Population Health and Strategic Direction

Download Indigenous Health & Welfare Profile, 2004

This document is an overview of key aspects of the health and well being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the Indigenous population, of NSW. It is intended to provide, within the limitations of the available data, information for defining priorities for intervention and a baseline for monitoring progress for service planners and providers in Western Sydney in particular.

In contrast to the experience of the Maori and Native American population in recent decades, the health status of Indigenous Australians has changed little and disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians may even be increasing. Although differences in health status and outcome are observed across a wide range of conditions it is apparent that much of the disparity in mortality and life expectancy is due to a limited set of the major causes of death:

• Diseases of the circulatory system, primarily coronary heart disease, stroke and hypertension
• Injury and poisoning, primarily road traffic injury, suicide and homicide and drug and alcohol related conditions
• Respiratory disease (chronic airways disease and pneumonia)
• Cancer, and
• Diabetes and other endocrine conditions

At the centre of any meaningful approach to improving the health of Aboriginal people must be recognition of the scale and nature of what is needed. The trauma and grief stemming from the systematic abductions of Indigenous children has a continuing impact on the family, community and spiritual resources of Indigenous people. This is compounded by the impact of ongoing high rates of premature death and disability among Aboriginal people. Disruption of family and community structures contributes to feelings of alienation and isolation among Indigenous people.