Editor: Justin Healey
ISBN 1 920801 44 8
Year 2006

Price: $19.95

  
Aboriginal Reconciliation

Volume 234, Issues in Society
Reconciliation among Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians involves justice, recognition and healing and is about helping all Australians move forward with a better understanding of the past and how the past affects the lives of Indigenous people today. Reconciliation involves symbolic recognition of the first Australians, as well as practical measures to address the Indigenous disadvantage in health, employment, education and general opportunity. The Howard Government policy of ‘practical reconciliation’, with its focus on funding improvements to Aboriginal disadvantage through mainstream social services rather than by indigenous self-determination has been accused of excluding the non-practical elements of reconciliation, such as the need for recognition of the social, spiritual and cultural devastation caused by removal from traditional lands and the destruction of families. What form should the current Reconciliation process take? How important is saying “sorry”?

Chapter 1 The Reconciliation Process
Reconciliation : What is reconciliation?; Reconciliation timeline; Towards reconciliation; Sustaining the reconciliation process; The Stolen Generations and the need for a national apology; Why apologise?; Reconciliation: what Australians think;

Chapter 2 Reconciliation and Indigenous Affairs Reform Black health and wealth still behind; Social circumstances of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders; Indigenous disadvantage report reinforces the need for change; Role the reconciliation process can play in overcoming Indigenous disadvantage; New arrangements in Indigenous affairs; Shared Responsibility Agreements; Shared Responsibility Agreements – a critique; New deals ‘will end the welfare mafia’; Nothing mutual about denying Aborigines a voice; Courage is needed to confront the nation’s unfinished business; Reconciliation address from the Prime Minister; Working for a better life; Reconciliation is now about radical ideas ; Inching forward on reconciliation.

Glossary; Facts and Figures; Additional Links and Resources; Index of Contentsnt
 

• Spending on Indigenous programs by the Australian Government has increased by one-third in real terms since 1996 and is at record levels.

• Between 1994 and 2002 the number of Indigenous people with non-school qualifications, including university or TAFE, more than doubled over the same period.

• The proportion of Indigenous people with a non-school qualification increased from about 12% in 1994 to 26% in 2002, although this level still remained well below that for non-Indigenous people.

• In 2002, about one-sixth, or 15%, of Indigenous people over 15 reported “risky or high risk” drinking in the past 12 months. The rate was higher for Indigenous males than females – 17% compared with 13%. The level of risky or high-risk drinking was similar for Indigenous people in urban and remote areas. The numbers of cigarette smokers stayed at 1994 levels – just over 50%.

• One-third of Indigenous people aged 15 years or over in 2002 reported a disability or long-term health condition.

• Average weekly income is $394 for Aboriginal people compared with $665 for non-Indigenous people across Australia.

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples comprise 2.4% of the total Australian population. They are a relatively young population with a median age of 20.5 years compared with 36.1 years for the non-Indigenous population.

• A significant proportion of the Indigenous population (69%) live outside the major urban centres. In 2002 there were an estimated 282,200 Indigenous people aged 15 years and over with 27% living in remote areas.

• Overall, 82% of Indigenous people aged 15 years and over in 2002 reported they had experienced at least one life stressor in the past 12 months. The most frequently reported stressors experienced by a respondent or by someone close to them were the death of a family member or close friend (46%), serious illness or disability (31%) and inability to get a job (27%).

• Indigenous people aged 18 years and over were twice as likely as non-Indigenous people to report their health as fair/poor. They were also nearly one-and-a-half times more likely to have a disability or long-term health condition.

• In 2002 Indigenous people aged 18 years and over were less likely to be employed than non-Indigenous people (43% compared with 63%). They were also more than twice as likely to be unemployed (9% compared with 4%) and more likely not to be in the labour force (48% compared with 33%).

• Between 1994 and 2002 the proportion of unemployed Indigenous people fell from 22% to 14% which translates to unemployment rates of 38% in 1994 falling to 23% in 2002. This is consistent with the general decline in national unemployment from 10% in June 1994 to 6% in December 2002. Improvements in long-term unemployment were also evident. In 1994 about half of all unemployed Indigenous people had been unemployed for one year or longer. By 2002 this proportion had reduced to a quarter.

• Indigenous people aged 18 years and over experienced double the victimisation rate of non-Indigenous persons (20% compared with 9%).

• The proportion of Indigenous people who reported hav-ing been arrested at least once in the past five years declined by about a fifth between 1994 and 2002 (from 20% to 16%). In 2002, 7% of Indigenous people aged 15 years and over reported they had been incarcerated in the past five years. Males were far more likely than females to report they had been arrested (24% compared with 9%) and incarcerated (11% compared with 3%) in the past five years.

• There was an increase in the proportion of Year 3 students who achieved the writing benchmark: 77% in 2002 compared with 67% in 1999 and 65% in 2000.

• The proportion of Year 5 Indigenous students who achieved the reading benchmark increased from 59% in 1999 to 68% in 2002.

• Of the students who commenced Year 11 in 2001, 55% went on to complete Year 12 in 2002 compared to 49% who commenced Year 11 in 2000 and completed in 2001.

• Between 2000 and 2004, Indigenous apparent retention rates to Year 12 increased from 36 to 40%.

• The proportion of Indigenous people over 15 years of age participating in post-secondary education increased from 6% in 1994 to 12% in 2002.

• Between 1994 and 2002 employment rates rose from 68% to 80%. This improvement results from increases in part-time employment (largely CDEP) rather than full-time work.

• Between 1994 and 2002, the proportion of Indigenous people aged 18 or over who were living in a household owned, or being purchased, by someone in that household rose from 22 to 27%.

• Between 1999-2000 and 2003-2004 substantiated child protection notifications increased in most juris-dictions. It is not clear whether increased notifications result from increases in child abuse and/or more people reporting abuse.

• The proportion of Indigenous people who reported being a victim of violence increased from 13 to 23% between 1994 and 2002. It is not clear whether increased rates of reporting reflect increases in crime and/or willingness to report.

• The rate of imprisonment for Indigenous women and men increased by 25% and 11% respectively over the period 2000 to 2004.