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EXPLANATORY NOTES


INTRODUCTION

1 This publication presents selected summary information about the health of Indigenous Australians from the 2004-05 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey (NATSIHS). While the publication has a focus on results for 2004-05, it also includes data from the Indigenous components of the 1995 and 2001 National Health Surveys (referred to in this publication as NHS(I)) and the 2002 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS) to allow comparisons over time to be made. Some data are also presented at the state and territory level and for remote and non-remote areas at a national level. Where estimates have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals. Results for the non-Indigenous population from the 2001 and 2004-05 National Health Survey (NHS) are also included for comparison purposes. See also National Health Survey: Summary of Results, 2004-05 (cat. no. 4364.0).

2 Throughout this publication, the term 'Indigenous' refers to all persons identified as being of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, or both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin. Information presented on Aboriginal persons includes data on persons identified as having both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin. Similarly, information on Torres Strait Islander persons also includes persons identified as having both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin.

SCOPE

3 The 2004-05 NATSIHS sample covered usual residents of private dwellings only. Private dwellings are houses, flats, home units and any other structures used as private places of residence at the time of the survey. Usual residents are those people who usually live in a particular dwelling and regard it as their own or main home. Usual residents of 'special' dwellings such as hotels, motels, hostels and hospitals were not included in the survey. Visitors to private dwellings were also excluded from the survey as well as persons whose usual place of residence was outside Australia.

4 Non-Indigenous people were not eligible for selection in the NATSIHS, although if they were a parent or guardian of an Indigenous child they may have been involved as a spokesperson for the child (see below for further details).

5 A total of 10,044 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults and children from across Australia were surveyed in the NATSIHS, which was conducted from August 2004 to July 2005. In addition, 395 Indigenous Australians were enumerated in the 2004-05 NHS sample of 25,906 persons. The Indigenous results included in this publication are based on the combined sample of 10,439 Indigenous Australians, comprising 5,757 adults and 4,682 children.

6 The estimated resident Indigenous population of Australia at 31 December 2004, excluding those living in non-private dwellings, was 474,310.

SAMPLE DESIGN

7 The NATSIHS was designed to produce reliable estimates at the national level and for each state and territory. In addition, the Torres Strait Islander population was over sampled in order to produce data for the Torres Strait Area and the remainder of Queensland.

8 The design of the NATSIHS incorporated a sample of discrete Indigenous communities (including any outstations associated with them) in Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory. The NATSIHS also incorporated a sample of dwellings in other areas of these states/territories not covered by the discrete Indigenous community sample and the remaining states/territories (referred to in this publication as 'non-community'). The samples for community areas and non-community areas each involved a multistage sampling process.

9 The community sample was obtained from a random selection of discrete Indigenous communities and outstations across Australia from a specially developed Indigenous Community Frame (ICF). The ICF was constructed using both 2001 Census counts and information collected in the 2001 Community Housing and Infrastructure Needs Survey (CHINS). Within selected communities and outstations a random selection of dwellings was made. Within selected dwellings, up to one Indigenous adult (18 years of age or more) and up to one Indigenous child (0 to 17 years of age) were randomly selected to participate in the survey.

10 Dwellings in non-community areas were selected using a stratified multistage area sample. A sample of Census Collection Districts (CDs) was randomly selected with the likelihood of a CD's selection based on the number of dwellings containing Indigenous persons in the area as at the 2001 Census of Population and Housing. A random selection of dwellings within selected CDs were then screened to assess their usual residents' Indigenous status. After screening about 180,000 households in non-community areas, approximately 2.1% were identified. Where a dwelling contained one or more Indigenous usual residents, up to two Indigenous adults (18 years of age or more) and up to two Indigenous children (0 to 17 years of age) were randomly selected to participate in the survey.

REMOTENESS

11 The Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) is used by the ABS for the collection and dissemination of geographically classified statistics. For the purposes of the NATSIHS, the ASGC divided Australia into five Remoteness categories: Major Cities of Australia; Inner Regional Australia; Outer Regional Australia; Remote Australia; and Very Remote Australia. These categories are based on the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA) which measures the remoteness of a point based on the physical road distance to the nearest Urban Centre.

