High unemployment and lasting impacts from colonialism have caused low income in Aboriginal homes. Today, people often find that Aboriginal communities in non-rural areas live off welfare in crowded housing.
The poverty cycle for indigenous citizens can be traced to the placement of indigenous people in missions, when children were taken away from their families and homelands under the government policy of “assimilation”. This forced assimilation destroyed the culture and traditions of indigenous communities.
Reasons for the lower employment rates include lower levels of education, training and skill levels (human capital), poorer health, living in areas with fewer labour market opportunities, higher levels of arrest and interactions with the criminal justice system, discrimination, and lower levels of job retention .
Background. Indigenous populations have poorer health outcomes compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts [1]. The experience of colonisation, and the long-term effects of being colonised, has caused inequalities in Indigenous health status, including physical, social, emotional, and mental health and wellbeing [2].
Consistent with many previous studies, Indigenous Australians have, on average, lower total income than non-Indigenous Australians, with this difference being largest for those who are full-time employed. The difference is also larger for males compared to females.
There is a long history of Indigenous workers being denied equal pay in Australia. Before 1966 it was common in many industries for Indigenous workers to often be paid around one-third of what non-Indigenous workers were paid. Many Indigenous workers were forced to work for rations.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and Indigenous holding entities don't need to pay income tax or capital gains tax on native title payments or benefits.
shorter life expectancy. higher rates of infant mortality. poorer health. lower levels of education and employment.
Indigenous Australians who are unemployed face a higher risk of poor health through higher rates of smoking, substance use and dietary behaviour (such as lower level of daily fruit consumption) compared with Indigenous Australians who are employed (Figure 4.2. 2).
Parents often left school without basic literacy and numeracy skills, providing the children with a low-literate home environment. If they were raised in missions, it is very likely they weren't educated because they weren't expected to learn to read and write.
13.68 For young Indigenous adults (aged 20 to 24 years), close to 70 per cent are not fully engaged with work or education compared to 30 per cent of the non-Indigenous workforce. This means that young Indigenous adults are three times as likely to be unemployed or not in the labour force.
Employment is critical to the health and prosperity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. For all Australians, employment offers social and economic benefits that flow to individuals, families, communities and the economy as a whole.
The report finds that inadequate funding for homelessness services, limited crisis and transitional accommodation, the shortage of affordable housing, barriers to housing access and inadequate attention to tenancy sustainment create a revolving door of housing and homelessness for many Indigenous people.
Things such as poverty, poor health/nutrition, poor housing, dispossession of their traditional lands, low education level, high unemployment are some of many factors that contribute to a lower life expectancy to Aboriginals than any other indigenous communities across the world.
Indigenous Australians are known to have the lowest economic status of all Australians. Poor socio-economic, education and employment levels have links to financial hardship, poverty, debt, homelessness, family breakdown, social isolation and crime.
At the end of the June quarter of 2016, around 45% of Indigenous Australians aged 15 and over (220,800 people) were receiving some form of Centrelink income support payment, compared with 26% of non-Indigenous Australians of this age (4.9 million people).
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students who live in regional and remote Australia are guaranteed a Commonwealth supported place at a university of their choice. They must be accepted by the university into their chosen course of study.
What about student fees? Eligible Aboriginal students do not pay a fee for any Smart and Skilled qualification they undertake, regardless of the number of qualifications in which they enrol, or the level of the qualification.
Aboriginal communities are also suffering from a mix of issues, often a consequence of the trauma people have experienced: Lack of services. Communities lack medical and disability services, and often have no Home or Community Care services. Lack of medical care.
Indigenous peoples usually live in isolated areas, outside the mainstream of national economies and development support. The areas they inhabit are even more likely to lack infrastructure such as roads, schools and health posts.
Important determinants of Indigenous health inequality in Australia include the lack of equal access to primary health care and the lower standard of health infrastructure in Indigenous communities (healthy housing, food, sanitation etc) compared to other Australians.
But Aboriginal people are subject to the same social security laws and entitled to no more (and no less) government sponsorship than any other Australian. There has never been a government program that distributed free houses or cars, and Aboriginal students have to pay for university like everyone else.
Indigenous Australians have higher unemployment rates than non-Indigenous Australians; they also earn lower household incomes and are more likely to receive a government pension or allowance, as their main source of income.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples hold distinct cultural rights and must not be denied the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their culture, and to have their traditional connections with land, waters and resources recognised and valued.