Issues for Aboriginal Spiritualities
The Continuing Effect of Dispossession
The effects of dispossession and segregation on Aboriginal Australians resonate today. It is clear to see that Aborigines, as a group, are one of the most disadvantaged in Australian society and it is almost certain that this has come as a result of the actions of non-Aboriginal Australians in the 19th and 20th Centuries. Today, Aborigines face a number of social problems, particularly in the areas of health, education, employment, income, housing and crime.
Population Age Structure
The age structure of Indigenous Australians is vastly different to that of Non-Indigenous Australians. It would be fair to claim that their population is comparable with the populations of developing countries around the world.
The much younger age structure of the Indigenous population is largely a product of high levels of fertility and mortality compared with the non-Indigenous population. The average age in the Indigenous population is considerably younger than that in the non- Indigenous population. The median age is 20 years, whereas it is 35 years for non- Indigenous Australians. There are also relatively fewer Indigenous people aged 65 or over. In 2001, the proportion of Indigenous people under 15 years of age was 39% compared with 20% of non-Indigenous people. Persons aged 65 years and over comprised 3% of the Indigenous population and 13% of the non-Indigenous population.
While an overall decline in the Indigenous fertility rate has been reported since the 1960s, in 2001, the fertility rate of Indigenous women remained higher than that of non-Indigenous women: 2.1 babies per Indigenous woman compared to 1.7 babies per non-Indigenous woman.
High fertility at younger ages contributes to the relatively high fertility of Indigenous women. Teenage births are more common among Indigenous women than among other women. In 2003, the teenage (15–19 years) birth rate among Indigenous women was more than four times the overall Australian teenage birth rate. Teenage pregnancies are associated with low birth weight.
Health
In 2003, Indigenous males' life expectancy was estimated to be 59.4 years, while female life expectancy was estimated to be 64.8 years. This is well below the 82.0 years and 76.6 years for total females and males respectively. http://www.hreoc.gov.au/social_justice/statistics/index.html Indigenous peoples' rates of death from chronic diseases expressed as a multiple of the rates in the non-Indigenous population (2000 - 2002) Chronic disease group Indigenous women Indigenous men Cardiovascular diseases (heart diseases, 2.2 times the rate of non- 3.0 times the rate of non- strokes Indigenous women Indigenous men Neoplasms (inc. cancers) 1.6 times the rate of non- 1.3 times the rate of non- Indigenous women Indigenous men Diseases of respiratory system 3.6 times the rate of non- 3.9 times the rate of non- Indigenous women Indigenous men Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic 10.1 times the rate of non- 7.3 times the rate of non- diseases (inc. diabetes) Indigenous women Indigenous men Diseases of the digestive system 3.4 times the rate of non- 4.6 times the rate of non- Indigenous women Indigenous men
Indigenous peoples' rates of hospitalisation for communicable diseases as multiples of the rates in the non-Indigenous population (2003- 2004) Communicable disease Indigenous women Indigenous men Infectious intestinal diseases 1.9 times the rate of non-Indigenous 2.0 times the rate of non-Indigenous women men Tuberculosis 4.4 times the rate of non-Indigenous 5.1 times the rate of non-Indigenous women men Pneumonia 3 times the rate of non-Indigenous 3.8 times the rate of non-Indigenous women men Viral infections 1.5 times the rate of non-Indigenous 1.3 times the rate of non-Indigenous women men Infections, sexual 6.5 times the rate of non-Indigenous 4.3 times the rate of non-Indigenous transmission women women
The National Health Survey reported that 58% of Indigenous respondents did not drink alcohol, compared with 38% of non-Indigenous respondents. 12% of Indigenous respondents were likely to consume alcohol at risky/high risk levels, compared with 11% of non-Indigenous respondents. The rate of risky/high risk consumption was higher for Indigenous males than for female respondents and peaked amongst those aged 35-44 years (20%).
Indigenous infant and child health is significantly poorer than that of non-Indigenous infants and children. A 'low birth weight baby' weighs less than 2500 grams at birth indicating, among other things, foetal malnutrition. There is a growing body of evidence that suggests a malnourished foetus will program its body in a way that will incline it to chronic diseases later in life. Beyond infancy, normal growth is considered vital for good health in adulthood. Significant numbers of Indigenous children demonstrate failure to thrive.
Approximately twice as many low birth weight infants were born to Indigenous women compared to those born to non-Indigenous women over 1998 - 2000. In the period 2000-2002, babies of Indigenous mothers continued to be twice as likely to be of low birth weight as babies born to non- Indigenous mothers (13% compared to 6%).The ABS reported in 2005 that since 1991 there appears to be no change in both the rates of low birth-weight infants being born to Indigenous women and the mean birth weights of those infants.
Research has demonstrated associations between an individual's social and economic status and their health. Poverty is clearly associated with poor health. For example:
http://www.hreoc.gov.au/social_justice/statistics/index.html - Poor education and literacy are linked to poor health status, and affect the capacity of people to use health information; - Poorer income reduces the accessibility of health care services and medicines; - Overcrowded and run-down housing is associated with poverty and contributes to the spread of communicable disease; - Poor infant diet is associated with poverty and chronic diseases later in life; and - Smoking and high-risk behaviour is associated with lower socio-economic status.
