OTTAWA — The federal government has failed to act on recommendations aimed at helping natives, including cleaning up mould in homes, analysing patterns of drug deaths and implementing land agreements, the auditor general says.

In a followup audit released Tuesday, Sheila Fraser gave government departments and agencies an unsatisfactory grade on 15 of 37 of her recommendations dating back to 2000 and 2003.

"These are generally the recommendations that are most important to the lives and well-being of First Nations people,'' said the report.

"Overall, we found unsatisfactory progress in addressing our recommendations,'' Fraser said. "In some key areas, little has been done.''

She said the government has obligations to natives set out in treaties, government policies, the Indian Act and other laws.

"Past audits have found the government falls short of meeting these obligations.''

Health Canada hasn't been doing enough to measure the services it provides to First Nations and how they improve health. Nor is it doing enough to amass data on deaths tied to prescription drug use.

Indian Affairs fell short on land claims. And Indian Affairs and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. haven't produced a plan to deal with mould on reserve houses.

Even on the 22 recommendations where the government got a satisfactory grade "in most cases, implementation is not yet complete.''

And these recommendations tended to be administrative in nature, with less direct impact on people.

The report said successful implementation of reforms depends on sustained attention from government managers, co-ordination of programs, consultation with native groups and consideration of what can be conflicting roles within the Indian Affairs Department.

"Ensuring that these factors are fully considered when adjusting existing programs and implementing new ones will make a significant difference in the lives of Aboriginal people.''

The government, which responded to Fraser's concerns, said it would heed the recommendations in future. It cited the example of the Kelowna First Ministers meeting last fall, which it said pointed the way to better co-operation among federal, provincial and territorial governments and native organizations.

The new Conservative government has been cool toward the Kelowna meeting and its promise of new money for natives, but told Fraser that the meeting is an example of consensus-based decision-making.