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HEALTH OF ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER AUSTRALIANS

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples experience disadvantage across a range of socio-economic indicators. There is strong evidence from Australia and other developed countries that low socio-economic status is associated with poor health and increased exposure to a range of health risk factors.


General health

In the 2004-05 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey (NATSIHS), conducted by the ABS, just over three-quarters of Indigenous people aged 15 years and over assessed their health as good, very good or excellent while 22% reported their health as fair or poor. After adjusting for differences in the age structure between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations, Indigenous people were almost twice as likely to report their health as fair or poor.


Long-term conditions

Around two-thirds (65%) of Indigenous people had at least one long-term health condition in 2004-05 (table 11.30). While Indigenous and non-Indigenous people overall were equally likely to report a long-term condition, the prevalence of long-term condition(s) was higher among Indigenous Australians than non-Indigenous Australians in the age groups from 25-54 years.

Eye/sight problems (30%), asthma (15%), back and disc disorders (13%), heart/circulatory diseases (12%) and ear/hearing problems (12%) were the most commonly reported long-term health conditions among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in 2004-05. In addition, 6% of Indigenous people reported diabetes mellitus and 2% reported kidney disease. After adjusting for differences in the age structure between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations, Indigenous people were more than ten times as likely as non-Indigenous people to have kidney disease, three times as likely to have diabetes, and one and a half times as likely to have asthma.

For detailed information on cardiovascular disease, diabetes and kidney disease among Indigenous Australians, refer to Selected chronic conditions among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australian Social Trends, 2007 (4102.0).

11.30 INDIGENOUS PERSONS: Selected long-term health conditions and risk factors - 2004-05
		Total Indigenous	Indigenous to non-Indigenous rate ratio(a)
		%	%
Long-term health conditions (ICD-10)
	Eye/sight problems	30	0.9
	Asthma	15	1.6
	Back problems	13	1.2
	Ear/hearing problems(b)	12	1.0
	Heart and circulatory problems/diseases	12	1.3
	Arthritis	9	1.2
	Diabetes mellitus	6	3.4
	Kidney disease	2	10.0
	Neoplasms/cancer	1	0.7
	Osteoporosis	1	0.7
Lifestyle risk factors(c)
	Overweight/obese	60	1.2
	Current daily smoker	50	2.2
	Risky/high risk alcohol consumption - short-term	19	2.1
	Risky/high risk alcohol consumption - long-term	16	1.1
(a) Indigenous age-standardised proportion divided by the non-Indigenous age-standardised proportion.
(b) Rate ratio is not age-standardised for ear/ hearing problems
(c) Persons aged 18 years and over.
Source: ABS data available on request, 2004-05 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey, Australia.