Stealing Indigenous identity

In this year’s Federal Budget, Treasurer Peter Costello made no mention of the economic infrastructure of Indigenous communities, even though background papers said “access to health care for Indigenous people is still too low” and “medical expenditure on Indigenous Australians per capita is less that half that for non-Indigenous Australians despite their health care needs being much greater”.

Noting the severe health problems in distant Australian communities, an experienced nurse from overseas was amazed to find doctors and other health staff have to travel great distances by road instead of plane or helicopter.

Dr David Thomas told ABC Radio National’s Anne Barker Aboriginal death rates in Northern Territory for diabetes and heart disease, which cause 30 per cent of all Indigenous deaths, have dramatically slowed or even fallen in the past decade. The current AMA President, Mukesh Haikerwal, remains cautious, however, because rates of improvement are at a faster rate in the non-Indigenous community. “In fact the gap between the rates of death has actually increased. It's not acceptable for the improvement [in Indigenous communities] to be at such a miniscule rate compared to the rest of the community”, he said.

Indigenous Peoples and Poverty points out local initiatives are also important in isolated communities. In one town these included a drop-in centre to help with jobs and accommodation, sports carnivals, youth fashion-modelling programs, camping trips, drug action with educational activities, an emergency cash fund, prison visitors program, youth mentoring, family violence workshop, local women’s group, women’s camp, legal advocacy, support for repeat offenders, Indigenous night patrols, a sobering-up shelter. These all need financing.

Many Aborigines are voting with their feet in their quest to climb out of poverty. The Weekend Australian reported research by John Taylor of Australian National University showing the Indigenous population is booming in many country towns in New South Wales, South Australia, and Western Australia while the non-Indigenous population is stagnant or shrinking.

Conversely remote and very remote communities are shedding about 48 people per 1,000 population. With the exception of Sydney there are more Indigenous people moving into than leaving capital cities, where, however, they live in the poorest suburbs and suffer unemployment rates double or triple those of non-Indigenous neighbours.