With the focus on Black Lives Matter, it’s time to consider the stats on indigenous mortality in Australia – as per the most recent ABS data, Deaths in Australia 2018, there is a whopping 20-year-plus difference in the median age of an indigenous and non-indigenous person, with the median age at death for males at 57.7 years in 2018, 63.0 years for females. In comparison, the non-Indigenous median age at death was 82.0 years. The ABS understates the difference: “While the median age at death for non-Indigenous males and females varied across the five jurisdictions, they were consistently higher than medians for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.” With ScoMo saying “aren’t we lucky to live in Australia,” clearly that luck doesn’t include indigenous Australians. Before we question police, let’s question the institutions that enable these stats. Or the fact that of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody’s 339 recommendations in 1991, almost none have ever been implemented. Black Lives Do Matter in Australia – so does indigenous health and living standards, which still mimic conditions in the third world.
This message can never be repeated enough.