The challenges and living conditions of indigenous people around the world are now getting more attention than they have in the past. In Australia, a study out this week includes a number of disturbing findings. HPR’s Bill Dorman has more in today’s Asia Minute.
These are difficult days for the indigenous people of Australia. That’s the bottom line of an extensive review by the federal government. It concludes that the “wellbeing” of indigenous Australians is “stagnating or worsening.”
The report also finds that oversight of programs designed to help is woefully inadequate. Out of a thousand government programs set up to deal with social and economic issues in support of the native population, only 34 have been properly evaluated by authorities.
Other measures show troubling trends. Over the past 15 years, the national incarceration rate for indigenous people has climbed by 77%. The hospitalization rate for self-harm is up 56% over the last ten years.
The report was put together by a part of Australia’s federal government called the “Productivity Commission”—which according to its website provides “independent research and advice to the government on economic, social and environmental issues affecting the welfare of Australians.”
There are some positives—the report finds that life expectancy and some other measures of health and education have improved over the last two years. The report will be used by state officials to further refine policies aimed at improving the lives of Australia’s indigenous people.
