Indigenous Australians
This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2008) |
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Total population | |
---|---|
517,000[1] 2.6% of Australia's population | |
Regions with significant populations | |
![]() | 32.5% |
![]() | 4.0% |
![]() | 3.6% |
![]() | 2.5% |
![]() | 2.3% |
![]() | 1.0% |
Languages | |
Several hundred Indigenous Australian languages (many extinct or nearly so), Australian English, Australian Aboriginal English, Torres Strait Creole, Kriol | |
Religion | |
Primarily Christian, with minorities of other religions including Islam and various forms of Traditional belief systems based around the Dreamtime | |
Related ethnic groups | |
see List of Indigenous Australian group names |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Bathurst_Island_men.jpg/135px-Bathurst_Island_men.jpg)
Indigenous Australians are descendants of the first known human inhabitants of the Australian continent and its nearby islands. The term includes both the Torres Strait Islanders and the Aboriginal People, who together make up about 2.6% of Australia's modern population. The latter term is usually used to refer to those who live in mainland Australia, Tasmania, and some of the other adjacent islands. The Torres Strait Islanders are indigenous to the Torres Strait Islands between Australia and New Guinea. When the first indigenous Australians migrated to Australia is disputed among researchers, as estimates range from 125,000 years ago to 40,000 years ago. [2]
The term Indigenous Australians encompasses many different communities and societies, and these are further divided into local communities with unique cultures.[3] Although there are over 250 spoken languages, fewer than 200 of the languages of these groups remain in use[4] — all but 20 are considered to be endangered.[5] It is estimated that prior to the arrival of British settlers the population of Indigenous Australians was approximately 318,000 - 750,000 across the continent.[6] The distribution of people was similar to that of the current Australian population, with the majority living in the south east centred along the Murray River.[7]
Definitions
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Aboriginals_Performing_at_Crown_Street_Mall.jpg/220px-Aboriginals_Performing_at_Crown_Street_Mall.jpg)
The term "blacks" has often been applied to Indigenous Australians. This owes rather more to racial stereotyping than ethnology, as it categorises Indigenous Australians with the other black peoples of Asia and Africa. In the 1970s, many Aboriginal activists, such as Gary Foley proudly embraced the term "black", and writer Kevin Gilbert's groundbreaking book from the time was entitled Living Black. In recent years young Indigenous Australians — particularly in urban areas — have increasingly adopted aspects of black American and Afro-Caribbean culture, creating what has been described as a form of "black transnationalism."[8]
Aboriginal Australians
The word aboriginal, appearing in English since at least the 17th century and meaning "first or earliest known, indigenous," (Latin Aborigines, from ab: from, and origo: origin, beginning),[9] has been used in Australia to describe its Indigenous peoples as early as 1789. It soon became capitalised and employed as the common name to refer to all Indigenous Australians. Strictly speaking, "Aborigine" is the noun and "Aboriginal" the adjectival form; however the latter is often also employed to stand as a noun. Note that the use of "Aborigine(s)" or "Aboriginal(s)" in this sense, i.e. as a noun, has acquired negative, even derogatory connotations among some sectors of the community, who regard it as insensitive, and even offensive.[10]
Torres Strait Islanders
The eastern Torres Strait Islanders in particular are related to the Papuan peoples of New Guinea, and speak a Papuan language[11].
Languages
The Indigenous languages of mainland Australia and Tasmania have not been shown to be related to any languages outside Australia. In the late 18th century, there were anywhere between 350 and 750 distinct groupings and a similar number of languages and dialects. At the start of the 21st century, fewer than 200 Indigenous Australian languages remain in use and all but about 20 of these are highly endangered. Linguists classify mainland Australian languages into two distinct groups, the Pama-Nyungan languages and the non-Pama Nyungan. The Pama-Nyungan languages comprise the majority, covering most of Australia, and are a family of related languages. In the north, stretching from the Western Kimberley to the Gulf of Carpentaria, are found a number of groups of languages which have not been shown to be related to the Pama-Nyungan family or to each other: these are known as the non-Pama-Nyungan languages. While it has sometimes proven difficult to work out familial relationships within the Pama-Nyungan language family many Australianist linguists feel there has been substantial success.[11] Against this some linguists, such as R. M. W. Dixon, suggest that the Pama-Nyungan group, and indeed the entire Australian linguistic area, is rather a sprachbund, or group of languages having very long and intimate contact, rather than a genetic linguistic phylum.[12]
History
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Native_Encampment_by_Skinner_Prout%2C_from_Australia_%281876%2C_vol_II%29.jpg/250px-Native_Encampment_by_Skinner_Prout%2C_from_Australia_%281876%2C_vol_II%29.jpg)
The general consensus among scholars for the arrival of humans in Australia is placed at 40,000 to 50,000 years ago with a possible range of up to 70,000 years ago. The earliest human remains found to date are that of Mungo Man which have been dated at about 40,000 years old. At the time of first European contact, it has been estimated the absolute minimum pre-1788 population was 315,000, while recent archaeological finds suggest that a population of 750,000 could have been sustained.[13] The mode of life and material cultures varied greatly from region to region. The greatest population density was to be found in the southern and eastern regions of the continent, the Murray River valley in particular.
British colonisation of Australia began in Sydney in 1788. The most immediate consequence of British settlement - within weeks of the first colonists' arrival - was a wave of Old World epidemic diseases. Smallpox alone killed more than 50% of the Aboriginal population.[14] It is probable that anywhere between 50-90% of all the Aborigines in the vicinity of Sydney died from the smallpox epidemic within the first three years of the British settlement.[15] Many Indigenous people adapted to European culture, working as stock hands or labourers. Atrocities continued. "The white station owners would go on regular hunts for Aborigines. 'Instead of having a kangaroo hunt, we'll have an Aboriginal hunt'. They would go out and shoot them, men, women and children'". [16] By the early 20th century the Indigenous population had declined to an estimated 150,000 from 190,000.[17]
Commonwealth legislation in 1962 specifically gave Aborigines the right to vote in Commonwealth elections. The 1967 referendum allowed the Commonwealth to make laws with respect to Aboriginal people, and for Aboriginal people to be included when the country does a count to determine electoral representation. In the controversial 1971 Gove land rights case, Justice Blackburn ruled that Australia had been terra nullius before British settlement, and that no concept of native title existed in Australian law. In 1972, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy was established on the steps of Parliament House in Canberra. In 1992, the High Court of Australia handed down its decision in the Mabo Case, declaring the previous legal concept of terra nullius to be invalid. In 2004, the Australian Government abolished the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), which had been Australia's peak Indigenous organisation. The abolition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission occurred soon after rape allegations were brought against its chairman Geoff Clark. On 13 February 2008 prime minister Kevin Rudd issued a public apology to members of the Stolen Generation on behalf of the Australian government.
