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Self-respect and changing attitudes boost Australia's aborigine population

By James Grubel

23 January 2005 - The Scotsman (Scotland) - The aboriginal population is booming as more Australians identify themselves as indigenous. The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2005 snapshot of Australia shows the indigenous population has grown at twice the rate of the overall population since 1996.

There are now 458,500 Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders living in Australia, making up 2.3% of the 20 million population, up from 283,000 a decade earlier.

The 2005 snapshot said indigenous population growth was well above the natural increase, and attributed the rise to social changes and more people identifying themselves as aboriginal.

A spokesman for ABS said: "More recently, changing social attitudes, political developments, improved statistical coverage and a broader definition of indigenous origin have all contributed to the increased likelihood of people identifying as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin."

While Australia’s indigenous population is rising, the living standard of black Australia remains substantially below that of the rest of the population.

The ABS said aboriginal men and women still had a life expectancy well below other Australians. Aboriginal men lived on average to 59.4 years, while aboriginal women to 64.8 years - 17 years less than the life expectancy for other Australians.

Aborigines accounted for more than 20% of the prison population, and experienced higher rates of unemployment, domestic violence and drug and alcohol abuse.

The statistical yearbook comes at a time of high tension between black and white Australia, with the conservative government taking a tough new approach to indigenous affairs, which some black leaders have labelled patronising.

Prime Minister John Howard has endorsed tough contracts with remote black communities, where benefits are available in return for commitments such as ensuring children wash regularly and attend school.

Australian National University research fellow Yohannes Kinfu said the indigenous population has been rising since a referendum in 1968 allowed Aborigines to be counted in the population.

Kinfu said the increase was based on both higher rates of people identifying themselves as Aborigines and changed definitions of aboriginality since the 70s. People no longer need to have two aboriginal parents to be considered an Aborigine and can claim aboriginality if they had an aboriginal background and were accepted by an aboriginal community.

"Since 1971, there has been an increasing number of people identifying themselves as aboriginal," Kinfu said. "But from available data it is difficult to determine how much of this increase is due to improved statistical coverage, or to increased willingness to identify."

In November, Aborigines rioted at the North Queensland Palm Island community after the death of a young Aborigine in police custody, while about 2,000 people marched in a protest against the death in the city of Townsville.

Aborigines in Sydney’s Redfern ghetto rioted last February after the death of an aboriginal boy. They mistakenly believed the boy was being chased by police when he fell from his bike and was impaled on a fence.

Source: The Scotsman

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