CANBERRA -- Australia was accused Sunday of failing to improve the health of its 400,000 aborigines and Torres Strait islanders, AFP reported.

A new report by the Main Doctors' Group, revealed at the Australian Medical Association conference here this weekend, says the aboriginal people are in poor health compared with the indigenous peoples of Canada, the United States and New Zealand.

The AMA has found the gap between the health of indigenous Australians and the rest of the country is growing and called for more funding to address what it says is a crisis in indigenous health.

The AMA's report card shows that indigenous infant mortality is two-and-a-half times that of non-indigenous babies and their life expectancy is around 20 years shorter.

The average age of death for aborigines was put at 53.

The report also found many aboriginal and Torres Strait islander communities have no clean water, sanitation or electricity.

The gap in life expectancy in Canada, New Zealand and the U.S. has dropped to between five and seven years.

AMA spokesman Paul Bauert said the report's findings were shameful.

"They're a disgrace and particularly when you compare what has been achieved in similar countries like New Zealand, Canada and the United States where over the last 25 to 30 years their indigenous peoples have had those terrible statistics turned around completely," Dr Bauert said.

Despite recent increases in health funding, Dr Bauert said a huge boost was needed to address the problem.

"The bottom line is in terms of primary preventative health care, we're still 245 million dollars (130 million U.S.) per annum shy of what should be supplied," Dr Bauert said.

However, Peter Beattie, state premier of Queensland which has a large aboriginal population, said pouring more money into aboriginal health was futile until alcoholism and other substance abuse was tackled.

Beattie said health and social problems in aboriginal communities would continue to worsen until ways were found to break addictions, particularly to alcohol.

"The reality is that when you deal with substance abuse any money you spend is going to be a waste of time," he said Sunday.

"We spend literally millions and have spent millions. What's important is that we get better use of it." Beattie said the time for expensive, feel-good but ineffective policies had passed.

"I'm only interested in policies that will work," he said.

He said while alcoholism was not the only problem affecting aboriginal communities, it was the major one.