Issues and Policy Developments in the Official Collection of Australian Aboriginal Health Statistics

Abstract

Drawing upon a variety of published reports, some of the historical and contemporary issues in the official collection of Aboriginal health statistics are discussed. Serious problems are revealed such as a past policy of excluding Aborigines from census counts, a restrictive official definition of Aboriginality, and a lack of uniformity in collection policies between the various states within Australia's federal system of government. As a consequence of inadequate collection of health statistics, data on risk factors and information on social, cultural and economic factors affecting Aboriginal health, substantial gaps exist in the overall picture of Aboriginal health in Australia. Recent initiatives designed to foster national agreement on the collection of Aboriginal health statistics are chronicled and continuing problems with the collection of such statistics identified. (AMRJ, 1991, 21(1), 6–9.)

Keywords

Australia Aboriginal health statistics Aboriginality

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Anderson

(1988). Koorie health in Koorie hands: An orientation manual in Aboriginal health for health care providers. Melbourne: Government Printer.

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (1989). Census 86: Data quality Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander counts. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Australian Institute of Health. (1988). Australia's health: The first biennial report by the Australian Institute of Health. Canberra: Australian Government Printing Service.

Better Health Commission. (1986). Looking forward to better health. (Vols. 1 and 3), Canberra: Australian Government Printing Service.

Gifford

(1986). Better health for groups at risk: Special needs or basic rights?, Community health studies, X(4), 411–413.

Health Targets and Implementation (Health for All) Committee. (1989). Health for all Australians. Canberra: Australian Government Printing Service.

Honari

(1988). Identification of Aboriginality on health statistics forms. (Working paper). Australian Institute of Health.

National Aboriginal Health Strategy Working Party. (1989). A national Aboriginal health strategy.

Thomson

(ed.). (1986). Aboriginal health statistics: Proceedings of a workshop Darwin, April 1986, Canberra: Australian Institute of Health.