The city and the bush: Indigenous wellbeing across remoteness areas
The city and the bush: Indigenous wellbeing across remoteness areas Report
Australian Social Trends
- Author(s): Australian Bureau of Statistics
- Published: 2010
Abstract: In 2010, Indigenous Australians were projected to number just over 560,000, or 3% of Australia's total population. In 2008, close to one third of Indigenous people lived in Major Cities while just under one quarter lived in Remote Areas. The total population, in contrast, is much more concentrated with over two-thirds of people living in the Major Cities and only 2% in the Remote Areas. This article looks at the differences in circumstances of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in major cities, regional areas and remote areas. The Indigenous population overall has a very young age profile with around half being aged less than twenty years in 2008. In contrast, only around one quarter of the total Australian population was aged under twenty in 2008. Across Remoteness Areas, there were slight differences in the age structure of the Indigenous population. Remote Areas had a lower proportion aged under 20 years (45%) than either the Regional Areas (50%) or the Major Cities (49%). This difference may be in part attributable to out-migration of younger people from Remote Areas.