12 The 2004-05 NATSIHS publication presents a number of tables dissected by remote and non-remote categories, which are based on the remoteness categories in the ASGC. Remote is comprised of Remote Australia and Very Remote Australia, while non-remote is comprised of Major Cities of Australia, Inner Regional Australia and Outer Regional Australia. For further details see Glossary.

13 For more information about the ASGC, see Australian Standard Geographical Classification, 2005 (cat. no. 1216.0).

DATA COLLECTION

14 Data collection was undertaken by ABS interviewers. Persons aged 18 years or more were interviewed personally, with the exception of persons who were too sick or otherwise unable to respond personally. Persons aged 15 to 17 years were interviewed with the consent of a parent or guardian. If consent wasn't obtained a parent or guardian was interviewed on their behalf. For persons aged less than 15 years, information was obtained from a person responsible for the child. Information about the dwelling, the financial situation of the household, and income for those who had not been selected was collected from a nominated household spokesperson. A total of 10,439 Indigenous persons, or about 1 in 45 of the total Indigenous population from across Australia, responded to the 2004-05 NATSIHS or the 2004-05 NHS.

15 There were a number of differences between the data collection methods used in remote communities (in Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory) and those used in other geographic areas. In remote communities, the standard household survey approaches were modified to take account of language and cultural issues. Interviews were conducted using a paper questionnaire. In addition, interviewers worked in teams of two, one male and one female, to collect the survey information. Male interviewers collected personal information from male respondents, and female interviewers collected personal information from female respondents. The interviewers were accompanied in the communities, wherever possible, by local Indigenous facilitators, preferably one male and one female, who assisted in the conduct and completion of the interviews. The Indigenous facilitators explained the purpose of the survey to respondents, introduced the interviewers, assisted in identifying the usual residents of a household and in locating residents who were not at home, and assisted respondent understanding of the questions where necessary.

16 The survey content in these remote communities excluded topics for which data of acceptable quality could not be collected. Some questions were reworded to assist respondents in understanding the concepts. Information on substance use was not collected. Only a subset of the supplementary women's health topics was collected. This was done through personal interview with adult female respondents who were informed of the potential sensitivity and voluntary nature of these questions.

17 In addition, in these communities a Community Information Form (CIF) was used to collect, from the Community Council and Health Clinic, a limited amount of community level information about CDEP, access to medical services and community health issues. Well-known community events were also identified to assist with defining time frames within the survey.

18 Interviews conducted in other geographical areas used a Computer Assisted Interviewing (CAI) questionnaire. CAI involves the use of a notebook computer to record, store, manipulate and transmit the data collected during interviews. In addition, there were two small paper questionnaires which covered substance use (for all persons aged 15 years and over) and specific supplementary women's health topics (for women aged 18 years and over). These additional questionnaires were voluntary and self-enumerated.

19 For the remote community area component of the NATSIHS, responses were received from approximately 85% of in-scope households. For the other areas, approximately 83% of in-scope households responded to the survey. In non-remote areas, the response rate for the substance use questionnaire was 78%, although a significant component of the non-response appears to reflect collection error where the substance use questionnaire may not have been offered to potential respondents. The response rate for the women's health questionnaire was 85%.

20 Because of the different collection methodologies described above not all data items are available for the total Indigenous population. The content for the NATSIHS in remote community areas is a subset (approximately 80%) of the content collected in other areas. The remote content excluded those items for which acceptable data quality levels could not be achieved. Data items not collected in the remote Indigenous communities are not released for the remote area in general. The National Health Survey and National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey, 2004-05: Data Reference Package (cat. no. 4363.0.55.002), which is available from the ABS web site, contains a full list of data items available from the remote and non-remote components of the survey as applicable.

SURVEY CONTENT

21 The NATSIHS collected information about:

• health status, including long term medical conditions and recent injuries;
• use of health services such as consultations with health practitioners and visits to hospitals, and other health related actions;
• health related aspects of lifestyle, such as smoking, diet, exercise, substance use (non-remote only) and alcohol consumption;
• demographic and socio-economic characteristics.

