Compare the health status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with the broader Australian population.

Compare the health status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with the broader Australian population. This is question 21. b) in the 2009 HSC PDHPE exam. The answer below was kindly provided by Melissa.

ATSI population has relatively poorer health compared to the rest of the population. ATSI people have the largest gap in health outcomes in Australia. ATSI is approximately 2.5% of the total Australian population yet they experience a range of health inequities compared to the rest of the population making their life expectancy about 11 years lower than than the general population. ATSI have higher death rates than other Australians for almost all causes of death as the median age for ATSI is 26 years old compared to 36 years old for non-indigenous. Therefore ATSI have very poor health status compared to non-indigenous. Many ATSI fall within one or more of the other population groups such as low socioeconomic status and people living in rural and remote areas. ATSI people are generally unemployed therefore have low income levels or may work in blue collar jobs. This is due to their reduced education leading to poorer health choices as their surroundings are generally more dangerous causing an increase in the risk behaviours faced by ATSI. They have poor access to health services and technology so ATSI people will need to travel very far to access health services whereas for the rest of Australians who live in urban areas, there is a high level of health services. ATSI therefore has reduced capacity to make healthy lifestyle choices and therefore there is a higher risk of illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes. Through many years of dis-empowerment and discrimination the gap between Indigenous Australians and the general Australian population is still very large with unequal access to primary health care services and health infrastructure. Therefore governments, communities and individuals themselves need to engage is protective health behaviours in order to close this gap.

It would be a great activity for you to use the marking criteria and sample answer (both provided below) to work through this answer and see where there is room for improvement.