Sad kids . Not bad kids - AMA urges a rethink on criminalising petrol sniffing
AMA President, Dr Bill Glasson, today supports Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health Chair Pat Anderson's call for clear thinking on the serious issue of petrol sniffing in the Northern Territory.
Dr Glasson said petrol sniffing is a sad and complex problem, unlikely to be improved through negative legislative changes.
"Blaming and punishing the victims of petrol sniffing is short sighted. It might offer a quick fix in an election year but will do little to address the underlying causes," Dr Glasson said.
"Reasons for the terrible health of Indigenous Australians are complex.
"Many issues including history of past cultural alienation; income and social status; education and literacy; physical environments - including housing, water, sanitation, nutrition; personal health practices and coping skills; and gender; impact on the health of Indigenous Australians.
"Fundamental changes in some of these areas will have the biggest long-term effect.
"Poor health makes it difficult to learn. Children with hearing problems, skin and respiratory infections and malnutrition are off to a poor start.
"A poor education leads to poor health in adult life and the cycle goes on.
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show:
- Of Indigenous persons aged 15 years and over who were no longer at school, 32 per cent had not completed Year 10 or equivalent, compared to 18 per cent of non-Indigenous persons.
- Of Indigenous persons aged 15 years and over who were no longer at school, 18 per cent reported that they had completed school to Year 12, compared to 41 per cent of non-Indigenous persons.
- For Indigenous persons, highest level of schooling completed generally declined with increasing geographic remoteness.
- The disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous persons was greatest in very remote areas, where Indigenous persons were only one-third as likely as non-Indigenous persons to have completed Year 12.
- 2.3 per cent of Indigenous males and 3.5 per cent of Indigenous females had achieved a degree or higher, compared to 13.2 per cent and 14 per cent of their non-Indigenous men and women.
The 1999 Collins report, Learning Lessons, also shows that the level of education among Indigenous Australian children is deteriorating. To a large part this explains why the health of Australia's Indigenous population is not improving.
"Health departments and education departments need to work together. Having such defined boundaries between departments only increases the health and education problems of Indigenous people.
CONTACT: John Flannery (02) 6270 5477 / (0419) 494 761
Judith Tokley (02) 6270 5471 / (0408) 824 306