Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Status

ACT Status

ACT Chief Health Officers Report 2012

Section 7.1 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

At a glance

• Tobacco use by ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents is consistently
  significantly higher than that reported by other ACT residents;
• Of the 3,029 hospital separations for ACT residents who identified as Aboriginal and Torres
  Strait Islander between in 2008-10, over a third were for renal dialysis;
• Nearly two per cent (1.7%) of ACT resident women who gave birth in 2009 identified as
  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. They gave birth at younger ages (less than 20 years)
  with the teenage fertility rate being four times higher than for other ACT women;
• Over half of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women reported smoking during
  pregnancy in 2009 (50.6%); and
• The percentage of babies born to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women who were low
  birthweight was significantly higher for each three year period between 2000 and 2008, than
  the percentage of low birthweight babies born to other ACT women.

ACT Chief Health Officers Report 2010

Section 8.2 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples experience significantly more ill health than other Australians. They typically have lower life expectancy and experience poorer heath across a range of indicators compared to other Australians.

Survey results give some indication of health status. In 2004-05, long term health conditions were reported by 82.3% of ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, with the age-standardised rates being similar for males and females. The most frequently reported long-term health conditions were eye or sight problems (37.9%), asthma (18.0%) and ear and hearing problems (14.5%).

The Health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the ACT 2006-2011, Epidemiology Section, Population Health, Health Directorate

Overview

The ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population has a younger age structure than the total population in the ACT. In 2011, over half (55%) of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population were aged 24 years or less compared to 33% in the ACT population. Two per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the ACT were aged over 55 years in 2011 compared to 11% of the ACT population.

The median age of ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples was 22 years compared with 35 years for ACT residents.

ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents had higher incomes, higher education and higher housing costs compared with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples nationally.

The Health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the ACT 2000-2005, Population Health Research Centre, Population Health, Health Directorate

This publication provides an overview of the health status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the ACT. The information included has been drawn from a range of sources including national surveys and data collections and Health Directorate administrative data collections. For the first time, the sample size for the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey 2004-05 (NATSIHS) was sufficient to allow State and Territory level estimates to be calculated for some indicators.

National Status

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey, 2008

This publication presents summary results from the 2008 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS). The survey was conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) from August 2008 to April 2009, collecting information from approximately 13,300 Indigenous Australians living in private dwellings in remote and non-remote areas, including discrete communities.

Link: National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey 2008