in this place today, as I have done on so many occasions, the wonderful contribution of Lisa Thorpe and the Bubup Wilam Aboriginal early childhood centre, in Thomastown in my electorate. I'm inspired by the work they do every day and by the confident, strong Indigenous young people I meet so regularly. I look forward to getting back there soon and to hearing more about what they are doing and how we can work harder to support their work not just as an early childhood centre but as a thriving hub for Indigenous Australians in Melbourne's northern suburbs. I note also that the target to halve the gap for Indigenous Australians aged 20 to 24 in year 12 attainment or equivalent by 2020 is on track. That's two. We recognise those achievements, those collective efforts that are bearing fruit, but they stand in stark contrast to how far we have to come across the board. This progress does show us what is possible if we have the political will and the preparedness to listen and to match that listening with investment.
I am very sad to say that the target to close the gap in life expectancy by 2031 is not on track. It's insufficient to say that isn't good enough, because there is really no more fundamental marker of how we are and who we are as a society than that we are failing so fundamentally on this marker.
In so many areas we can, should and must do better. I mentioned earlier the absence of a justice target. The rates of First Nations people in custody are way too high. First Nation adults make up just two per cent of the population but they make up more than a quarter of Australia's prison population. It often has been said of Indigenous young men that they are more likely to end up in jail than studying in a university, and that is a terrible indictment of our society. Suicide of course, particularly among young Indigenous people, is shockingly high. That, I think, is recognised by all of us as a national tragedy, as something we need to redouble and refocus our efforts on. The number of First Nations children in out-of-home care is also a national shame. We have to acknowledge that that is a consequence of policy failure of governments from both sides of politics. It's another area where we must do so much better, or we will be condemning too many of our children to a life without real choice, to a life without real agency.
It's on that note that I conclude my remarks, because what we want for all of our First Nations people, and particularly First Nations young people, is real agency and equality in every aspect of their lives. That won't happen without recognising them as they should be recognised, as they have asked to be recognised, with a voice in this place and in our Constitution. Thank you.