• self-assessed health status;
• long term medical conditions (e.g. arthritis, asthma, injuries, diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular conditions, kidney disease, osteoporosis, hearing and sight problems);
• short term injuries;
• admissions to hospitals;
• visits to casualty/outpatient facilities;
• visits to hospital day clinics (non-remote only);
• doctor consultations;
• dental consultations;
• consultations with other health professionals;
• days away from work/school due to illness or caring;
• other days of reduced activity due to illness;
• social and emotional wellbeing;
• smoking;
• alcohol consumption;
• exercise;
• body mass;
• dietary behaviours;
• adult immunisation;
• child immunisation (non-remote only);
• child breastfeeding status;
• women's health issues (e.g. mammograms, pap smear tests, breastfeeding history and use of contraceptives);
• substance use (non-remote only);
• discrimination.

24 The first step in calculating weights for each person or household was to assign an initial weight, which is equal to the inverse of the probability of being selected in the survey. For example, if the probability of a person being selected in the survey was 1 in 45, then the person would have an initial weight of 45 (that is, they would represent 45 people).

25 After calculating the initial weights an adjustment was incorporated into the weighting to account for Indigenous households not identified as such, as well as households that were identified as containing Indigenous residents but for which no response was obtained. Weights were further adjusted in order to optimally combine the 395 Indigenous persons from the 2004-05 NHS with the NATSIHS records.

Benchmarking

26 These adjusted initial weights were then calibrated to align with independent estimates of the Indigenous population, referred to as 'benchmarks'. Weights calibrated against Indigenous population benchmarks ensure that the survey estimates conform to the independently estimated distribution of the population rather than to the distribution within the sample itself. Calibration to population benchmarks helps to compensate for over- or under-enumeration of particular categories of persons which may occur due to either the random nature of sampling or non-response.

27 The 2004-05 NATSIHS was benchmarked to the estimated Indigenous resident population living in private dwellings in each state and territory, at 31 December 2004. These estimates were based on results from the 2001 ABS Census of Population and Housing. The 2004-05 NATSIHS estimates do not (and are not intended to) match estimates for the total Indigenous resident population (which includes persons and households living in non-private dwellings, such as hotels and boarding houses) derived from the 2001 Census or from administrative data sources that cover non-private dwellings.

Estimation

28 Survey estimates of counts of persons are obtained by summing the weights of persons with the characteristic of interest. Estimates for averages, such as average equivalised gross household income, are obtained by multiplying the characteristic of interest with the weight of the respondent, and then deriving the average of the weighted estimates.

RELIABILITY OF ESTIMATES

29 All sample surveys are subject to error which can be broadly categorised as either sampling error or non-sampling error. Sampling error occurs because only a small proportion of the total population is used to produce estimates that represent the whole population. Sampling error can be reliably measured as it is calculated based on the scientific methods used to design surveys. Non-sampling errors occur when survey processes work less effectively than intended. For example, some people selected for the survey may not respond (non-response); some survey questions may not be clearly understood by the respondent; and occasionally errors can be made in processing data from the survey.

Sampling error

30 In this publication, relative standard errors (RSE) are presented to measure the sampling error of the estimates. Information on sampling error and its impact on interpreting results in this publication are presented in the Technical Notes.

Non-sampling error

31 One of the main sources of non-sampling error is non-response by persons selected in the survey. Non-response can affect the reliability of results and can introduce bias. The magnitude of any bias depends upon the rate of non-response and the extent of the difference between the characteristics of those people who responded to the survey and those who did not.

32 To reduce the level and impact of non-response, local Indigenous facilitators were employed to assist with interviewing in communities; respondents who initially failed to respond were followed up; and estimates were aligned with population benchmarks to ensure adequate representation of the whole population.

33 Other forms of non-sampling error included interviewer error, errors in reporting by respondents, and coding and processing errors. Every effort was made to minimise these errors by careful design and testing of questionnaires; intensive training and supervision of interviewers; and extensive editing and quality control procedures at all stages of data processing.

34 An advantage of the CAI technology used in conducting interviews in non-remote areas for the NATSIHS is that it potentially reduces non-sample error by enabling edits to be applied as the data are being collected. The interviewer is alerted immediately if information entered into the computer is either outside the permitted range for that question, or contradictory to information previously recorded during the interview. These edits allow the interviewer to query respondents and resolve issues during the interview. CAI sequencing of questions is also automated such that respondents are asked only relevant questions and only in the appropriate sequencing, eliminating interviewer sequencing errors.

INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS

35 Care has been taken to ensure that the results of this survey are as accurate as possible. All interviews were conducted by trained ABS officers. Interviewers were provided with training in the social and cultural issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their communities, and how to communicate effectively and sensitively with Indigenous councils and people. Extensive reference material was developed for use in the field enumeration and intensive training was provided to interviewers in both classroom and on-the-job environments. There remain, however, other factors which may have affected the reliability of results, and for which no specific adjustments can be made. The following factors should be considered when interpreting these estimates:

• Information recorded in this survey is essentially 'as reported' by respondents, and hence may differ from information available from other sources or collected using different methodologies. Responses may be affected by imperfect recall or individual interpretation of survey questions.
• Some respondents may have provided responses that they felt were expected, rather than those that accurately reflected their own situation. Every effort has been made to minimise such bias through the development and use of culturally appropriate survey methodology.
• Reported information on long term medical conditions was not medically verified. However, for most medical conditions, respondents were asked whether they had ever been told by a doctor or nurse that they had that condition. Conditions which have a considerable effect on wellbeing or lifestyle are expected to be better reported than those which have little effect. Some people may be unaware of minor conditions, and occasionally may have serious conditions which have not been diagnosed.
• There may be some instances of under-reporting as a consequence of respondents being unwilling to talk about a particular condition at an interview. Results of previous health surveys conducted by the ABS also suggest a tendency for respondents in the general population to under-report alcohol, tobacco and substance use consumption levels, underestimate their weight, and to overestimate their height.

• In 2004-05 only respondents who could refer to children's immunisation records answered the full set of questions on child immunisation. Where respondents were not able to access immunisation records they were only asked a broad question regarding immunisation status rather than the full set of questions. This approach was taken because a significant number of respondents to the 2001 NHS(I) who were unable to refer to an immunisation record had difficulties answering the full set of questions (60% of these respondents could not have their overall immunisation status determined). The results for individual vaccinations are therefore representative of those who had immunisation records available, rather than of the non-remote Indigenous population. In 2004-05 data for immunisation therefore represents 41% of the Indigenous population in non-remote areas aged 0-6 years, compared with 61% in 2001.
• Different data items were collected for different time frames, e.g. health related actions taken in the 2 weeks prior to interview; whether a person was injured in the 4 weeks prior to interview; or whether a person was immunised in the 5 years prior to interview. The reliability and accuracy of data related to time frames is dependent upon the respondent's ability to recall the timing of events.
• The reliability of data on fruit and vegetable intake may be affected by the respondent's understanding of what constitutes a usual serving size.
• As noted in paragraph 19, the response rate for the substance use questionnaire was 78% in non-remote areas, reflecting in part collection error where forms may not have been offered to potential respondents. In this publication data from this survey has been compared with non-remote data available from the 2002 NATSISS where the response rate was over 90%. For the most part, the data appear to be consistent. However, the response rate difference should be considered in analysing the data.

38 It is important to note that age standardised estimates are to be used for comparison purposes only. The estimates themselves do not represent any real population parameters.

39 Further information on the interpretation of results is contained in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey 2004-05: Users' Guide (cat. no. 4715.0.55.004), which will be available on the ABS web site.

CLASSIFICATIONS

40 Major classifications used for items shown in this publication are:

• The broad geographical regions defined as remote and non-remote are based on the ASGC Remoteness Structure (see paragraph 11).
• All reported long term medical conditions were coded to a list of approximately 1,000 condition categories which were prepared for this survey based on the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10).

COMPARABILITY WITH PREVIOUS INDIGENOUS HEALTH SURVEYS

42 Summary results of the last two NHS(I)s were published in National Health Survey: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Results, 1995 (cat. no. 4806.0) and 2001 (cat. no. 4715.0). Paragraph 60 presents a range of other publications related to Indigenous health that have also been released.

43 This publication contains selected results from the Indigenous component of the 1995 and 2001 NHS(I). These results are limited to topics where a reasonable level of comparability between the three surveys is expected. As 1995 NHS(I) data are not available for remote areas, comparisons between Indigenous estimates over the three surveys are restricted to non-remote areas. Remote area data can only be compared for the 2001 NHS(I) and the 2004-05 NATSIHS.

44 Although the 2004-05 NATSIHS is similar to the 2001 NHS(I) in many ways, there are some differences in sample design and methodology, survey content, definitions, etc. which affect the degree to which data are directly comparable between the surveys.