Aborigines and the environment
The effect of Aborigines on the Australian Environment has been the subject of fierce debate, partly because of the intrinsic interest of the topic in an academic sense, partly because of its implications in modern land management practices, and partly because of its philosophical and political resonance. The two major topics, sometimes discussed together, and at times directly linked by some authors, are the use of fire by Aborigines, and the mechanism for the extinction of the "Australian megafauna". In both cases there have been strongly held opposing beliefs which have oscillated in popularity over some 200 years. To begin with fire, a subject of interest from the time that the colonists at Sydney Cove saw fires burning in the bush. In 1957 John Cleland summed up the beliefs of the previous 150 years when he said "What changes have our natives produced in the vegetation of Australia? It would seem they have produced singularly little ... They fitted naturally into the ecology of the land they inhabited and might have continued to do so indefinitely ... obviously the frequency and extent of bushfires must have increased greatly since fire-producing man arrived ... I know of nothing to suggest that such firing by the Aborigines has altered the covering of vegetation" (JB Cleland "Our natives and the vegetation of southern Australia" Mankind 5: 149-162 1957). But within 2 years he was totally contradicted by Norman Tindale who said "Man, setting fire to large areas of his territory ... probably has had a significant hand in the moulding of the present configuration of parts of Australia. Indeed much of then grassland of Australia could have been brought into being as a result of his exploitation. Some of the post-climax rain forests may have been destroyed in favour of invading sclerophyll, as the effects of his firestick were added to the effects of changing climate in Early Recent times... Perhaps it is correct to assume that man has had such a profound effect on the distribution of forest and grassland that true primaeval forest may be far less common in Australia than is generally realised" (NB Tindale "Ecology of primitive Aboriginal man in Australia’ Biogeography and Ecology in Australia" Monographiae Biologicae 8, Junk, The Hague, p36-51, 1959). Tindale's view became popular, and was expanded on by Rhys Jones (eg "Fire-stick farming" Australian Natural History 16:224-228 1969; and "The Neolithic, Palaeolithic and the hunting gardeners" in R. Suggate and M. Cresswell (eds) Quaternary Studies Royal Society of New Zealand, Wellington, p21-34, 1975) and by Sylvia Hallam ("Fire and Hearth", Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra, 1975). The theory of Tindale, Jones and Hallam was later popularised by Tim Flannery ("The Future Eaters", Reed Books, Melbourne, 1994). It became very popular (some reasons are explored here) with extensive media support, and was used by foresters to justify the "prescribed burning" opposed by ecologists; the clearing of trees by farmers; and the opening up of national parks to various activities. Lost in the enthusiasm was any sense that "Fire-stick farming" was just a theory. In 1982 David Horton published a paper ("The Burning Question: Aborigines, Fires and Australian Ecosystems", Mankind 13:237-251, 1982) criticising the Tindale, Jones, Hallam theory and returning, in a sense, to the view of Cleland. In 2000 he published a book ("The Pure State of Nature", Allen & Unwin, Sydney 2000; available online here) setting out in full an alternative view of the relationship between Aborigines and the Australian environment (particular chapters on fire can be found here and here; subsequent work is available here). In essence Horton pointed out the lack of archaeological evidence for the use of fire in forests; that the vegetation patterns of Australia were of long-standing and not the result of fire; that the Aboriginal economy depended not on animals like kangaroos that might be favoured by fires but on small species that wouldn't be; and that the Australian fauna and flora were not adapted to fire, and in fact would be greatly damaged by frequent use of fire. Ecological research in recent years has provided considerable evidence for the last of those propositions.
The theories about Aborigines and the Australian megafauna have a similar antiquity. Bones of large mammals (such as Diprotodon) began to be discovered in 1839 and it was fairly quickly realised that these species were extinct. Comparisons were drawn with the similar extinct large mammals in Europe (eg Mammoths), and a debate began as to whether these species had become extinct in Australia as a result of hunting by humans or climate change (in Europe there was a similar debate though in that case the change in climate was the end of the Ice Age). Ludwig Leichardt, just 4 years after the first discoveries, set out the problem beautifully "It seems to me that the conditions of life can have very little changed [in western NSW], as the same shells live still in similar waterholes. The want of food can scarcely be the cause of their [Diprotodon] disappearing; as flocks of sheep and cattle depasture over their fossil remains. But as such a herbivore must have required a large body of water for his sustenance, the drainage of these plains or the failing of these springs ... has been, probably, the cause of their retiring to more favourable localities. " (from his letter to R. Owen of 10 July 1844 in M. Aurousseau (ed) The letters of Ludwig Leichardt, Hakluyt Society, Cambridge). The distinguished Zoologist Leichardt was writing to, Richard Owen, changed his mind on the reasons for extinction, first climate change "[The fossils] tell us plainly that the time was when Australia’s arid plains were trodden by the hooves of heavy pachyderms [ie Diprotodon]; but could the land then have been, as now, parched by long continued droughts, with dry river courses containing here and there a pond of water? ... May not the change from a more humid climate to the present peculiarly dry one have been the cause, or chief cause, of the extinction of such pachyderms?" then humans "as the elephant succumbs to the spears and pitfalls of the negro hunters, the minor bulk of the Diprotodon is not likely to have availed it against the combined assaults of the tribe of Australoid wielders of club and throwing sticks". And why did megafauna go extinct and not some of the other species? Owen had the answer "to a race of man depending like the blackfellows for subsistence on the chase, the largest and most conspicuous kinds of wild beasts first fall prey" (The Owen sequence is found in ‘On the discovery of the remains of a mastodontoid pachyderm in Australia’ Annals and Magazine Natural History 11: 7-12, 1843, ‘On the fossil mammals of Australia Part 3 Diprotodon australis’ RoyalSociety of London Philosophical Transactions 160: 519-578, Researches on the fossil remains of the extinct mammals of Australia Erxleben, London, 1877, ‘Extinct animals of the colonies of Great Britain’, Proceedings of the Royal Colonial Institute 10: 267-297, 1879). This debate was summed up in David Horton "The great megafaunal extinction debate 1879-1979" The Artefact 4:11-25, 1979; D. Horton "A review of the extinction question" Archaeology and Physical Anthropology in Oceania 15: 86-97, 1980).