Research has also demonstrated that poorer people also have less financial and other forms of control over their lives. This can contribute to a greater burden of unhealthy stress where 'prolonged exposure to psychological demands where possibilities to control the situation are perceived to be limited and the chances of reward are small.' Chronic stress can impact on the body's immune system, circulatory system, and metabolic functions through a variety of hormonal pathways and is associated with a range of health problems from diseases of the circulatory system (notably heart disease) and mental health problems through to men's violence against women and other forms of community dysfunction.
The perception of control, or lack of control, can be influenced by:
- Factors like racism, and other forms of discrimination. - Addiction in the community: this undermines resilience and social support and communities. It has been mostly closely observed in relation to alcoholism. - Particular traumas: accidents, violence, natural disasters etc.
Education
Highest level of schooling completed, 2002 Level completed Indigenous (%) Non-Indigenous (%) Year 9 or below 33.4 15.8 Year 10 or 11 26.9 18.8 Year 12 10.7 15.3
Highest non-school qualification, Percentage of persons aged 18 years and over, 2002 Level obtained Indigenous peoples (%) Non-Indigenous population (%) Bachelor degree 3.7 16.9 Certificate or Diploma 24.1 32.7 Total with non-school qualification 29.0 50.1
Employment
In the 2001 Census, 52% of Indigenous people aged 15 years and over reported that they were participating in the labour force (meaning that they were engaged in mainstream employment, participating in CDEP or unemployed). This compares to 53% in 1996. The participation rate was higher for Indigenous men (60%) than Indigenous women (45%).
The labour force participation rate for the non-Indigenous population was 63% in 2001 (i.e. 11% higher than for Indigenous peoples). When adjusted to include only people aged 15-64 years, the
http://www.hreoc.gov.au/social_justice/statistics/index.html disparity in labour force participation widens further with 54% of Indigenous people in this age group in the labour force compared with 73% of the non-Indigenous population.
Labour force participation, by remoteness, 2001 Indigenous persons Non-Indigenous persons Major cities 57.3 64.3 Inner Regional 52.0 59.9 Outer regional 50.7 63.3 Remote 50.5 71.8 Very remote 46.2 78.1
Unemployment rates by remoteness, 2001 Indigenous peoples Non-Indigenous population Major cities 20.1 6.9 Inner Regional 25.0 8.1 Outer regional 23.1 7.4 Remote 19.2 4.9 Very remote 8.3 3.5
Income
In the Census 2001, the mean (average) gross household income for Indigenous persons was $364 per week, or 62% of the rate for non-Indigenous persons ($585 per week). The ABS has stated that 'this disparity reflects the lower household incomes received by households with Indigenous person(s), and the tendency for such households to be larger than other households and hence for the equivalised gross household income to be lower'.
For Indigenous persons, income levels generally decline with increased geographic remoteness. In major cities and regional areas, average equivalised incomes for Indigenous persons were approximately 70% of the corresponding income for non-Indigenous persons. This declines to approximately 60% in remote areas, and just 40% in very remote areas.
The ABS has also noted that Indigenous persons tend to earn less money than non-Indigenous persons within the same occupational categories. For example, in 2001 the median income of Indigenous managers was 81% of the non-Indigenous median, for professionals it was 73% and among labourers just 56%.
Housing
The residents of households with Indigenous person(s) were much more likely to be renting than purchasing a home than owning a home outright. 63% of households with Indigenous person(s) were renting (compared with approximately 27% of other households); 19% were purchasing their home (compared with 27% of other households); and 13% owned their home outright (compared with 40% of other households).
Households with Indigenous person(s) tend to have more residents than other households. At the 2001 Census, there was an average of 3.5 persons in households with Indigenous person(s), compared with 2.6 persons in other households. Both household size and the proportion of
http://www.hreoc.gov.au/social_justice/statistics/index.html households requiring at least one additional bedroom rose with increased geographic remoteness. Average household with Indigenous person(s) size increased from 3.2 residents in major cities to 5.3 in very remote areas.
Crime
The number of Indigenous prisoners increased over the last decade: Indigenous people represented 22% of the total prisoner population as at 30 June 2005. The total number in prison increased by 12% over 2004 to 2005 (from 5,084 to 5,656).
The age profile for Indigenous prisoners is younger than the overall prison population. As at June 2005 the median age for Indigenous prisoners was 30 years, while the overall prison population was 32 years. Over one in twenty (6%) Indigenous men aged 25-29 years were in prison at 30 June 2004, compared with 0.6% of all males aged 25-29 years.
A 2003 study demonstrates the extent of contact of Indigenous people with criminal justice processes in New South Wales. Between 1997 and 2001, a total of 25,000 Indigenous people appeared in a NSW Court charged with a criminal offence. This constitutes 28.6% of the total NSW Indigenous population. In the year 2001 alone, nearly one in five Indigenous males in NSW appeared in Court charged with a criminal offence. For Indigenous males aged 20-24 years, this rate increased to over 40%.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has noted that there is only limited national data on young people in the juvenile justice system and that a national data collection system is a work in progress. It estimated that in 2002-03 Indigenous young people (that is, those 10 to 17 years of age) were detained at ten times the rate of all young people in Australia.
The Australian Institute of Criminology reports that at 30 June 2004, there were 306 young Indigenous persons detained in juvenile facilities throughout Australia as compared with 258 non- Indigenous young people. The Indigenous juvenile detention rate per is 312.9 young people per 100,000 compared to a rate of 12.2 young people per 100,000 for the non-Indigenous population.
http://www.hreoc.gov.au/social_justice/statistics/index.html