45 Most of the differences in the sample design and methodology are minor and are not expected to have any significant impact on the comparability of the 2004-05 NATSIHS and the 2001 NHS(I). However two differences are worth noting;

• The sample size of the 2004-05 NATSIHS was significantly larger than the sample size of the 2001 NHS(I). The difference in sample sizes means that the estimates from the 2004-05 survey generally have smaller standard errors and therefore can be considered more reliable than those from the 2001 NHS(I). The increased sample size has also enabled reliable results to be produced at the state and territory level.
• In the 2001 NHS(I), selected households were screened to identify only those households where at least one adult (18 years or over) of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin was usually resident. This meant that Indigenous children living in households in non-remote areas where there was no Indigenous adult usually resident (up to one quarter of all Indigenous children in non-remote areas reside in such households) did not have a chance of selection. In the 2004-05 NATSIHS procedures were changed to provide for the selection of Indigenous children in households with no resident Indigenous adult.

• Osteoporosis and kidney disease: Specific questions were asked about osteoporosis and kidney disease in the 2004-05 NATSIHS in both remote and non-remote areas. In the 2001 NHS(I) both items were listed on a prompt card in a general question about long term conditions in non-remote areas, while in remote areas kidney disease was listed as an item response in a general question relating to long term conditions and osteoporosis was not mentioned. The different approach may have led to under reporting of osteoporosis and kidney disease in the 2001 NHS(I).
• Arthritis, rheumatism and gout: Both the 2001 NHS(I) and the 2004-05 NATSIHS asked questions to identify cases of arthritis, rheumatism or gout. However, in the 2004-05 NATSIHS the questions initially asked respondents whether they had ever had or have the conditions and then asked whether they currently had the condition(s). In the 2001 NHS(I) respondents were asked only whether they currently had arthritis, rheumatism or gout (arthritis only in remote areas). The different approach may have effected the likelihood of these conditions being reported as current conditions. Also, in the 2004-05 NATSIHS, current cases of arthritis were assumed to be long term conditions, whereas in the 2001 NHS(I) non-remote respondents were asked whether the condition had lasted or was expected to last for 6 months or more.
• Diabetes and high sugar levels: In the 2001 NHS(I) respondents in non-remote areas were asked whether they had ever been told by a doctor or nurse that they had diabetes or high sugar levels and allowed for both conditions to be reported. In the 2004-05 NATSIHS non-remote respondents were not asked about high sugar levels if they reported they had been told they had diabetes. While this effects the condition status item for high sugar levels, it is expected to have had minimal impact on the long term condition data. This is because in the 2001 NHS(I) where a person reported both diabetes and high sugar levels as current conditions, only diabetes was recorded as a long term condition.
• Child immunisation status: In the 2004-05 NATSIHS, child immunisation status for each type of vaccination was only collected from those respondents who had immunisation records. In the 2001 NHS(I) respondents did not have to refer to immunisation records to answer the questions. In both surveys child immunisation was only collected in non-remote areas.
• Dietary behaviours and exercise: In the 2004-05 NATSIHS, information on dietary behaviours and exercise were collected in remote areas as well as non-remote areas. In the 2001 NHS(I) these modules were only collected in non-remote areas.
• Household income and financial stress: The household form in the 2004-05 NATSIHS collected information on financial stress of the household and income details for all usual residents. In the 2001 NHS(I) financial stress was not collected and income information was only collected from selected persons in the household and their spouse and, where applicable, the child proxy and their spouse.
• New modules were included in the 2004-05 NATSIHS on oral health, discrimination, unmet need for medical treatment, substance use (non-remote areas only) and social and emotional wellbeing.

SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL WELLBEING MODULE (SEWB)

48 The 2004-05 NATSIHS was the first survey to collect national data on the social and emotional wellbeing of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. In response to a recommendation from the National Advisory Group on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Information and Data (NAGATSIHID), the ABS developed a survey interview module on Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB) to collect information on this National Health Priority Area. The module comprised selected questions from two established mental health surveys - the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (including questions on the impact on normal activities); and the Medical Outcome Short Form (SF-36) Health Survey. The module also included some questions related to feelings of anger, the impact of psychological distress, cultural identification and stressors.