The debate was to continue for well over 100 years with many of the same protagonists as for fire. An American, Paul Martin, thought that the megafauna both in Australia and America had become extinct as a result of over-hunting (P. Martin and H. Wright "Pleistocene Extinctions" Yale University Press, New Haven, 1967) and Rhys Jones (eg "The geographical background to the arrival of man in Australia" Archaeology and Physical Anthropology in Australia 3: 186-215, 1968) also thought man did it, but perhaps as a result of fire altering the habitat, while David Horton (eg "Red Kangaroos, last of the Australian megafauna" in P. Martin and R. Klein, Quaternary Extinctions, University of Arizona Press, Tucson, p 639-680, 1984) thought it was climate change. Tim Flannery combined the Martin and Jones views ("The Future Eaters", Reed Books, Melbourne, 1994), recombined them to suggest that over-hunting caused the extinctions which in turn left more vegetation which needed to be controlled by fire. David Horton ("The Pure State of Nature", Allen & Unwin, Sydney 2000; available online here) analysed all those theories and reached the conclusion that climate change was the mechanism. The difficulty in deciding between human and climate change causation of Australian extinctions was that, in spite of 100 years of discovery of archaeological and palaeontological sites, and in spite of some 30 years of being able to date such sites, by the 1980s scientists were still faced with the fact that humans had arrived in Australia and megafauna had gone extinct, both at roughly the same time as the last great climatic swing of the Pleistocene period. The event, and the two possible causes, were all roughly contemporaneous, and the sites being excavated, and the dating processes used, were incapable of satisfying everyone as to their meaning. In addition there was no agreement on how humans could have caused extinctions (the mechanisms proposed were both theoretically unsatisfactory) or how climate change could have done the trick (opponents claiming that there was no climatic reason for extinctions to have occurred at the end of the Pleistocene and not earlier, and Horton's failure of permanent water supplies mechanism not being generally accepted).
In a sense this remains the situation today. However the proponents of human causation, by the method of greatly restricting the megafaunal sites which they will accept as worth dating, claim that the extinctions coincide with human arrival (around 47,000 years ago). The opponents of this view see a long overlap between human arrival and final extinction (and suggest that many extinctions did indeed occur earlier in the Pleistocene due to climatic change, and in the absence of humans), the latter viewed as taking place after 40,000 years ago (the restriction of dating to sites with articulated skeletons having the effect of removing archaeological sites from consideration). Sites such as Cuddies Springs (Field, J., et al., Chronological overlap between humans and megafauna in Sahul (Pleistocene Australia –New Guinea): A review of the evidence, Earth-Science Reviews (2008), doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2008.04.006) are crucial to this modern debate, that is sites where there was actual interaction between humans and megafauna. A number of such sites indicate considerable overlap in time between the arrival of the first humans and the disappearance of the last of the megafauna. Even one site is enough to disprove human causation, which is why every new announcement has been bitterly contested by scientists who favour that cause.
Culture
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/Aboriginal_Art_Australia.jpg/200px-Aboriginal_Art_Australia.jpg)
There are a large number of tribal divisions and language groups in Aboriginal Australia, and, corresponding to this, a wide variety of diversity exists within cultural practices. However, there are some similarities between cultures.
Belief systems
Religious demography among Indigenous Australians is not conclusive because the methodology of the census is not always well-suited to obtaining accurate information on Aboriginal people. [18] The 1996 census reported that almost 72 percent of Aborigines practiced some form of Christianity; 16 percent listed no religion. The 2001 census contained no comparable, updated data.[19] There has also been an increase in the number of followers of Islam among the Indigenous Australian community.[20] This growing community includes high-profile members such as the boxer, Anthony Mundine. (See Islam in Australia).
In the world's oldest continent the creative epoch known as the Dreamtime stretches back into a remote era in history when the creator ancestors known as the First Peoples travelled across the great southern land of Bandaiyan (Australia), creating and naming as they went.[21]
Indigenous Australia's oral tradition and religious values are based upon reverence for the land and a belief in this Dreamtime. The Dreaming is at once both the ancient time of creation and the present day reality of Dreaming. There were a great many different groups, each with their own individual culture, belief structure, and language. These cultures overlapped to a greater or lesser extent, and evolved over time. Major Ancestral spirits include the Rainbow Serpent, Baiame, and Bunjil. The Yowie and Bunyip are also well known Ancestral beings. One version of the Dreaming story runs as follows:[This quote needs a citation]
The whole world was asleep. Everything was quiet, nothing moved, nothing grew. The animals slept under the earth. One day the rainbow snake woke up and crawled to the surface of the earth. She pushed everything aside that was in her way. She wandered through the whole country and when she was tired she coiled up and slept. So she left her tracks. After she had been everywhere she went back and called the frogs. When they came out their tubby stomachs were full of water. The rainbow snake tickled them and the frogs laughed. The water poured out of their mouths and filled the tracks of the rainbow snake. That's how rivers and lakes were created. Then grass and trees began to grow and the earth filled with life.
Music
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/Didgeridoo_Entier1.jpg/220px-Didgeridoo_Entier1.jpg)
Aboriginal people developed unique instruments and folk styles. Called a yirdaki by the Yolngu, the didgeridoo (the officially recognised spelling "Didjeridu" is rarely used) is commonly considered the national instrument of Aboriginal people, and it is claimed to be the world's oldest wind instrument.[citation needed] However, it was traditionally only played by Arnhem Land people, such as the Yolngu, and then only by the men. It has possibly been used by the people of the Kakadu region for 1500 years.[citation needed] Clapping sticks are probably the more ubiquitous musical instrument, especially because they help maintain the rhythm for the song. Much contemporary Aboriginal music is predominantly of the country music genre. Most indigenous radio stations - particularly in metropolitan areas - serve a double purpose as the local country music station. An example is 4AAA in Brisbane.[citation needed] More recently, Indigenous Australian musicians have branched into rock and roll, hip hop and reggae. One of the most well known modern bands is Yothu Yindi playing in a style which has been called Aboriginal rock.
Art
Australia has a tradition of Aboriginal art which is thousands of years old,[citation needed] the best known forms being rock art and bark painting. These paintings usually consist of paint using earthly colours, specifically, from paint made from ochre. Traditionally, Aborigines have painted stories from their dreamtime. Modern Aboriginal artists continue the tradition using modern materials in their artworks. Aboriginal art is the most internationally recognisable form of Australian art. Several styles of Aboriginal art have developed in modern times including the watercolour paintings of Albert Namatjira; the Hermannsburg School, and the acrylic Papunya Tula "dot art" movement. Painting is a large source of income for some Central Australian communities such as at Yuendumu today.[citation needed]
Australian Aboriginal poetry is found throughout Australia. It ranges from the sacred to the every day. Ronald M Berndt has published traditional Aboriginal song-poetry in his book "Three Faces of Love", Nelson 1976. R.M.W. Dixon and M. Duwell have published two books dealing with sacred and every day poetry- "The Honey Ant men's love song" and "Little Eva at Moonlight Creek", University of Queensland Press, 1994".
