Indigenous gap widens (ABC News)

23 Aug Indigenous gap widens (ABC News)

A new report assessing the lives of indigenous people in New South Wales shows the gap is continuing to widen on the key indicators of health, education and violence.

The ‘Two Ways Together’ report compares progress between indigenous and non-indigenous people across the state.

It presents a stark picture.

Aboriginal women are six times more likely to be involved in family related violence than non-Aboriginal women and reports of child abuse and neglect among Aboriginal children increased by 71 per cent over the reporting period.

It also reveals that while the number of Aboriginal students achieving Year 12 has more than doubled over the five years to 2008, there is still a significant gap in the achievement of Aboriginal students in NAPLAN testing.

And while the suicide rate for Aboriginal people has declined, they are more than twice as likely to be hospitalised for self-harm than the total population. …Go to article.