Back then, males lived on average 67 years (11 years less) and females 73 years (10 years less). Aboriginal life expectancy is so low because Aboriginal health standards in Australia let 45% of Aboriginal men and 34% of women die before the age of 45. About 71% die before they reach the age of 65.
Compared with non-Indigenous Australians, cardiovascular diseases and cancer represented a smaller proportion of deaths, and external causes and endocrine, metabolic and nutritional disorders represented a larger proportion of deaths, among Indigenous Australians.
Background. Indigenous populations have poorer health outcomes compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts [1]. The experience of colonisation, and the long-term effects of being colonised, has caused inequalities in Indigenous health status, including physical, social, emotional, and mental health and wellbeing [2].
Aboriginal people are less likely to own their own homes largely due to the ongoing effects of colonisation and dispossession, which includes intergenerational poverty, marginalisation, and ongoing racial discrimination in employment and housing markets [84, 85].
Based on age-standardised rates, circulatory diseases accounted for the largest gap in mortality rates between Indigenous and non‑Indigenous Australians (gap of 78 deaths per 100,000 population).
Australia is home to the oldest continuing living culture in the entire world.
Between 2014–15 and 2018–19, after adjusting for inflation, the median gross weekly personal income for Indigenous Australians aged 18 and over fell by 5.6%, from $518 to $489 (Figure 1).
Life expectancy is an overarching target, which is dependent not only on health, but the social determinants (such as education, employment status, housing and income). Social determinants are estimated to be responsible for at least 34 per cent of the health gap between Indigenous and non‑Indigenous Australians.
The Australian Burden of Disease Study: impact and causes of illness and death in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 2018 found that, in 2018, Indigenous Australians as a whole lost almost 240,000 years of healthy life due to ill-health and premature death – equivalent to 289 years for every 1,000 people.
Coronary heart disease, diabetes, chronic lower respiratory diseases and lung and related cancers are the main causes of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Fear of racism, disrespect, judgement and negative government interventions were reported as barriers to Aboriginal people accessing some mainstream healthcare services. Fear of government involvement was evident.
Barriers to accessing health services for Indigenous Australians include services not being available in their area (especially for those living in remote areas), services being too far away and they do not have transport, cost, waiting times, and the availability of culturally safe and responsive health services.
Life expectancy for Black people was only 70.8 years compared to 76.4 years for White people and 77.7 years for Hispanic people. It was highest for Asian people at 83.5 years and lowest for AIAN people who had a life expectancy of 65.2 years.
There are varying estimates for how long Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have lived on this continent, however, upwards of 60,000 years is what current research reveals.
Conclusions: The main contributors to the gap in life expectancy between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations were non-communicable diseases and conditions, which are more prevalent in ageing populations.
Aboriginal people are known to have occupied mainland Australia for at least 65,000 years. It is widely accepted that this predates the modern human settlement of Europe and the Americas.
The inequality in health status experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is linked to systemic discrimination. Historically, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have not had the same opportunity to be as healthy as non-Indigenous people.
The New South Wales Stolen Generations Reparations Scheme provides ex-gratia payments of $75,000 to living Stolen Generations survivors who were removed from their families and committed to the care of the New South Wales Aborigines Protection or Welfare Boards.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and Indigenous holding entities don't need to pay income tax or capital gains tax on native title payments or benefits.
At the end of the June quarter of 2016, around 45% of Indigenous Australians aged 15 and over (220,800 people) were receiving some form of Centrelink income support payment, compared with 26% of non-Indigenous Australians of this age (4.9 million people).
The islands were settled by different seafaring Melanesian cultures such as the Torres Strait Islanders over 2500 years ago, and cultural interactions continued via this route with the Aboriginal people of northeast Australia.
Aboriginal Australians could be the oldest population of humans living outside of Africa, where one theory says they migrated from in boats 70,000 years ago. Australia's first people—known as Aboriginal Australians—have lived on the continent for over 50,000 years.
The extensive study of Aboriginal people's DNA dates their origins to more than 50,000 years ago and shows that their ancestors were probably the first humans to journey across Asia and cross an ocean. The findings also show that these Aboriginal ancestors remained almost entirely isolated until around 4,000 years ago.