IT IS one of our most troubling national issues: the gap between the health of indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. Now, after decades of debate on how to fix it, researchers have discovered a confronting reality  the gap is getting wider.

A snapshot of the nation's health has revealed that while Australians overall now enjoy the second-highest life expectancy rates in the world, Aborigines remain mired in Third World rankings on almost every relevant measure of health.

This indigenous boy, born on Monday, can expect a life significantly worse than a white baby. Credit:Glenn Campbell

The study by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found that a baby born in Australian today can expect, on average, to live to 81.4 years  second only to Japan at 82.2.

But it is a different story for indigenous babies, whose average life expectancy is only about 64, or 17 years less than their non-indigenous counterparts.