Traditional recreation
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/Marn_grook_illustration_1857.jpg/260px-Marn_grook_illustration_1857.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Aboriginal_football.jpg/260px-Aboriginal_football.jpg)
The Djabwurrung and Jardwadjali people of western Victoria once participated in the traditional game of Marn Grook, a type of football played with possum hide.[23] The game is believed by some to have inspired Tom Wills, inventor of the code of Australian rules football, a popular Australian winter sport. The Wills family had strong links to indigenous people and Wills coached the first Australian cricket side to tour England, the Australian Aboriginal cricket team in England in 1868. Similarities between Marn Grook and Australian football include the unique skill of jumping to catch the ball or high "marking", which results in a free kick. The word "mark" may have originated in "mumarki", which is "an Aboriginal word meaning catch" in a dialect of a Marn Grook playing tribe however most likely the word 'mark' originated from rugby which Tom Wills played and adopted a lot of elements from for Aussie Rules.Indeed, Aussie Rules has seen many indigenous players at elite football, and have produced some of the most exciting and skillful to play the modern game. In 2006, approximately one in ten AFL players were of indigenous origin.[24] The contribution the Aboriginal people have made to the game is recognised by the annual AFL "Dreamtime at the 'G" match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground between Essendon and Richmond football clubs (the colours of the two clubs combine to form the colours of the Aboriginal flag, and many great players have come from these clubs, including Essendon's Michael Long and Richmond's Maurice Rioli). Testifying to this abundance of indigenous talent, the Aboriginal All-Stars are an AFL-level all-Aboriginal football side competes against any one of the Australian Football League's current football teams in pre-season tests. The Clontarf Foundation and football academy is just one organisation aimed at further developing aboriginal football talent. The Tiwi Bombers began playing in the Northern Territory Football League and became the first and only all-Aboriginal side to compete in a major Australian competition.
The first Aboriginal to captain any Australian national sports team was Arthur Beetson, a Queensland rugby league player. Australian Aborigines have a strong presence in rugby league in Australia.
Issues facing Indigenous Australians today
The Indigenous Australian population is a mostly urbanised demographic, but a substantial number (27%[25]) live in remote settlements often located on the site of former church missions. The health and economic difficulties facing both groups are substantial. Both the remote and urban populations have adverse ratings on a number of social indicators, including health, education, unemployment, poverty and crime.[26] In 2004 former Prime Minister John Howard initiated contracts with Aboriginal communities, where substantial financial benefits are available in return for commitments such as ensuring children wash regularly and attend school. These contracts are known as Shared Responsibility Agreements. This saw a political shift from 'self determination' for Aboriginal communities to 'mutual obligation'[27], which has been criticised as a "paternalistic and dictatorial arrangement"[28]. The "Mutual Obligation" concept was introduced for all Australians in receipt of welfare benefits and who are not disabled or elderly[29]. Notably, just prior to a federal election being called, John Howard in a Speech at the Sydney Institute on October 11 2007 acknowledged some of the failures of the previous policies of his government and said "We must recognise the distinctiveness of Indigenous identity and culture and the right of Indigenous people to preserve that heritage. The crisis of Indigenous social and cultural disintegration requires a stronger affirmation of Indigenous identity and culture as a source of dignity, self-esteem and pride."
Stolen Generations
On February 13, 2008, the federal government of Australia, led by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, issued a formal apology to the Indigenous Australians over the Stolen Generations,[30]
Health
In 2002 data collected on health status reported that Indigenous Australians were twice as likely as non-indigenous people to report their health as fair/poor and one-and-a-half times more likely to have a disability or long-term health condition (after adjusting for demographic structures).[25] In 1996-2001, the life expectancy of an Indigenous Australian was 59.4 years for males and, in 2004-05, 65.0 years for females[31], approximately 17 years lower than the Australian average.[25]
Health problems with the highest disparity (compared with the non-Indigenous population) in incidence [32] are outlined in the table below:
Health problem | Comparative incidence rate | Comment |
---|---|---|
Dementia | 26-fold | 26 times more likely to develop dementia than the rest of the Australian population and in some cases, an earlier onset of symptoms[33] |
Circulatory system diseases | 2 to 10-fold | 5 to 10-fold increase in rheumatic heart disease and hypertensive disease, 2-fold increase in other heart disease, 3-fold increase in death from circulatory system disorders. Circulatory system diseases account for 24% of total indigenous deaths[34] |
Diabetes | 3 to 4-fold | 11% incidence of Type 2 Diabetes in Indigenous Australians, 3% in non-Indigenous population. 7 to 10 times more deaths in Aboriginals from diabetes than expected. 18% of total indigenous deaths [34] |
Chronic kidney disease | 2 to 3-fold | 2 to 3-fold increase in listing on the dialysis and transplant registry, up to 30-fold increase in end stage renal disease, 8-fold increase in death rates from kidney disease, 2.5% of total indigenous deaths [34] |
Neoplasms (Cancer) | 60% increase in death rate | 60% increased death rate from cancers. In 1999-2003, neoplasms accounted for 17% of all Aboriginal deaths[34] |
Respiratory disease | 3 to 4-fold | 3 to 4-fold increased death rate from respiratory disease accounting for 8% of total indigenous deaths |
Communicable diseases | Up to 70-fold | 10-fold increase in tuberculosis, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C virus, 20-fold increase in Chlamydia, 40-fold increase in Shigellosis and Syphilis, 70-fold increase in Gonococcal infections |
External Causes | 3-fold increase in fatalities | Of Indigenous fatal injuries, 24% are from suicide, 26% from motor vehicle accidents and 17% from assault. Combined, external causes account for 16% of all Indigenous deaths[34] |
Vision problems | 2-fold | A 2-fold increase in cataracts |
Oral health | 2-fold increase | 2-fold increase in children with dental decay |
Mental health | 2 to 5-fold | 5-fold increase in drug-induced mental disorders, 2-fold increase in schizophrenia, 2 to 3-fold increase in suicide, 3-fold increase in death rate |
Infant mortality | 2 to 3-fold | Over the period 1999-2003, in Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory, the national infant mortality rate for Indigenous infants was three times the rate for non-Indigenous infants[34] |
Each of these indicators is expected to underestimate the true prevalence of disease in the Indigenous population due to reduced levels of diagnosis.[32]
The following factors have been at least partially implicated in the racial inequality in life expectancy:Cite error: A <ref>
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- poverty (low income)
- poor education
- substance abuse (smoking, alcohol, illicit drugs, glue, petrol[35][36]
- for remote communities poor access to health services including immunisation
- for urbanised Indigenous Australians, social pressures which prevent access to health services
- cultural differences resulting in poor communication between Indigenous Australians and health workers.
