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Gap dividing Aborigines growing

By Nick Bryant
BBC News, Sydney

2 July 2009 - A national report on Aboriginal social and economic trends in Australia has shown their condition has deteriorated.

In particular it showed that the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous citizens has grown wider in areas like child abuse and domestic violence.

It revealed that Aboriginal children are six times as likely to be abused as non-indigenous children.

The Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said it was a devastating report on an unacceptable situation.

The new government report contains a grim inventory of statistics, which indicate that the longstanding gap in living standards between black and white Australians is, if anything, getting wider.

One finding, that Aboriginal children are six times more likely than non-indigenous children to be abused, represents a significant increase.

The report also revealed that the indigenous homicide rate was seven times higher than the non-indigenous rate; and that Aboriginal people were 13 times more likely to end up in jail.

The report measured 50 key indicators of disadvantage, and found that there has been no improvement in 80% of them.

There have been no gains, for instance, in literacy or numeracy rates.

In an otherwise bleak assessment, one of the few areas of improvement was employment.

Mr Rudd started his term in office with an apology to Aborigines for past injustices and pledged that his government would aim to close the gap.

Speaking in the country's Northern Territory, the home to many Aborigines, Mr Rudd called this a devastating report which was unacceptable and required decisive action.

See the Report "Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage" 2009

Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/8129820.stm

Australian Indigenous Children 6-Times More Likely to Be Abused

By Michael Heath

July 2 (Bloomberg) -- Indigenous children are almost six- times more likely to suffer abuse than other Australian youngsters, according to a report published today, prompting a government pledge to increase efforts to tackle the issue.

Cases of child abuse or neglect in indigenous communities have more than doubled in the past eight years, according to the study titled “Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage.”

The report, released at a meeting of Australia’s state and federal leaders in the northern city of Darwin, shows “how grave the challenge is,” Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told reporters today.

Aborigines remain the poorest and most disadvantaged group in Australian society more than 200 years after Europeans settled the nation in 1788. Two years ago, then Prime Minister John Howard announced a A$587 million ($473 million) plan to take control of dozens of Aboriginal communities, after a government-commissioned report said alcohol and drugs were fuelling widespread sexual abuse of children.

Today’s study looks at social and economic trends among Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

It says that between 1999-2000 and 2007-2008, cases of child abuse or neglect for indigenous children rose to 35 per 1,000 from 16 per 1,000. The rate for other Australian children rose to six per 1,000 from five in the same period.

Forty-one out of every 1,000 indigenous children are subject to care and protection orders, while five out of every 1,000 non-indigenous children are under similar orders.

Rudd, who defeated Howard in November 2007, last year outlined a new agenda on Aboriginal issues, including a commitment to close the 17-year life expectancy gap between Aborigines and other Australians within a generation, as well as halving infant mortality rates within a decade.

Australia’s 517,000 indigenous people make up 2.5 percent of the country’s population of 21 million.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/

Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Latest Data

Media release - The fourth in the series of reports Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators has been released. Commissioned by the Council of Australian Governments, the Report's strategic framework helps track over time the extent to which government policies and other actions are making a difference to overcoming Indigenous disadvantage.

The fourth Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage report was released on 2 July. Commissioned by the Council of Australian Governments, the report's strategic framework is designed to track the extent to which government policies and programs are making a difference to Indigenous people where it counts.

Gary Banks, who chairs the inter-governmental Steering Committee responsible for the report, said 'this edition of the report embraces COAG's six 'closing the gap' targets. The latest trend data reveal mixed results for these and other indicators. In all areas there are still unacceptable disparities in outcomes for Indigenous and other Australians'.

The report finds that over the period reviewed, Indigenous people continued to share in Australia's general prosperity, with increases in employment, incomes and home ownership. Mr Banks said 'these further improvements in economic indicators are a positive sign. However, preserving the gains in more difficult economic times will be challenging'. He added 'a number of the key social indicators have shown little improvement, with a deterioration occurring in areas such as criminal justice'.

Mr Banks observed that data in some critical areas remain poor: 'There have been laudable efforts to improve data in recent years, but more work is needed. Improved methodologies suggest that Indigenous life expectancies are higher than previous estimates. But it is still not possible to say whether the gaps with non-Indigenous people have actually narrowed.'

Mr Banks praised the collaborative efforts of governments and the cooperation of all those who participated in report consultations. 'The report has benefited greatly from the feedback of many people within government and the wider community, and particularly from Indigenous people.'

The report is a product of the Review of Government Service Provision. It is overseen by a Steering Committee comprising senior officials from the Australian, State and Territory governments and supported by a secretariat from the Productivity Commission.

Source: http://www.pc.gov.au/gsp/reports/indigenous/keyindicators2009/media-release

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