Dear Foxy

Thank you for your information re the word Koori. Actually I am familiar with the word and the way it is used. The comment I made was really referring to the fact that some Aboriginal people do not like its use. The Wurundjeri man I mentioned (I believe he was an elder) indicated that it was not a word he and some of his clan were comfortable with. He said that when the ‘powers that be’ decided to use the word Koori instead of 'Aboriginal' many of the different clans, particularly here in Victoria, were not consulted. The conversation I had with him took place a few years ago so I cannot remember every detail but he mentioned that his language group has a word similar to Koori but it does not mean ‘people’. The meaning had something to do with ‘going to the toilet’ – I think that’s what he said. Anyway if that is the case you can understand why he was reluctant to accept Koori as a general term.

As for the issue of life expectancy I’ll just make my point again because I think I have not made it clear to you. I am not querying the accuracy of the statistics. I am saying they could be misleading because the comparison should be made with non Aboriginal Australians in the same socio economic group. I still have not found any statistics that makes the appropriate comparison.

And yes, fluff4, I take your point too about stats.

Dear Heduanna,

If you want comparable and accurate statistics - I've given you enough contacts. If you're genuinely interested - you will find the time to investigate - and satisfy yourself as to the facts.

Cheers.

Dear Foxy,

I did not mean to suggest I had ignored the contacts you supplied. It is just that the stats do not seem to be there. I expected to find them at ABS but the closest they come to it is stats grouped in geographic areas; neither do they seem to be available at the vic health website you suggested. I am happy to be pointed to a specific website if there is one. Since we have the stats on life expectancy of Aboriginal people all we need is the stats on life expectancy of non Aboriginal people in the low socio economic group. That’s what I have not been able to find. That is what is needed to truthfully assess the gap in life expectancy.

Foxy, do you know the context of "the health of Aboriginal women has so deteriorated that their death rate is six times that of white women. "?

It sounds sensational but without context it appears meaningless. Overall death rates are the same, for every life there eventually follows a death (ignoring the temporary reprieve of resuscitation).

Heduanna's whilst I see the point you are making it just shifts the issue not resolves it. If Koorie/Aboriginal socio economic status is so bad overall that it places them as a group amongst the poorest of the overall population that still shows that something is dramatically wrong. That could easily become a chicken and egg debate.

R0bert

I haven't seen any report yet showing us the difference in DNA and food requirement for a given DNA. As whites are able to test old buriel sites with the permission of indigenous peoples ofcourse,and take it from there as far as the average age is concerned plus what nutrition was needed, wouldn't that be the answer or part thereof?
For the logical minded, you wouldn't run a petrol engine on diesel would you or pour chlorinated,fluoridated tapwater onto your vegies and expect it to live a long life? Each clan should get back to their basic staple food or start a coop-patch to grow their "old" food.Same with white people as the UN reported recently.See next: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/apr/16/food.biofuels

Yes, Robert that is a very good point.

However, in the original article I referred to in The Age, Oxfam was calling for extra funds for Aboriginal health in Victoria on the basis of (among other things) the apparently significant gap in life expectancy. The use of these stats is designed to shock and elicit sympathy from the general public and if the stats are misleading it erodes the credibility of the groups using them. Obviously this will lead people to be suspicious of other information being put forward by those groups.

The other issue is that all Australians in the same low socio economic group deserve equal attention to their health issues. Focusing on a small section of that group can mean that the group as a whole is overlooked. I do not see how that contributes to the best interests of the community as a whole or to put it more poetically, to our gross national happiness.