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Has anything changed?For this Report, up to ten years data are available for some indicators (althoughthere are no trend data at all for other indicators). The first Overcoming IndigenousDisadvantage report was released in November 2003. Given the relatively shorttime since the first Report, and delays in data collection, data in this Report may notreflect outcomes from more recent government actions. Future editions of thisReport will be better placed to measure progress on some indicators — particularlywhen data from the 2006 Census become available.There have been improvements in some indicators, although in some casesoutcomes for non-Indigenous people have also improved, meaning a gap inoutcomes persists. The clearest improvements have come in some of the economicindicators. From 1994 to 2004-05, there were large falls in the unemployment ratefor Indigenous women and men (although these unemployment rates are influencedby participation in the Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP)program). Over the same period, the proportion of Indigenous adults living inhomes owned or being purchased by a member of the household increased, and theproportion of Indigenous adults with a qualification of certificate level 3 or aboveincreased from 8 per cent to 21 per cent. From 2002 to 2004-05, median (mid point)incomes for Indigenous people rose 10 per cent.There have been increases in native title determinations (from almost 5 per cent ofthe total area of Australia in 2004 to over 8 per cent in 2006) and in land subject toregistered Indigenous Land Use Agreements (from 2 per cent of the total area ofAustralia in 2003 to over 10 per cent in 2006). However, the proportion ofIndigenous adults living in non-remote areas who did not recognise an area as theirhomelands increased between 1994 and 2004-05.There have been improvements in child health, perhaps reflecting an emphasis onearly intervention. Infant mortality rates have improved in recent years (but are stilltwo to three times as high as for the total population of infants), and hospitalisationrates for 0–14 year olds decreased for a range of diseases associated with poorenvironmental health.Other outcomes for children have not improved in the period covered by the Report.The proportion of low birthweight babies born to Indigenous mothers did notchange between 1998–2000 and 2002–2004, and there was no change in theprevalence of hearing problems among Indigenous children between 2001 and2004-05. From 1999-2000 to 2005-06, the rates of substantiated notifications forchild abuse or neglect and children on care and protection orders increased for bothIndigenous and non-Indigenous children.OVERVIEW 3