Publisher's Synopsis
In 1988 white Australia celebrated 200 years of settlement. It should come as no surprise, however, that for Aboriginal Australians there was very little to celebrate.
Compared to other Australians, Aborigines are poorer, underhoused, unemployed at higher rates, ill-educated and much more likely to die in custody. Furthermore, despite the efforts of health authorities over two decades, Aborigines remain the least healthy identifiable sector of the Australian community. These facts express bluntly the gross inequities that exist in the health status of black and white Australians.
Since the early 1970s it has been acknowledged that Aboriginal ill-health is attributable to impoverished conditions. Aboriginal Health and Society builds upon those views by linking the health of Aborigines directly to their position in the political economy of Australian society. It examines the historical context in which Aboriginal ill-health arose and the wide range of factors contributing to poor health status.
Aboriginal Health and Society is the culmination of fifteen years' research and fieldwork. Drawing on the authors' experience in anthropology and health, this book provides an easily accessible analysis of the current debate on Aboriginal health and will prove invaluable to students and health workers involved in the field.
