The current pattern in employment for Indigenous people is: 36% of Indigenous people in the labour force are in major cities; 25% of those employed are between the ages of 25 and 34 years; 36% of employed Indigenous people work 40 hours or more a week; 94% are employees; 60% are employed in low skill level occupations; and 24% are labourers [9]. The employment pattern for non-Indigenous workers show 70% have employment in major cities; the majority of workers are between the ages of 35 and 44 years (24%); of those employed, 49% work 40 hours or more a week; 82% are employees; 44% are in low skill level occupations; and 20% are professionals.
The health status of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is poor in comparison to the rest of the Australian population.10 There remains a large inequality gap in Australia across all statistics. For example, there is an estimated gap of approximately 17 years between Indigenous and non-Indigenous life expectation in Australia11. For all age groups below 65 years, the age-specific death rates for Indigenous Australians are at least twice those experienced by the non-Indigenous population12. Indigenous peoples do not have an equal opportunity to be as healthy as non-Indigenous Australians. ‘The relative socioeconomic disadvantage experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people compared to non-Indigenous people places them at greater