The Victorian Dept of Health reports some of the significant differences in health between indigenous Australians and the rest of the population:
- The infant mortality rate is three times higher than the national average.
- Indigenous people are nearly twice as likely to be admitted to hospital than non-indigenous.
- Aboriginal people have much higher rates of infection from many contagious and potentially life-threatening diseases, including HIV/AIDS, TB, meningitis and gonorrhea.
- Indigenous people have a 18-19 year shorter life expectancy than the rest of the population. The average life span for an Aboriginal male is 57 years, and for a female is 62 years.
Why this is happening in this day and age, in a civilized country?
