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MEDIA RELEASE
New Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander statistics for New South Wales The results of the second national social survey of Indigenous people were released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and point to some changes since the groundbreaking original survey in 1994. Education: The proportion of Indigenous people (aged 15 and over) with a non-school qualification (e.g. from university, TAFE, etc.) in New South Wales (NSW) had almost doubled between 1994 and 2002 - from 14% to 26%. The proportion of Indigenous people with a certificate or diploma increased (from 13% to 21%), while those with a Bachelor degree or higher qualification doubled from 2% to 4%. The unemployment rate for Indigenous people in NSW (aged 15 and over), fell from 45% in 1994 to 28% in 2002. This change parallels the decline in the national unemployment rate (from 10% in June 1994 to 6% in December 2002). The share of unemployed Indigenous people in NSW who had been out of work for one year or more declined (from 56% in 1994 to 28% in 2002). While the Community Development Employment Projects scheme (CDEP) contributed to Indigenous employment growth over this period, the proportion of Indigenous people employed in mainstream jobs also rose (from 29% to 39%). The gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples' incomes remains. In 2002, Indigenous people (aged 18 and over) in NSW earned 56% of the income of non-Indigenous people ($414 per week compared to $733 per week after adjusting for household size and composition). After adjusting for the different age structures of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations, Indigenous people in NSW were:
Culture: Over the eight years since 1994, evidence highlights stability on selected cultural indicators. In NSW in 2002:
Family and community: Indigenous people in NSW in 2002 were almost one and a half times more likely to experience at least one life stressor (e.g. "death of family member or close friend", "serious illness or disability", or "inability to get a job") than non-Indigenous people (79% compared with 56% respectively). There has been a decline in the proportion of Indigenous people in NSW who reported having been arrested in the previous five years (from 23% in 1994 to 17% in 2002). Almost one-third (32%) of Indigenous people in NSW were living in dwellings either owned or being purchased in 2002, up from 27% in 1994. Document Selection These documents will be presented in a new window.
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