4714.4.55.001 - National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey, South Australia, 2002  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 23/06/2004   
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  • New Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander statistics for South Australia (Media Release)

MEDIA RELEASE

June 23, 2004
Embargoed: 11:30 AM (AEST)
2004
New Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander statistics for South Australia

The results of the second national social survey of Indigenous people were released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and point to some changes since the groundbreaking original survey in 1994.

Education:

The proportion of Indigenous people (aged 15 and over) with a non-school qualification (e.g. from university, TAFE, etc.) in South Australia has more than doubled between 1994 and 2002 from one in six (15%) to one in three (33%). The proportion of Indigenous people with a certificate or diploma rose (from 12% to 30%), while those with a Bachelor degree or higher qualification remained steady at 3%.

Excluding those who had a non-school qualification, the proportion of Indigenous people in South Australia who had completed Year 12 rose (from 5% in 1994 to 8% in 2002).

Despite these improvements, in 2002 Indigenous people (aged 18 and over) in South Australia were still less likely than non-Indigenous people to have a non-school qualification (37% compared with 46% respectively).

Work:

The unemployment rate for Indigenous people (aged 15 and over) in South Australia, fell from 45% in 1994 to 20% in 2002. This change parallels the decline in the national unemployment rate (from 10% in June 1994 to 6% in December 2002).

The share of unemployed Indigenous people in South Australia who had been out of work for one year or more declined (from 59% in 1994 to 28% in 2002).

While the Community Development Employment Projects scheme (CDEP) contributed to Indigenous employment growth in South Australia over this period, the proportion of Indigenous people employed in mainstream jobs also rose (from 24% to 35%).

Income:

In South Australia the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples' incomes remains. In 2002, Indigenous people (aged 18 and over) earned 65% of the income of non-Indigenous people ($384 per week compared to $590 per week after adjusting for household size and composition).

There was a decline in the proportion of Indigenous people in South Australia who received government pensions and allowances as their main source of income (from 62% in 1994 to 50% in 2002).

Health:

After adjusting for the different age structures of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations in South Australia, Indigenous people were:

    • almost twice as likely as non-Indigenous people to report their health as "fair" or "poor"
    • two-thirds as likely to report "excellent" or "very good" health
    • more likely to have a disability or long-term health condition than non-Indigenous people.

Culture:

In South Australia, over the eight years since 1994, evidence highlights stability on selected cultural indicators. In 2002:

    • more than two-thirds of Indigenous people reported attending Indigenous cultural events in the previous 12 months.
    • around two-thirds of Indigenous people identified with a clan, tribal or language group.
    • one in eight Indigenous people reported using an Indigenous language as their main language spoken at home.

Family and community:

In South Australia Indigenous people in 2002 were almost one and a half times more likely to experience at least one life stressor (e.g."death of family member or close friend", "serious illness or disability", or "inability to get a job") than non-Indigenous people (81% compared with 58% respectively).

Similar to the non-Indigenous community, the overwhelming majority of Indigenous people received support from someone outside the household (91% for Indigenous people compared with 95% for non-Indigenous people).

A similar proportion of Indigenous people (aged 15 or over) in South Australia reported they had been taken away from their natural family as recorded in 1994 (15% compared with 13% in 2002).

Law and justice:

There has been a decline in the proportion of Indigenous people in South Australia who reported having been arrested in the previous five years (from 29% in 1994 to 20% in 2002).

Compared to 1994, Indigenous people in South Australia in 2002 were nearly twice as likely to report that they had been a victim of physical or threatened violence in the previous 12 months (30% in 2002, up from 16% in 1994). These victimisation rates were higher among unemployed people in South Australia (39%) than employed people (26%).

Housing:

Over one-quarter (28%) of Indigenous people in South Australia were living in dwellings either owned or being purchased in 2002 (up from 15% in 1994).

In 2002 in remote areas of South Australia, the majority of Indigenous people (63%) were living in rented dwellings provided by Indigenous Housing Organisations, or in other community housing.


More details are available in National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey, 2002 (cat. no. 4714.0). State/territory comparisons for selected indicators are available in Table 2 of the publication. Additonal state and territory data cube tables are available off the publication's main features page on the ABS web site or upon request.