4704.0 - The Health and Welfare of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, 2005  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 14/10/2005   
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Contents >> Chapter 5: Disability and Ageing >> Disability and Families

Care of children

Some 26,600 Indigenous people (32%) who had main caring responsibility for children aged 12 years or less had a disability or long-term health condition, and around one in six (4,500 or 17%) of them had a profound or severe core activity limitation. Looking at this from another perspective, in remote areas one-half (50%) of females with a disability or long-term health condition were carers of children aged 12 years or less compared with 36% in non-remote areas (table 5.16).

5.16 Indigenous persons aged 15 years or over with main caring responsibility(a), by disability status, remoteness and sex - 2002

Profound or severe core activity limitation
Total with a disability or long-term health condition
No disability or long-term health condition
Males
Females
Persons
Males
Females
Persons
Males
Females
Persons

Non-remote %
*7.2
27.3
17.6
12.4
36.1
24.5
12.1
48.6
31.6
Remote %
*5.8
42.2
27.1
6.5
49.7
29.5
10.3
55.4
32.9
Total %
*6.8
32.4
20.6
10.9
39.8
25.8
11.6
50.4
31.9
Number of carers no.
700
3 800
4 500
5 400
21 100
26 600
9 900
47 400
57 300
Total no.
10 000
11 800
21 800
49 800
53 100
102 900
85 400
93 900
179 300

* estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution
(a) For children aged 12 years or less within their household.
ABS, 2002 NATSISS


Removal from natural family

Indigenous people who had been removed from their natural family, were more likely than Indigenous people overall to have a disability or long-term health condition, and were more likely to have a profound or severe core activity limitation (table 5.17). Of Indigenous people who had been removed from their natural family, 54% had a disability or long-term health condition, including 14% with a profound or severe core activity limitation (table 5.17) compared with 36% and 8% of all Indigenous people (table 5.1).


Indigenous people aged 35 years or over, who had been removed from their natural family, had higher rates of profound or severe core activity limitation (19%) than younger people (7% of those aged 15-34 years). Rates of removal themselves varied with age group because of a large decrease in the rate of removal during the 1970s (HREOC 1997).


People with a disability or long-term health condition in both non-remote and remote areas were also more likely than other Indigenous people to have had relatives removed from their natural family (42% and 36% respectively for non-remote areas, 33% and 25% respectively for remote areas) (ABS, 2002 NATSISS).

5.17 Persons who were removed from their natural family, Indigenous persons aged 15 years or over - 2002

Profound or severe core activity limitation
Total with a disability or long-term health condition
No disability or long-term health condition
Total removed
Total removed
Total population
Age (years)
%
%
%
%
no.
no.

Non-remote

15-34
*7.2
44.1
55.9
100.0
9 500
111 700
35 or over
21.5
62.4
37.6
100.0
9 700
93 400
Total
14.4
53.4
46.6
100.0
19 200
205 100

Remote

15-34
**7.5
33.4
66.6
100.0
1 300
42 200
35 or over
*11.8
62.2
37.8
100.0
3 300
35 000
Total
*10.6
54.2
45.8
100.0
4 600
77 100

Total

15-34
*7.3
42.8
57.2
100.0
10 800
153 900
35 or over
19.0
62.4
37.6
100.0
13 000
128 400
Total
13.7
53.5
46.5
100.0
23 800
282 200

* estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution
** estimate has a relative standard error greater than 50% and is considered too unreliable for general use
ABS, 2002 NATSISS



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