Chern'ee Sutton has had her contemporary Indigenous artwork exhibited in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. She's even got one hanging in Kensington Palace after catching the eye of Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge.

But this ranks among her greatest achievements.

On Friday night the 18-year-old's artwork Thapi Wani Watina  [Brothers playing side by side] will be emblazoned upon the jerseys of the NRL's Indigenous All Stars.

The Kalkadoon teenager's ambition goes beyond Friday night's blockbuster on the Gold Coast.

Like the game in which it will be worn, torn and battered, the painting is trying to help close the gap that Indigenous Australians have experienced for centuries in life expectancy, child mortality, education and employment.

"One brother bleeds, all brothers bleed," reads the tattoo former Indigenous All Star Sam Thaiday has scrawled along his chest.

So, too, do the dots of the red stars that flow between the footsteps of the tribes making their way to Queensland for the game in Sutton's painting.

The players who take the field on Friday night won't be playing just for each other, their clubs or the NRL. They will be playing for more than 200 hundred nations that make up the Indigenous people of Australia.

Sutton's painting brings the whole mob together in the Dreamtime, 13 hands for 13 players and thousands of dots for families of every colour, creed and circumstance.

Sutton hopes that the rainbow serpent will not only give life to the likes of Greg Inglis and Ben Barba, but also to the continued funding of Indigenous educational and medical outcomes.

It is a sentiment that forges on through the halls of federal parliament to the turf of Cbus Super Stadium.

"Without good health, our people can't engage with education or employment, so they can't be separated," said Kirstie Parker, co-chairwoman of the Close the Gap campaign.

And at the centre of it all, a sun, blazing bright and a flag that unites all of Australia's nations.

"It is the future we are all working towards," Sutton said.

But we are not there yet.

"Much more work is indeed needed because this seventh Closing The Gap report is, in many respects, profoundly disappointing," Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Wednesday as the report was delivered.

"We have to turn that around now," added Warren Mundine, the chairman of the council on Indigenous affairs.

Friday night's game is a chance to put these issues firmly back on the pubic radar, Ms Sutton said. Indigenous All Star coach Laurie Daley agreed. "It's not just about a game of rugby league," he said.