- exposure to violence or other types of abuse
Additional problems are created by the reluctance of many rural indigenous people to leave their homelands to access medical treatment in larger urban areas, particularly when they have need for on-going treatments such as dialysis.[32] However, in some categories of health problems, Aboriginal people living in remote areas have better health outcomes than those in urban areas. The difference is particularly striking in mental health -- living on traditional lands appears to produce better mental health outcomes. [37]
Successive Federal Governments have responded to the problem by implementing programs such as the Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (OATSIH). There have been some small successes, such as the reduction of infant mortality since the 1970s (down to twice the non-Indigenous levels in 1996-2001),[32] effected by bringing health services into indigenous communities, but on the whole the problem remains unsolved.
According to Western Australian Office of Aboriginal Health Abriginal Australians face a large number of health issues due to their living conditions. In Western Australia, respiratory, gastrointestinal, infectious and parasitic diseases are disproportionately higher among Aboriginal people, especially the young. Factors that put Aboriginal people, especially those residing in rural and remote areas at a higher risk of poor health are related to inadequate housing or harmful levels of community or personal hygiene. A survey of communities in Western Australia reported large problems with water supply and sanitation problems, overcrowding and substandard housing, waste-water disposal problems and the absence of rubbish disposal that resulted in a high prevalence of vermin and pests and a lack of personal hygiene (ABS & AIHW, 2003). Other factors include poor nutrition, obesity, substance abuse and exposure to violence.[38]
Education
Indigenous students as a group leave school earlier, and live with a lower standard of education, compared with their non-indigenous peers. Although the situation is slowly improving (with significant gains between 1994 and 2004),[25] both the levels of participation in education and training among Indigenous Australians and their levels of attainment remain well below those of non-Indigenous Australians.
- 39% of indigenous students stayed on to year 12 at high school, compared with 75% for the Australian population as a whole. ABS
- 22% of indigenous adults had a vocational or higher education qualification, compared with 48% for the Australian population as a whole. ABS
- 4% of Indigenous Australians held a bachelor degree or higher, compared with 21% for the population as a whole. While this fraction is increasing, it is increasing at a slower rate than that for non-Indigenous Australians. ABS
In response to this problem, the Commonwealth Government formulated a National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy. A number of government initiatives have resulted, some of which are listed by the Commonwealth Government's Indigenous Education page.
Crime
An Indigenous Australian is 11 times more likely to be in prison than a non-Indigenous Australian, and in June 2004, 21% of prisoners in Australia were Indigenous. [39] This over-representation of Indigenous Australians in prisons was drawn to public attention by the Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody.
Violent crime, including domestic and sexual abuse, is a problem in many communities. Indigenous Australians are twice as likely to be a victim of violence than non-Indigenous Australians,[39] with 24% of Indigenous Australians reported being a victim of violence in 2001.[39] This is consistent with hospitalisation data showing higher rates of injury due to assault.[39]
An estimated three in five children have suffered some kind of sexual abuse in the southeast Queensland Aboriginal community of Cherbourg [40]. In May, 2006, Alice Springs crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers abuse in Aboriginal communities a "National problem".[41] Australia-wide, Indigenous Australian children are 20-fold overrepresented in the juvenile corrective service[32] and 20-fold more likely to be involved in child abuse and neglect cases.[32]
In August 2007, the government announced the Northern Territory National Emergency Response, a package of welfare reform, law enforcement and other measures designed to address endemic levels of child abuse in the Northern Territory. Legislation was rushed through Parliament in support of the measures. Critics of the Intervention claim that it does not address the problem, but reduces land rights of the Aboriginal communities. Others supported the tough stance on child abuse.
Unemployment and housing
According to the 2001 Census, an Indigenous Australian is almost three times more likely to be unemployed (20.0% unemployment) than a non-Indigenous Australian (7.6%). The difference is not solely due to the increased proportion of Indigenous Australians living in rural communities, for unemployment is higher in Indigenous Australian populations living in urban centres (Source: ABS). The average household income for Indigenous Australian populations is 60% of the non-Indigenous average.[25]. Indigenous Australians are 6-fold more likely to be homeless, 15-fold more likely to be living in improvised dwellings, and 25-fold more likely to be living with 10 or more people.[32]
Substance abuse
Many Indigenous communities suffer from a range of health and social problems associated with substance abuse of both legal and illegal drugs. This is due to a lack of awareness and services available.
Alcohol consumption within Indigenous communities is seen as a significant issue, as are the domestic violence and associated issues resulting from the behaviour such as incest and gang rape. A large 2004-05 health survey by the ABS found that the proportion of the Indigenous adult population engaged in 'risky' and 'high-risk' alcohol consumption (15%) was comparable with that of the non-Indigenous population (14%), based on age-standardised data. [42]
The same health survey found that, after adjusting for age differences between the two populations, Indigenous adults were more than twice as likely as non-Indigenous adults to be current daily smokers of tobacco. [43]
One study[44] by the Australian National Commission on Drugs (ANCD) published in 2002 attributes the "public misperception of high alcohol use [in Indigenous communities]" to "the disproportionate level of harm caused (to the individual and community) by those drinking at very high levels in public" (ANCD 2002:p.2). Even so, other studies have indicated that those in the Indigenous communities who do drink excessively are at greater risk of harm (to themselves and others) than similar-level alcohol consumers in the wider population[45]
To combat the problem, a number of programs to prevent or mitigate against alcohol abuse have been attempted in different regions, many initiated from within the communities themselves. These strategies include such actions as the declaration of "Dry Zones" within indigenous communities, prohibition and restriction on point-of-sale access, and community policing and licensing. Some communities (particularly in the Northern Territory) introduced kava as a safer alternative to alcohol, as over-indulgence in kava produces sleepiness, in contrast to the violence that can result from over-indulgence in alcohol. These and other measures met with variable success, and while a number of communities have seen decreases in associated social problems caused by excessive drinking, others continue to struggle with the issue and it remains an ongoing concern. The ANCD study notes that in order to be effective, programs in general need also to address "...the underlying structural determinants that have a significant impact on alcohol and drug misuse" (Op. cit., p.26). In 2007, Kava was banned in the Northern Territory[46].
