Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander disadvantage

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are part of the oldest living culture in the world, but they are also amongst the Australians who experience the most disadvantage.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities experience lower life expectancy and poorer health outcomes, while encountering higher rates of infant and maternal mortality, family and domestic violence, suicide, and incarceration.

There are both historical and current contributors to this disadvantage, and the experience of colonialism and suppression of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures have an ongoing negative effect on people from these cultures. Many of the drivers of disadvantage are systemic and structural. This means that as well as addressing disadvantage as it is experienced, we also need to address the underlying structures which cause, or lead to, discrimination and hardship.

In Australia, successive governments have committed to “Closing the Gap” between outcomes experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and those enjoyed by non-Indigenous Australians, but we are not making the progress that was intended.

The Productivity Commission Review report in February 2024 emphasised the need for a departure from a tokenistic approach and encourages governments to involve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, organisations, and communities in assessing and addressing institutional racism and unconscious bias. The report also highlights the importance of empowering Indigenous communities to drive their own solutions and participate actively in decision-making processes.