The health and welfare of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples: 2015

Behavioural factors 

In 2012–13, 42% of Indigenous people aged 15 and over smoked daily. They were 2.6 times as likely to smoke daily as their non-Indigenous counterparts (based on age-standardised rates). The proportion of Indigenous people aged 18 and over who smoked daily decreased from 51% in 2001 to 44% in 2012–13.

In 2011, Indigenous mothers were 4 times as likely as non-Indigenous mothers to have smoked during pregnancy (age-standardised rates of 49% and 12%). Between 2005 and 2011, the proportion of Indigenous mothers who smoked during pregnancy declined significantly (6% based on age-standardised rates).

In 2012–13, 54% of Indigenous people aged 15 and over had consumed a risky amount of alcohol in a single occasion in the previous year, with Indigenous Australians significantly more likely to have done so than non-Indigenous Australians (1.1 times as likely, based on age-standardised rates), but the proportions who consumed alcohol at a lifetime risky level were similar (age-standardised rates of 18% and 19%).

In 2012–13, about 3 in 5 (61%) Indigenous adults living in non-remote areas reported that they were sedentary or had only exercised at low intensity in the previous week.

Biomedical factors 

In 2011, liveborn singleton babies born to Indigenous mothers were more than twice as likely to be of low birthweight as babies born to non-Indigenous mothers (11.2% and 4.6%, respectively). Between 2000 and 2011, there was a significant decrease (of 9%) in the low birthweight rate among liveborn singleton babies of Indigenous mothers.

In 2012–13:

• 10.2% of Indigenous children aged 2–14 were obese; Indigenous children were significantly more likely than non-Indigenous children (6.5%) to be obese (1.6 times as likely)
• almost 2 in 5 (37%) Indigenous people aged 15 and over were obese, with Indigenous people aged 15 and over 1.6 times as likely as their non-Indigenous counterparts to be obese (based on age-standardised rates).

In 2012–13, among Indigenous adults:

• 1 in 5 (20%) had measured high blood pressure; they had 1.2 times the rate of measured high blood pressure as non-Indigenous adults (based on age-standardised rates)
• 1 in 4 (25%) had abnormal total cholesterol levels
• nearly 1 in 5 (18%) had indicators of chronic kidney disease; they were 2.1 times as likely as non-Indigenous adults to have these indicators (based on age-standardised rates).

Psychological factors 

In 2012–13, almost one-third (30%) of Indigenous adults were assessed as having high or very high levels of psychological distress. They were 2.7 times as likely as non-Indigenous adults to have these levels of psychological distress (based on age-standardised rates).

In 2012–13, almost half (48%) of Indigenous adults reported that either they or their relatives had been removed from their natural family. Levels of high or very high psychological distress were significantly more common among Indigenous adults:

• who had been removed from their family (35% compared with 29% for those who had not been removed)
• who had relatives removed (34% compared with 26% of those who had not had relatives removed).

Socioeconomic and environmental factors 

In 2012–13, 16% of Indigenous people aged 15 to 64 who were employed assessed their health as fair or poor compared with 24% of those who were unemployed, and 33% of those not in the labour force.

About 3 in 5 (57%) Indigenous children aged 0–14 were living in a household with a daily smoker in 2012–13, compared with 26% of non-Indigenous children; the proportion of Indigenous children living in households with a daily smoker declined from 68% in 2004–05 to 57% in 2012–13.

In 2012–13, 7% of Indigenous adults (an estimated 26,500 people) reported avoiding seeking health care because they had been treated unfairly by doctors, nurses or other staff at hospitals or doctor surgeries.

Differences by remoteness 

Among Indigenous people aged 15 and over, rates of daily smoking were significantly higher among those living in remote areas than non-remote areas (50% and 39%, respectively) in 2012–13. Rates of tobacco smoking among Indigenous adults declined in non-remote areas between 2002 and 2012–13 (a significant fall of 8 percentage points), but remained relatively stable in remote areas.

In 2012–13, Indigenous people aged 15 and over living in non-remote areas (55%) were significantly more likely to consume alcohol at single occasion risk levels than those living in remote areas (48%). However, there was no significant difference between the proportion of Indigenous people living in non-remote (18%) and remote (17%) areas who drank at levels exceeding the guidelines for lifetime risk.

In 2012–13:

• Indigenous people aged 15 and over in non-remote areas (23%) were significantly more likely to report having used an illicit substance in the previous 12 months than those in remote areas (19%)
• Indigenous people aged 15 and over in remote areas were significantly more likely than those in non-remote areas to consume an adequate amount of fruit daily (46% compared with 41%), and significantly less likely to consume an adequate amount of vegetables daily (3% compared with 5%)
• rates of obesity among Indigenous people aged 15 and over were significantly higher in non-remote (38%) than remote (34%) areas
• Indigenous adults in remote areas were significantly more likely to have self-reported and/or measured high blood pressure than those in non-remote areas (34% and 25%, respectively)
• Indigenous adults living in remote areas were significantly more likely to have indicators of chronic kidney disease than those in non-remote areas (34% compared with 13%)
• Indigenous adults living in non-remote areas were significantly more likely to have high or very high levels of psychological distress than those in remote areas (32% and 24%, respectively).