Petrol sniffing is also a problem among some remote Indigenous communities. Petrol vapour produces euphoria and dulling effect in those who inhale it, and due to its relatively low price and widespread availability, is an increasingly popular substance of abuse. Proposed solutions to the problem are a topic of heated debate among politicians and the community at large.[47][48] In 2005 this problem among Aboriginal communities was considered so serious that a new petrol Opal was distributed across the Northern Territory to combat it. Opal petrol does not give the 'high' that regular petrol does[49].
Political representation
Under Section 41 of the Australian Constitution Aboriginals always had the legal right to vote in Australian Commonwealth elections if their State granted them that right. This meant that all Aborigines outside Queensland and Western Australia had a legal right to vote. Indigenous Australians gained the unqualified right to vote in Federal elections in 1962. It was not until 1967 that they were counted in the population for the purpose of distribution of electoral seats. Only two Indigenous Australians have been elected to the Australian Parliament, Neville Bonner (1971-1983) and Aden Ridgeway (1999-2005). There are currently no Indigenous Australians in the Australian Parliament.
ATSIC, the representative body of Aborigine and Torres Strait Islanders, was set up in 1990 under the Hawke government. In 2004, the Howard government disbanded ATSIC and replaced it with an appointed network of 30 Indigenous Coordination Centres that administer Shared Responsibility Agreements and Regional Partnership Agreements with Aboriginal communities at a local level.[50]
In October 2007, just prior to the calling of a federal election, the then Prime Minister, John Howard, advocated a referendum to recognise Indigenous Australians in the Constitution. Reaction to his surprising adoption of the importance of the symbolic aspects of the reconciliation process, was mixed. The ALP supported the idea. Some sections of the Australian public and media [12] suggested it was a cynical attempt in the lead-up to an election to whitewash Mr Howard's poor handling of this issue during his term in office. David Ross (Central Land Council) said "its a new skin for an old snake." [51] (ABC radio 12 October 2007)
Mainland Australia
Groups and communities
Throughout the history of the continent, there have been many different Aboriginal groups, each with their own individual language, culture, and belief structure. At the time of British settlement there were over 200 distinct languages. There are an indeterminate number of Indigenous communities, comprised of several hundred groupings. Some communities, cultures or groups may be inclusive of others and alter or overlap; significant changes have occurred in the generations after colonisation.
The word 'community' is often used to describe groups identifying by kinship, language or belonging to a particular place or 'country'. A community may draw on separate cultural values and individuals can conceivably belong to a number of communities within Australia, identification within them may be adopted or rejected. An individual community may identify itself by many names, each of which can have alternate English spellings. The largest Aboriginal communities, the Pitjantjatjara, the Arrernte, the Luritja and the Warlpiri are all from Central Australia.
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Tiwi Islands and Groote Eylandt
The Tiwi islands are inhabited by the Tiwi, an Aboriginal people culturally and linguistically distinct from those of Arnhem Land on the mainland just across the water. They number around 2,500. Groote Eylandt belongs to the Anindilyakwa Aboriginal people, and is part of the Arnhem Land Aboriginal Reserve.
Tasmania
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The Tasmanian Aborigines are thought to have first crossed into Tasmania approximately 40,000 years ago via a land bridge between the island and the rest of mainland Australia during an ice age.[citation needed] The original population, estimated at 4,000 to 6,000 people, was reduced to a population of around 300 between 1803 and 1833 often due to the actions of British settlers.[citation needed] Almost all of the Tasmanian Aboriginal peoples today are descendants of two women: Fanny Cochrane Smith and Dolly Dalrymple.[citation needed] A woman named Truganini, who died in 1876, is generally considered to be the last first-generation tribal Tasmanian Aborigine while Fanny Cochrane Smith, who died in 1905, is recognised as the last of the Tasmanian Aboriginals.[citation needed]
This conflict is a subject of the Australian history wars, the 2002 publication of The Fabrication of Aboriginal History, Volume One: Van Diemen's Land 1803-1847 by Keith Windschuttle,[52] questioned the historical evidence used to identify the actual number of Aborigines killed stating that it was exaggerated and challenged what is labelled the "Black armband view of history" of Tasmanian colonisation. [13] After years of research, though only using officially-recorded deaths, Keith Windschuttle speculated that only 118 Tasmanian Aborigines had been killed in the whole period between 1803, when British settlement began, and 1847, when the frontier nature of Tasmanian society ended. Most Tasmanian Aboriginal deaths were the result of virulent diseases to which the natives had no immunity (including syphilis) and alcoholism.[53] His argument has been challenged by a number of authors, for example see "Contra Windschuttle" by S.G. Foster in Quadrant, March 2003, 47:3.[54]
The more general academic argument about the history of Aboriginal Tasmania has been between Rhys Jones and David Horton. And in fact Windschuttle is implicitly tapping into this debate, although he presents it as if there is no debate, just a "factual" and uncontroversial account by Jones. The Jones hypothesis (presented in a series of academic papers including ‘The Tasmanian Paradox’ in R. Wright (ed) Stone tools as cultural markers, AIAS, Canberra, p 203, 1977; and 'Why did the Tasmanians stop eating fish?' In R. Gould (ed) Explorations in Ethnoarchaeology, University of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe, p11-47, 1978) is that Tasmanian Aborigines, as a consequence of being isolated from the Australian mainland for some ten thousand years (after sea levels rose), and as a consequence of small population size (perhaps some 4000 people), were doomed to extinction. They had retained, in isolation, a restricted and primitive technology, with no new inventions such as those which had occurred on the mainland (eg boomerangs and hafted tools), made foolish economic decisions (they didn't eat fish), had a very limited culture, and their population was insufficiently large for them to come up with new ideas on their own. Rhys asked "Even if Abel Tasman had not sailed the winds of the Roaring Forties in 1642, were they in fact doomed — doomed to a slow strangulation of the mind?" David Horton on the other hand (notably in ‘Tasmanian Adaptation’ Mankind 12:28-34, 1979) argued that Tasmanians were well adapted people with a rich culture. That what was being seen as "strangulation of the mind" was a rational response to the peculiar environment of Tasmania, and that Tasmanians were no more "different" to mainland groups than those groups were to each other, and far from being doomed to extinction were so well adapted they could have gone on for another 10,000 years. The debate was presented in more detail in David Horton 'The Pure State of Nature' Allen & Unwin 2000, which is available online http://www.blognow.com.au/mrpickwick/History_Conquerors/, the Tasmanian discussion being at http://www.blognow.com.au/mrpickwick/35548/Eating_fish_is_wrong.html.
