Socially Valued Resources
Unequal access for
Indigenous Australians
Kate Donnelly
Sydney Secondary College, Blackwattle Bay Campus
• Yolngu family members continue to teach
their children traditional ways of life.
Photo: Supplied
Heritage & enculturation
Health
• Indigenous Australians experience lower levels
of access to health services than the general
population due to:
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Proximity
Availability
Cultural appropriateness of services
Transport availability
Health insurance
Affordability
Proficiency in English
Remote communities
Health - Distance and Availability
• ATSI people live further away from health care
▫ 26% live in remote or very remote areas
▫ Compared to only 2% of non-ATSI
• In 2002, 281 medical professionals per 100 000
population were employed in remote or very
remote areas
▫ Compared to 312 in cities
▫ Largest difference in paediatrics (children’s care)
A men’s shed without a Shed Titjikala NT
Health - Other factors affecting access
• Transport
▫ ATSI households are
larger and are less likely
to have a motor vehicle
• Insurance
▫ 17% of ATSI people in
urban areas have health
care
▫ Compared to 51% of
other Australians
Health - risk factors
• Impact upon quality of life
▫ Conditions such as kidney
disease, respiratory
disease, circulatory system
diseases and hearing loss
▫ Nutrition
▫ Alcohol consumption,
smoking and use of other
drugs
▫ Mental health
BUT…
• Major disparities in health status despite higher
spending on ATSI health (ABS 2005)
ATSI
Non-ATSI
$3 901 per person
$ 3 308 per person
• In 2004-5 ATSI were 3 times as likely to be
hospitalised as other Australians
▫ Diabetes is 4 times more prevalent
• Shorter life expectancy (17 yrs less)
• Infant mortality is still 3 times the national average
Education & Employment
• Steady increases in school enrolment rates
• ATSI adults are twice as likely to be unemployed
(13% in 2002) than non ATSI
• Income is equivalent to 59% other Australians
• 40% of 10 – 17 yr olds in detention are ATSI
(ABS 2002)
Pride in achievement
Pride in culture
Housing
• More likely to live in some form of social
housing
• Those in remote areas live in conditions that do
not support good health
• 9% living on overcrowded conditions
▫ Can contribute to the spread of infectious disease
• 1882 improved dwellings in 2001
▫ Of permanent dwellings, 31% required major
repair or replacement
▫ 153 had not organised sewerage supply
• At Yarrabah Aboriginal Mission, two or three families - sometimes up to 25 people share each house, which are little more than tin sheds.
Photo: Meredith O'Shea
Solutions
• Reconciliation
• Northern Territory
Intervention (?)
• http://www.youtub
e.com/watch?v=Lt
OxgkZDS4A
•