49 Tables 11 and 12 of this publication show responses to the individual items from the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale and the SF-36 Health Survey. Relevant entries in the Glossary provide details about the questions asked.

50 Following release of this publication, and as part of ongoing data development in this area, the ABS will be undertaking an evaluation of the SEWB module. This evaluation will be undertaken in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and other stakeholders including the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations. The ABS will then report the findings of this evaluation to NAGATSIHID.

51 A complete list of all data items from the SEWB module collected in non-remote and remote areas is available from the National Health Survey and National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey 2004-05: Data Reference Package (cat. no. 4363.0.55.002) which is available from the ABS web site.

2004-05 NATSIHS PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

52 The information outlined below describes the range of statistical products to be made available from the 2004-05 NATSIHS. The program of publications and other releases may be subject to change. More information about the products available from the survey are available from the contact officer noted at the front of this publication.

53 Tables for each state and territory reflecting the tables presented in this publication have been released concurrently with this publication. These tables have been customised depending on the size of the sampling error. They are available in spreadsheet format on the ABS web site, released as National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey, 2004-05, State/Territory (cat. nos. 4715.1.55.005 to 4715.8.55.005).

54 For users who wish to undertake more detailed analysis of the survey data, microdata from the 2004-05 NATSIHS will be released in the form of an expanded confidentialised unit record file (CURF), National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey, 2004-05, Expanded Confidentialised Unit Record File (cat. no. 4715.0.55.001). The expanded CURF will only be available via the ABS Remote Access Data Laboratory (RADL), which is a secure Internet-based data query service. It will be accompanied by an Information Paper describing the content of the NATSIHS CURF (National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey, 2004-05, Expanded Confidentialised Unit Record File, Information Paper (cat. no. 4715.0.55.002)) and is expected to be available in mid 2006.

55 Up-to-date information on the ABS RADL service, including information on pricing, 'Applications and Undertakings', and a training manual outlining obligations and responsibilities when accessing ABS microdata, is available on the ABS web site <www.abs.gov.au>. Those wishing to access 2004-05 NATSIHS microdata should contact the officer noted at the front of this publication.

56 A package containing sample copies of the 2004-05 NATSIHS (and the 2004-05 NHS) questionnaire and prompt cards, together with a list of the output data items from the survey is available on the ABS web site. This package has been released as National Health Survey and National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey 2004-05: Data Reference Package (cat. no. 4363.0.55.002).

57 The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey 2004-05: Users' Guide (cat. no. 4715.0.55.004) will be released on the ABS web site. It will contain detailed information about the 2004-05 NATSIHS, including the survey objectives, methods and design; survey content; data quality and interpretation; and information about comparability with previous surveys.

58 Special tabulations of 2004-05 NATSIHS data are available on request and for a fee. Subject to confidentiality and sampling variability constraints, tabulations can be produced from the survey incorporating data items, populations and geographic areas selected to meet individual requirements.

59 A summary booklet highlighting key results without the complex statistical analysis will be prepared for wide distribution to Indigenous communities, organisations and schools.

60 Current publications and other products released by the ABS are available from the ABS web site <www.abs.gov.au>. ABS publications which may be of interest are:
The Health and Welfare of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, 2005 (cat. no. 4704.0)
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey, 2002 (cat. no. 4714.0)
National Health Survey, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Results, Australia, 2001 (cat. no. 4715.0)
National Health Survey: Users' Guide, 2001 (cat. no. 4363.0.55.001)
National Health Survey (Indigenous): Expanded Confidentialised Unit Record File, Information Paper, 2001 (cat. no. 4715.0.55.002)
Hospital Statistics, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 1997-98 (cat. no. 4711.0)
Demography Working Paper 2004/3 - Calculating Experimental Life Tables for Use in Population Estimates and Projections of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 1991 to 2001 (cat. no. 3106.0.55.003)
National Health Survey: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Results, Australia, 1995 (cat. no. 4806.0)
Cigarette Smoking among Indigenous Australians, 1994 (cat. no. 4701.0)
Overweight and Obesity, Indigenous Australians, 1994 (cat. no. 4702.0)
Self-Assessed Health Status, Indigenous Australians, 1994 (cat. no. 4707.0)
Experimental Estimates and Projections, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 1991 to 2009 (cat. no. 3238.0)