As Windschuttle's work demonstrated, this issue has wide philosophical issues. Tasmania is a microcosm of the proposition that the British didn't invade Australia and take the land away from Aboriginal people, because Australia was "terra nullius", ie there was no one here who could be recognised as owning the country. Anyone who was here (and they had to agree that there were in fact people here) was presented as not using the land properly, and therefore deserved to have it taken over by white people who would. And to take the alibi even further, Aborigines were so primitive, especially Tasmanian Aborigines, that they were going to die out anyway. In the nineteenth century, when it was obvious that Aboriginal numbers were falling, observers put this down to a natural process whereby primitive people faded away in the presence of superior civilisations. Not clear on the process, but probably a kind of Darwinian survival of the best civilisation. This hypothesis explained away the loss of Aboriginal people without having to answer awkward questions about massacres, introduced diseases, and the destruction, through land theft and European activities, of Aboriginal economies and cultures. Keith Windschuttle is simply rehashing this argument by presenting a hypothesis that not many massacres happened. It is not surprising that he quotes Jones approvingly, because this provides another mechanism for the inarguable rapid decline in Tasmanian population from the time of the first white settlement - a mechanism with no foundation.
Torres Strait Islanders
Six per cent of Indigenous Australians identify themselves fully as Torres Strait Islanders. A further 4% of Indigenous Australians identify themselves as having both Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginal heritage.[55]
More than 100 islands make up the Torres Strait Islands where they come from.[56] There are 6,800 Torres Strait Islanders who live in the area of the Torres Strait, and 42,000 others who live outside of this area, mostly in the north of Queensland, such as in the coastal cities of Townsville and Cairns.[citation needed] Many organisations to do with Indigenous people in Australia are named "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander", showing the importance of Torres Strait Islanders in Australia's indigenous population. The islands were annexed by Queensland in 1879.[56] The Torres Strait Islanders were not given official recognition by the Australian government until the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission was set up in 1990.[citation needed]
Eddie Mabo was from Mer or Murray Island in the Torres Strait, which the famous Mabo decision of 1992 involved.[56]
Population
In 1983 the High Court of Australia[57] defined 'An Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander is a person of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent who identifies as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and is accepted as such by the community in which he or she lives'. This decision legally established that anyone who has a drop of Aboriginal blood can classify himself as an Aboriginal if he is accepted as such by his community. However, there is no formal procedure for any community to record acceptance, so the only method of determining indigenous population is from self-identification on census forms. There is no provision on the forms to differentiate full from part indigenous.[58]
The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics 2005 snapshot of Australia shows the indigenous population has grown at twice the rate of the overall population since 1996 when the indigenous population stood at 283,000. As at June 2001, the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated the total resident indigenous population to be 458,520 (2.4% of Australia's total), 90% of whom identified as Aboriginal, 6% Torres Strait Islander and the remaining 4% being of dual Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parentage. Much of the increase since 1996 can be attributed to higher rates of people identifying themselves as Aborigines and changed definitions of aboriginality. The preliminary census of Indigenous estimated resident population of Australia, at 30 June 2006, is 517,200.[59]
In the 2001 census the Aboriginal population in different States was:
- New South Wales - 134,888
- Queensland - 125,910
- Western Australia - 65,931
- Northern Territory - 56,875
- Victoria - 27,846
- South Australia - 25,544
- Tasmania - 17,384
- ACT - 3,909
- Other Territories - 233
While the State with the largest total Aboriginal population is New South Wales, as a percentage this constitutes only 2.1% of the overall population of the State. The Northern Territory has the largest Aboriginal population in percentage terms for a State or Territory, with 28.8%. All the other States and Territories have less than 4% of their total populations identifying as Aboriginal; Victoria has the lowest percentage (0.6%).
In 2001 about 30% of the Aboriginal population was living in major cities (a decrease from the 46% living in urban areas in 1971) and another 43% in or close to rural towns. The populations in the eastern states are more likely to be urbanised sometimes in city communities such as at Redfern in Sydney.[citation needed]
Prominent Indigenous Australians
There have been many distinguished Indigenous Australians, in politics, sports, the arts and other areas. These include (in alphabetical order):
- Arthur Beetson, former captain of the Australian national rugby league team, the first aboriginal to captain any Australian sporting team.
- Neville Bonner, member of the Australian Senate
- Ernie Bridge, first Aboriginal Member of the WA Parliament and the first Aboriginal person to be appointed a Cabinet Minister in any Parliament in Australia.
- Ernie Dingo, comedian, actor and presenter
- Mark Ella, rugby union player
- Cathy Freeman, Olympic athlete
- Jason Gillespie, Cricketer
- Adam Goodes, dual Brownlow Medallist
- Evonne Goolagong, winner of seven Grand Slam tennis events
- David Gulpilil, actor
- Eddie Kneebone, 2001 Pax Christi International Peace Prize
- Andrew McLeod, Australian rules footballer, dual Norm Smith Medallist and captain of the Australian team
- Marcia Langton, public intellectual
- Vincent Lingiari, Aboriginal rights activist
- Michael Long, Australian rules footballer and political activist
- John Moriarty, Artist, government advisor, founder of the Balarinji Design Studio, soccer player
- Anthony Mundine, former rugby league player and boxing champion
- Albert Namatjira, painter
- Sir Douglas Nicholls, Australian rules footballer, clergyman and Governor of South Australia,
- Oodgeroo Noonuccal, poet, author, playwright, civil rights activist, educator
- Lowitja O'Donoghue, nurse and activist
- Noel Pearson, public intellectual
- Charles Perkins, soccer player, sports administrator and civil rights activist
- Aden Ridgeway, member of the Australian Senate
- Maurice Rioli, Australian rules footballer, Norm Smith Medallist and politician
- Lionel Rose boxer, former world champion
- Gavin Wanganeen, Australian rules footballer and Brownlow Medallist
- Mandawuy Yunupingu, singer and songwriter
- Deborah Mailman, first Aboriginal actor to win the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
See also
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References
- ^ [1]Australian Bureau of Statistics
- ^ "When did Australia’s earliest inhabitants arrive?", University of Wollongong, 2004. Retrieved June 6, 2008
- ^ "Aboriginal truth and white media: Eric Michaels meets the spirit of Aboriginalism", The Australian Journal of Media & Culture, vol. 3 no 3, 1990. Retrieved June 6, 2008
- ^ "Australian Social Trends" Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1999, Retrieved on June 6, 2008,
- ^ Nathan, D: "Aboriginal Languages of Australia", Aboriginal Languages of Australia Virtual Library, "http://www.dnathan.com/VL/austLang.htm" 2007
- ^ 1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2002 Australian Bureau of Statistics January 25 2002
- ^ Pardoe, C: "Becoming Australian: evolutionary processes and biological variation from ancient to modern times", Before Farming 2006, Article 4, 2006
- ^ Chris Gibson, Peter Dunbar-Hall, Deadly Sounds, Deadly Places: Contemporary Aboriginal Music in Australia, pp. 120-121 (UNSW Press, 2005)
- ^ Originally used by the Romans to denote the (mythical) indigenous people of ancient Italy; see Sallust, Bellum Catilinae, ch. 6.
