"I would like to see parents educate young ones, learn to love, help and share with one another," he said.

"It comes down to respect. If there is respect, then we can teach respect, and share respect, with others."

Uncle Dave was a star sportsman and the first Aboriginal school student to play for NSW over 50 years ago.

"When I started going to school, there was lots of fighting, all the way through. A lot of change has happened since then, and for the better."

There was a murmur of assent around him. Uncle Dave was standing outside the Biripi Aboriginal Corporation Medical Centre, waiting for this year's marking of National Close the Gap Day to begin. Members of the community were gathering to bear witness to an event focusing on health in the region.

"This event happens on the same day all over the country every year," said Leonie Morcome, Biripi's cultural safety coordinator.

"The initiative is to outline the life expectancy of indigenous Australians to non-indigenous Australians. It's an opportunity to show how we're working together with mainstream services to provide follow up care. There's no exclusion."

Ms Morcome said that they programmed their event to show how mainstream services partner up with Aboriginal services, ensuring the health of local Aboriginal people was covered. Employing over 100 health workers to cater for a wealth of issues facing the local indigenous population, the centre has teams working on the social, emotional, and wellbeing of residents, a maternal team, a dental team, aged care services, youth services, and an out of home care children's service.

Brett Cowling, the new chief executive officer of the centre, said that on the whole the Close The Gap report released earlier this year reflected that on a national level, not much had changed.

But he said on a local level maternal and child health outcomes had improved, with higher immunisation rates and decreases in infant mortality.

"We're now focusing on closing the gap in adults," Mr Cowling said.

He said there was still a large discrepancy in mortality rates between indigenous and non indigenous people, and cancer and chronic disease at the heart of the problem.

"Multiple chronic conditions are a real problem, and cancer rates of Aborigines in the area are well above the national average," Mr Cowling said.

Some of this can be addressed through exercise and nutrition, but he said a heavy investment was needed to implement 'upstream' programs.