Care of children
Some 26,600 Indigenous people (32%) who had main caring responsibility for children aged 12 years or less had a disability or long-term health condition, and around one in six (4,500 or 17%) of them had a profound or severe core activity limitation. Looking at this from another perspective, in remote areas one-half (50%) of females with a disability or long-term health condition were carers of children aged 12 years or less compared with 36% in non-remote areas (table 5.16).
5.16 Indigenous persons aged 15 years or over with main caring responsibility(a), by disability status, remoteness and sex - 2002 |
|  |
| | Profound or severe core activity limitation | Total with a disability or long-term health condition | No disability or long-term health condition | |
| | Males | Females | Persons | Males | Females | Persons | Males | Females | Persons | |
| |
| Non-remote | % | *7.2 | 27.3 | 17.6 | 12.4 | 36.1 | 24.5 | 12.1 | 48.6 | 31.6 | |
| Remote | % | *5.8 | 42.2 | 27.1 | 6.5 | 49.7 | 29.5 | 10.3 | 55.4 | 32.9 | |
| Total | % | *6.8 | 32.4 | 20.6 | 10.9 | 39.8 | 25.8 | 11.6 | 50.4 | 31.9 | |
| Number of carers | no. | 700 | 3 800 | 4 500 | 5 400 | 21 100 | 26 600 | 9 900 | 47 400 | 57 300 | |
| Total | no. | 10 000 | 11 800 | 21 800 | 49 800 | 53 100 | 102 900 | 85 400 | 93 900 | 179 300 | |
| |
| * estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution |
| (a) For children aged 12 years or less within their household. |
| ABS, 2002 NATSISS |
Removal from natural family
Indigenous people who had been removed from their natural family, were more likely than Indigenous people overall to have a disability or long-term health condition, and were more likely to have a profound or severe core activity limitation (table 5.17). Of Indigenous people who had been removed from their natural family, 54% had a disability or long-term health condition, including 14% with a profound or severe core activity limitation (table 5.17) compared with 36% and 8% of all Indigenous people (table 5.1).
Indigenous people aged 35 years or over, who had been removed from their natural family, had higher rates of profound or severe core activity limitation (19%) than younger people (7% of those aged 15-34 years). Rates of removal themselves varied with age group because of a large decrease in the rate of removal during the 1970s (HREOC 1997).
People with a disability or long-term health condition in both non-remote and remote areas were also more likely than other Indigenous people to have had relatives removed from their natural family (42% and 36% respectively for non-remote areas, 33% and 25% respectively for remote areas) (ABS, 2002 NATSISS).
5.17 Persons who were removed from their natural family, Indigenous persons aged 15 years or over - 2002 |
| |
| Profound or severe core activity limitation | Total with a disability or long-term health condition | No disability or long-term health condition | Total removed | Total removed | Total population | |
| Age (years) | % | % | % | % | no. | no. | |
Non-remote | |
| |
| 15-34 | *7.2 | 44.1 | 55.9 | 100.0 | 9 500 | 111 700 | |
| 35 or over | 21.5 | 62.4 | 37.6 | 100.0 | 9 700 | 93 400 | |
| Total | 14.4 | 53.4 | 46.6 | 100.0 | 19 200 | 205 100 | |
Remote | |
| |
| 15-34 | **7.5 | 33.4 | 66.6 | 100.0 | 1 300 | 42 200 | |
| 35 or over | *11.8 | 62.2 | 37.8 | 100.0 | 3 300 | 35 000 | |
| Total | *10.6 | 54.2 | 45.8 | 100.0 | 4 600 | 77 100 | |
Total | |
| |
| 15-34 | *7.3 | 42.8 | 57.2 | 100.0 | 10 800 | 153 900 | |
| 35 or over | 19.0 | 62.4 | 37.6 | 100.0 | 13 000 | 128 400 | |
| Total | 13.7 | 53.5 | 46.5 | 100.0 | 23 800 | 282 200 | |
| |
| * estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution |
| ** estimate has a relative standard error greater than 50% and is considered too unreliable for general use |
| ABS, 2002 NATSISS |
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