from Condor...thanks!
Australian Aboriginal Population Booms
By James Grubel
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's aboriginal population is booming as more
people identify themselves as indigenous, but Aborigines continue to be the
nation's most disadvantaged group, dying some 17 years younger.
The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2005 snapshot of Australia
shows the indigenous population has grown at twice the rate of the overall
population since 1996.
There are now 458,500 Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders living in
Australia, making up 2.3 percent of the 20 million population, up from 283,000
a decade earlier, said the report released on Friday.
The 2005 snapshot said indigenous population growth was well above the natural
increase, attributing the rise to social changes and more people identifying
themselves as aboriginal.
"More recently, changing social attitudes, political developments, improved
statistical coverage and a broader definition of indigenous origin have all
contributed to the increased likelihood of people identifying as being of
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin," the bureau said.
While Australia's indigenous population is rising, the living standard of black
Australia remains substantially below that of the rest of the population.
The ABS said aboriginal men and women still had a life expectancy well below
other Australians. Aboriginal men lived on average to 59.4 years, while
aboriginal women to 64.8 years -- 17 years less than the life expectancy for
other Australians.
Despite accounting for only 2.3 percent of the population, the 2005 yearbook
said Aborigines accounted for more than 20 percent of those in prison, and had
higher rates of unemployment, domestic violence and drug and alcohol abuse.
The statistical yearbook comes at a time of high tension between black and
white Australia, with the conservative government taking a tough new approach
to indigenous affairs, which some black leaders have labeled patronising.
Prime Minister John Howard has endorsed tough contracts with remote black
communities, where benefits are available in return for commitments such as
ensuring children wash regularly and attend school.
Australian National University research fellow Yohannes Kinfu said the
indigenous population has been rising since a referendum in 1968 allowed
Aborigines to be counted in the population.
Kinfu said the increase was based on both higher rates of people identifying
themselves as Aborigines and changed definitions of aboriginality since the
1970s.
People no longer needed to have two aboriginal parents to be considered an
Aborigine and can claim aboriginality if they had an aboriginal background and
were accepted by an aboriginal community.
"Since 1971, there has been an increasing number of people identifying
themselves as aboriginal," Kinfu told Reuters.
"But from available data it is difficult to determine how much of this increase
is due to improved statistical coverage, or due to increased willingness to
identify."
In November 2004 Aborigines rioted at the north Queensland Palm Island
community after the death of a young Aborigine in police custody, while about
2,000 people marched in a protest against the death in the northern city of
Townsville.
Aborigines in Sydney's Redfern ghetto rioted in February 2004 after the death
of an aboriginal boy. They mistakenly believed the boy was being chased by
police when he fell from his bicycle and was impaled on a fence.
01/21/05 02:06 ET
Copyright 2004 Reuters Limited
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Native News Online a Service of Barefoot Connection
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