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Indigenous Health Inequalities In Australia

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According to the 2011 census, there were 548,370 Indigenous people living in Australia making up 2.5% of the Australian population. It is known that many health inequalities occur between the indigenous and non-indigenous population, with indigenous people being more likely to experience a reduced quality of life. The differences between the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the broader Australian population occur for a number of different reasons including differing levels of education, geographical location and genetics. Indigenous Australians have lower life expectancy than non-Indigenous Australians. In 2007 the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous life expectancy was 11.5 years for males and 9.7 years for females. Life expectancy at birth for Indigenous males was estimated to be 67.2 years, compared with 78.7 years for non-Indigenous males and life expectancy at birth for Indigenous females was estimated to be 72.9 years, compared with 82.6 years for non-Indigenous females. Death rates from preventable causes …show more content…

Indigenous people are more likely to be obese, have higher mortality rates, higher hospitalisation rates and higher infant mortality rates. The rate of hospitalisation of Indigenous Australians for mental health problems was nearly twice that for other Australians. Injury, poisoning and dialysis were the main causes of hospitalisation for Indigenous Australians. The most common injuries were those inflicted by another person and accidental falls. It has been reported that indigenous people are less likely to seek medical help when feeling ill, and also less likely to continue treatment of an illness. This may be part of why rates of communicable diseases, sight and hearing problems are so high compared to the non-indigenous

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