The Indigenous health crisis in Australia

All societies have some variation in health status between individuals. These differences (or inequalities) do not necessarily imply the existence of a social inequity in health.

Three features, when combined, turn variations into inequity. The differences in health status are:

• systemic,
• socially produced, and
• unfair.

Australia is an inequitable country when it comes to health. And the issue of inequitable health is a matter of social justice. This is why challenging racism is a job for all Australians and a major national challenge.

Statistics

Statistics on Indigenous health indicate that poor Indigenous health is not a random occurrence but a statistical reality. Indigenous people have higher mortality rates from avoidable causes than non-Indigenous people. The disproportionate burden of ill-health carried by Indigenous people is unfair, because the statistics of ill-health indiscriminately apply to all Indigenous people as a group and thus they can not be explained away as having individual genetic or behavioural causes.

• On average, a person from Nigeria or Bangladesh can expect to live for about 10 years longer than an Indigenous Australian.
• The gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians is 17 years. This gap increased over the period 1997-2001.
• In one remote area of NSW the average age of death for Aboriginal men is 33 years.
• Up to 75% of Indigenous males die before the age of 65, compared with just 26% of non-Indigenous males
• In some remote Indigenous communities and schools, up to 60% of children suffer from trachoma, an infectious eye disease that causes blindness if left untreated. The trachoma being suffered by Aboriginal children in central Australia gives our nation the dubious distinction of being the only developed country in the world that has yet to eradicate this disease.
• The infant death rates generally remain about three times higher and in children under 15 years death rates are around 2-3 times higher than for other Australian children. A staggering 70% of Indigenous children in Australia will not celebrate their 65th birthday.
• Indigenous Australians are hospitalised for care involving dialysis at 17 times the rate of other Australians, and for endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases, which includes diabetes, at 4 times the rate.
• The patterns for health of Indigenous children features excessive rates of low birthweight, high mortality, hospitalisation and disability.

Behind these statistics is a human tragedy of immense proportions.

ANTaR encourages people interested in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues, including health, to go beyond our summaries and to do their own research. Here are some suggested starting-points:

• Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet
• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
• National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation
• Australian Indigenous Doctors Association
• Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
• The Fred Hollows Foundation
• Close The Gap coalition
• Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
• Oxfam Australia Indigenous health
• Australian Bureau of Statistics
• A paper published in the Medical Journal of Australia about the Utopia community
• An article by Ian Ring: Reducing indigenous mortality in Australia: lessons from other countries

GET THE FACTS | Take the Quiz | Racism in Australia | Racism and Health | The Indigenous Health Crisis

The Racism Makes Me Sick campaign is running in collaboration with The Body Shop, which is promoting the campaign from 21 April – 12 May 2008 as part of their commitment to defending human rights and promoting Reconciliation in Australia.