By Nick Bryant
BBC News, Sydney
**Australian indigenous children under five are still twice as likely to die as non-indigenous children, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said.**In his annual report on the state of indigenous Australians, Mr Rudd said there were signs of slow progress.
He said the gap in life expectancy had shown a sharp drop, but this was due to more reliable data rather than any real improvement on the ground.
Mr Rudd pledged more money for mothers and babies to address infant mortality.
When he delivered his national apology to indigenous Australians for past injustices two years ago, Mr Rudd promised to deliver an annual report on how his government was closing the disadvantage gap between black and white Australia.
And in his latest assessment he admitted that progress was slow.
‘Yawning gap’
Mr Rudd conceded that indigenous children under five were still twice as likely to die as non-indigenous infants, what he called a “shameful statistic”.
He pledged to provide extra government funding for support services to mothers and babies.
“Generations of indigenous disadvantage cannot be turned around overnight,” said Mr Rudd.
"We know it will need unprecedented effort by all parts of the Australian community.
“But there is no greater social challenge to Australia than closing this yawning gap, and today I can report to the house that on the ground we are seeing the beginning of change.”
One change has been a narrowing of the gap in life expectancy, which has long been thought to be 17 years between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.
Now it is thought to be 11 years for men and almost 10 years for women.
But Mr Rudd said this was more likely the product of better and more reliable data rather than much real improvement on the ground.