Indigenous child mortality gap narrows:

Prime Minister Julia Gillard will deliver the Closing the Gap speech to parliament this morning.

It is understood the speech will outline a number of improvements including in infant mortality rates.

But Ms Gillard will underline the fact that much more needs to be done to improve health, education and jobs for indigenous people.

In the period 2004 to 2008, indigenous infants died from such things as birth trauma and pregnancy complications at twice the rate of non-indigenous infants.

But the speech spelt out expert advice showing the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous under-five child mortality rates is set to halve by the target date of 2018.

Closing the Gap was signed by the state and federal governments and indigenous leaders in March 2008, in a bid to achieve health equality between indigenous and non-indigenous people by 2030.

Since November 2008 a number of national partnership agreements have been entered into, totalling $5 billion.