[wellard]

This week sees the 40th anniversary of Aboriginals being given the vote and actually counted as Australians due to the passing of a 1967 referendum that changed the constitution and gave the Commonwealth (federal govt) power to legislate for indigenous people.

Some facts from the 2001 and 2006 census ...

An Aboriginal male born today has a life expectancy of about 59 years, if he'd been born in a remote region, his life expectancy would have been under 50 years of age. (Average 'white' Australian is 78 men 83 women)

His father, on average, is probably already dead, with 45 percent of Aboriginal men dying before the age of 45.

Nationally, the average indigenous Australian is about 15 times more likely to go to prison than a non-indigenous Australian

Our average Aboriginal's sister - if she marries - is 25 times more likely to suffer domestic violence than a non-Indigenous woman.

It all adds up to our average Aboriginal being about five times more likely to commit suicide than a white Australian, with 108 indigenous male suicides per 100,000 population, compared to 21 for white Australians.


SO are these figures the same for Native Americans? What can be done? Is this just a natural result of hundreds of years of neglect and abuse? Is it wrong to expect major changes until several more generations have passed by?