indigenous disadvantage

  
 

Editor: Justin Healey
ISBN 978 1 920801 81 6
Year 2008

Price: $19.95

  
Indigenous Disadvantage

Volume 271, Issues in Society
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are among the most disadvantaged groups in Australian society. The health and wellbeing of the first Australians has long been a cause of grave concern and national shame for such an affluent, developed copuntry as Australia. Many remote communities in particular are blighted by a social epidemic of domestic violence and child sexual abuse. Recent government intervention in communities riddled with substance abuse, violence, sexual abuse, law and order problems and overcrowding only highlights some of the many shocking effects of this disadvantage. Has too little been done too late? This book examines the extent of breakdown in the key areas of health, housing, employment, justice and remote communities, and explores what is being done by governments and the Indigenous community to address these unacceptable levels of disadvantage.
 

Chapter 1:  Extent of Indigenous Disadvantage
Outlook for blacks still far behind; Indigenous disadvantage: has anything changed?; Black-white divide greatest in city; Aboriginal jail rates soar, but incomes rise; Remote housing worsens – report; Nation's child abuse shame; Child abuse and neglect in Indigenous Australian communities; Illicit drug use in rural and remote communities; Lifespan of Aborigines 'shameful'; Largest national Indigenous health survey released; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health performance.

Chapter 2:  Intervention in Remote Communities
I'm seizing control, says PM; A history of struggle; Remote areas face radical change; Responding to a crisis: what the federal government says it will do; An end to the tears; Duty of care to the young justifies Government's action; Policy revolution in black and white; Tough love needed to save NT children; Indigenous change a generational task; An entire culture is at stake; Lack of respect will not help Indigenous children; Indigenous people can, and do, address their own problems; What works in Indigenous affairs.

Glossary; Facts and Figures; Additional Resources; Index
 
   

FACTS AND FIGURES

• The proportion of Indigenous adults with a qualification of certificate level 3 or higher had increased from 8% to 21%. From 2002 to 2004-05, median incomes for Indigenous people rose 10%.

• The national Indigenous unemployment rate fell from 30% in 1994 to 13% in 2004-05.

• Indigenous youth are 23 times more likely to be detained by authorities than non-Indigenous youth.

• From 1999-2000 to 2005-06, the rates of substantiated notifications for child abuse or neglect and children on care and protection orders increased for Indigenous and non-Indigenous children. In 2005-06, Indigenous children were nearly four times more likely than other children to be the subject of abuse or neglect.

• Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders are twice as likely to report a profound disability, with 36% aged 15 or older reporting a disability or long-term health condition in 2002. The Indigenous rate for kidney disease was five times higher than the non-Indigenous rate in 2001. In 2004-05 it was 10 times higher.

• Between 2001-02 and 2004-05, Indigenous people 65 years and older had increased hospitalisation rates for diseases associated with poor environmental health.

• Indigenous students are half as likely as their non-Indigenous counterparts to continue school to Year 12.

• Infant mortality rates have improved in recent years (but are still 2-3 times as high as for the total population of infants), and hospitalisation rates for 0-14 year olds decreased for a range of diseases associated with poor environmental health.

• The proportion of low birthweight babies born to Indigenous mothers did not change between 1998-2000 and 2002-2004, and there was no change in the prevalence of hearing problems among Indigenous children between 2001 and 2004-05.

• The imprisonment rate for Indigenous women surged 34% between 2002 and 2006. For men it increased 22%. Indigenous imprisonment rates rose 32% overall from 2000 to 2006 and are now 13 times higher than the rate for non-Indigenous Australians.

• In a decade the median household weekly income has risen 10%, to $340, compared with $618 for non-Indigenous people.

• The proportion of Indigenous people living in a home that is owned or mortgaged by a member of the household increased from 22% to 25%, although the figure is much lower in remote areas.

• Adult educational qualifications tripled and unemployment halved in 10 years, largely due to the federal Government’s Aboriginal work for the dole programs.

• In the past decade, native title determinations increased from 5% of the Australian land mass to 8%, and Australian land subject to Indigenous land use agreements rose from 2 to 10%.

• The proportion of houses in Indigenous communities in a serious state of disrepair increased from 27% in 2001 to 31% in 2006. Conditions in many remote communities remain basic, with 58% of communities relying on bore water as their main source of drinking water and 32% using community generators as their main power supply. Only 11% of communities have public access to the internet, while 42% are more than 25km from the nearest primary school and three-quarters are more than 25km from the nearest high school.

• There are 1187 distinct Indigenous communities, most of which (85%) are in remote areas. Nearly three-quarters of the communities have 50 or fewer permanent residents.

• 27% of Indigenous people had used illicit drugs in the previous 12 months, almost double the rate for rest of the population (15%). Excluding cannabis, 12% of Indigenous people admitted using illicit drugs in the previous 12 months compared with 8% of Australians generally.

• Those in the most disadvantaged 20% of the population only lost 10 months of their expected lifespan – leaving them with an average of 16 years more than Aboriginal men.

• Aboriginal people are three times more likely to have a stroke or heart attack than other Australians and are 50% more likely to die from it.

• Over three-quarters (78%) of Indigenous people aged 15 years and over considered their health to be ‘good to excellent’ in 2004-05. However those reporting their health as ‘fair or poor’ was nearly double the rate of non-Indigenous Australians.

• Eye/sight problems were the most commonly reported conditions among Indigenous people (30%), followed by asthma (15%), various back problems (13%), heart and circulatory diseases (12%) and ear/hearing problems (12%).

• The proportion of Indigenous Australians aged 15 years and over who reported being a victim of physical or threatened violence in the last 12 months increased from 13% in 1994 to 24% in 2002. These rates are likely to be an underestimate of the true level of violence experienced by ATSI peoples.

• Around half of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults are current daily smokers and this rate has not changed in the last decade.

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are less likely to consume alcohol than non-Indigenous Australians, however of those who consume alcohol, around 50% consume it at long-term risky or high-risk levels.

• Approximately 60% of Indigenous adults were overweight or obese in 2004-05, which is an increase from 1995 and 2001.