- ^ UNSW guide on How to avoid Discriminatory Treatment on Racial of Ethnic Grounds
- ^ Bowern, Claire and Harold Koch (eds.). 2004. Australian Languages: Classification and the comparative method. John Benjamins, Sydney.
- ^ Dixon, R.M.W. 1997. The Rise and Fall of Languages. CUP.
- ^ 1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2002 Australian Bureau of Statistics January 25 2002
- ^ Smallpox Through History
- ^ BC [Before Cook and Colonisation]
- ^ Charles Perkins, Order of Australia, Official Biography. 'A bastard Like Me'. 1975.
- ^ Aboriginal population much higher than records show The University of Sydney September 14 2006
- ^ Tatz, C. (1999, 2005). Aboriginal Suicide Is Different. Aboriginal Studies Press. [2]
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics - Religion
- ^ Phil Mercer (31 March, 2003). "Aborigines turn to Islam". BBC. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
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(help) - ^ Andrews, M. (2004) 'The Seven Sisters', Spinifex Press, North Melbourne, p. 424
- ^ (From William Blandowski's Australien in 142 Photographischen Abbildungen, 1857, (Haddon Library, Faculty of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge)
- ^ Kids play kick to kick -1850s style from abc.net.au
- ^ [3]
- ^ a b c d e Australian Bureau of Statistics Cite error: The named reference "2002 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics. Year Book Australia 2005
- ^ Nothing mutual about denying Aborigines a voice, Larissa Behrendt, The Age newspaper, December 8, 2004 [5]
- ^ Mutual Obligation Requirements
- ^ "Rudd says sorry", Dylan Welch, Sydney Morning Herald February 13, 2008
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (May 14, 2007). "The health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women: A snapshot, 2004-05".
- ^ a b c d e f g Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. [6]
- ^ ABC News [7]
- ^ a b c d e f Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. [8]
- ^ Petrol Sniffing - Health & Wellbeing
- ^ Alcohol and Other Drugs - Petrol
- ^ T. Vos, B. Barker, L. Stanley, A Lopez (2007). The burden of disease and injury in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples: Summary report, page 14. Brisbane: School of Population Health, University of Queensland. [9]
- ^ http://www.aboriginal.health.wa.gov.au/healthinfo/index.cfm
- ^ a b c d "4102.0 - Australian Social Trends, 2005: Crime and Justice: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People: Contact with the Law ABS". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 12/07/2005. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
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(help) - ^ Tony Koch (17 May, 2006). "Women act after three in five kids abused". The Australian.
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(help) - ^ Child abuse a 'national problem' | The Australian
- ^ Australian Statistician (2006). "National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey, 2004-05 (ABS Cat. 4715.0), Table 6" (PDF). pdf. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 2006-06-01.
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(help) The percentage-point difference between the two figures quoted is not statistically significant, and a similar result was obtained in the earlier 2000-01 survey. The definition of "risky" and "high-risk" consumption used is 4 or more standard drinks per day average for males, 2 or more for females. - ^ Australian Statistician (2006). "National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey, 2004-05 (ABS Cat. 4715.0), Table 1" (PDF). pdf. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
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(help) - ^ Australian National Commission on Drugs (2002). "ANCD Report into Cape York Indigenous Issues" (PDF). pdf. Retrieved 2006-06-01.
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(help) - ^ Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (2005). "National Drug Strategy Household Survey - detailed findings" (PDF). pdf. Retrieved 2006-06-01.
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(help), p.32 et. seq. - ^ Australian Broadcasting Commission (2007) "Kava Ban 'Sparks Black Market Boom'", ABC Darwin 23 August 2007 http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/23/2012707.htm?site=darwin Accessed 18 October 2007
- ^ Effects of sniffing petrol Northern Territory Government Health Department
- ^ Petrol Sniffing in Remote Northern Territory Communities Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
- ^ Australian Health Ministry
- ^ "Coordination and engagement at regional and national levels". Administration. Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination. 2006. Retrieved 2006-05-17.
- ^ (ABC Television News 12 October 2007)Patrick Dodson said "I think it's a positive contribution to the process of national reconciliation...It's obviously got to be well discussed and considered and weighed, and it's got to be about meaningful and proper negotiations that can lead to the achievement of constitutional reconciliation."
- ^ The Fabrication of Aboriginal History, Volume One: Van Diemen's Land 1803-1847, Keith Windschuttle, 2002, ISBN 1-876492-05-8
- ^ Historian dismisses Tasmanian aboriginal genocide "myth",PM show, ABC Local Radio, 12 December,2002. Transcript accessed 22 June 2007.
- ^ "Contra Windschuttle", S.G. Foster Quadrant, March 2003, 47:3 [10]
- ^ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, Australian Bureau of Statistics 2004. Accessed 21 June2007.
- ^ a b c Places - Torres Strait Islands ABC Radio Australia website, 2005. Accessed 21 June2007.
- ^ Commonwealth v Tasmania [1983] HCA 21; (1983) 158 CLR 1 (1 July 1983)
- ^ John Gardiner-Garden (2000-10-05). "The Definition of Aboriginality". Parliamentary Library. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- ^ Population Distribution, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians Australian Bureau of Statistics 15 AUG 2007 pdf.
Tim Flannery (1994), The Future Eaters: An Ecological History of the Australasian Lands and People, ISBN 0-8021-3943-4 ISBN 0-7301-0422-2
Further reading
External links
- Ceremony The Djungguwan of Northeast Arnhem Land
- Aborigines win 'native title' over Perth
- Australia's largest circulating Indigenous Affairs Newspaper
- Latest Indigenous news from ABC News Online
- Indigenous Australians - State Library of NSW
- Aboriginal Studies Virtual Library
- Department of Indigenous Affairs (Australian Government)
- European Network for Indigenous Australian Rights
- Indigenous Australia - Australian Museum educational site
- KooriWeb
- Norman B. Tindale's Catalogue of Aboriginal Tribes
- Reconciliation Australia
- Australian, Bosnian and Norwagian Cross-Bred Children
- Classroom Resources
- Joel Gibson (1 May 2007). "Australia worst in the world for indigenous health". stuff.com.nx. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
- Australian Bureau of Statistics (May 14, 2007). "Law and justice statistics - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: a snapshot, 2002".
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(help) - [http://enc.slq.qld.gov.au/vbook/slq/original-girl/index.htm