Examining Health Disparities in Diverse Australian Populations

This essay examines the reasons behind poorer health outcomes in specific Australian population groups, particularly focusing on Aboriginal Australians. It highlights the significant role of socioeconomic factors such as income, education, and social hierarchy as determinants of health. The essay presents evidence that Aboriginal individuals experience higher rates of chronic diseases, respiratory issues, cardiovascular problems, mental health challenges, and diabetes compared to non-Aboriginal Australians. Disparities in education levels and income are discussed, with statistics showing a substantial gap in educational attainment and average income between indigenous and non-indigenous populations. Furthermore, lifestyle behaviors such as smoking and excessive drinking, influenced by these socioeconomic factors, contribute to the poorer health outcomes in the Aboriginal community. The essay concludes that low education levels, low income, and unhealthy lifestyle behaviors are key drivers of health inequality among Aboriginal Australians.

Running head: HEALTH INEQUALITY AMONG DIFFERENT POPULATION GROUPS
HEALTH INEQUALITY AMONG DIFFERENT POPULATION GROUPS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note:

1HEALTH INEQUALITY AMONG DIFFERENT POPULATION GROUPS
Why do some Australian population groups have poorer health outcomes?
Socio economic factors such as income, social hierarchy and education and health are
intertwined factors and relationship between them has been investigated by the academics for
many centuries (Newman et al., 2015). Presently, significant amount of literature is available
in support of the fact that the socio economic factors play major role in the inequalities of
health among different population groups (Marmot, 2017). Health of a particular community
influenced heavily by various social structures such as income, employment, and education.
These social structures are widely known as social determinants of health (Newman et al.,
2015).
Recent studies have shown that the inequality is present among the different group of
Australian population. It has been well published and well evident fact is the aboriginal
individuals in Australia have poorer health and have higher rate of risk and illness in
comparison with the non- aboriginal individuals in Australia (Markwick et al., 2014). It has
also been reported that aboriginal Australians are far more likely to experience disease like
chronic kidney disease, respiratory diseases, cardiovascular disease, mental health problems,
and diabetes in comparison with the non- aboriginal Australians (Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare, 2019). In addition to that, the occurrence rate for rheumatic heart disease
is also higher among the aboriginal Australian. As mentioned above, various determinants of
health are responsible for this inequality of health among the aboriginal Australian and they
are income, education, life style behaviour, and prevalence of chronic disease (Australian
Institute of Health and Welfare, 2019.
It is a well- established fact that the education plays an important role in the quality of
health conditions in any particular group. Community with lower education level tends to
have poorer health quality. In 2014 – 2015, only 62 per cent of indigenous students finished

2HEALTH INEQUALITY AMONG DIFFERENT POPULATION GROUPS
their 12th standard which far less in comparison with the non- indigenous Australians (86 per
cent) (Australianstogether.org.au, 2019). This signifies a vast education gap in the indigenous
community and it contributes to the poorer health in the aboriginal community.
Another vital social determinants of health is income. Income plays a determining
role in the health of a group. In addition to that, studies have reported that people living with
lower income group are far likely to consume tobacco in the form of smoking. This is also
plays a role in the poorer health quality of a community due to detrimental effect of smoking
(Rohde et al., 2016). Statistics have shown that the average income of indigenous Australians
is around 550 Australian dollar which is far less in comparison with the 850 Australian dollar
for non- indigenous Australians (Australianstogether.org.au, 2019). It has also been reported
that around 20 per cent indigenous people live in an overcrowded house
(Australianstogether.org.au, 2019). Both of these place a detrimental effect on the health of
the aboriginal community.
Combination of the above two factor influence some of the life style behaviour among
the indigenous population in Australia. They are far more likely to for smoking and excessive
drinking. Both these are contributes to the poorer health of the aboriginal community
(Waterworth et al., 2015). Therefore, it can be said that the poorer health in aboriginal
community due to the fact of low education level, low income and unhealthy lifestyle
behaviour like smoking and drinking.

3HEALTH INEQUALITY AMONG DIFFERENT POPULATION GROUPS
References:
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2019). Australia's health 2016, Chapter 5 Health
of population groups - Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Retrieved from
https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/australias-health-2016/contents/
population-groups
Australianstogether.org.au. (2019). Australians Together | Indigenous disadvantage in
Australia. Retrieved from
https://australianstogether.org.au/discover/the-wound/indigenous-disadvantage-in-
australia/
Markwick, A., Ansari, Z., Sullivan, M., Parsons, L., & McNeil, J. (2014). Inequalities in the
social determinants of health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People: a cross-
sectional population-based study in the Australian state of Victoria. International
journal for equity in health, 13(1), 91.
Marmot, M. (2017). Social justice, epidemiology and health inequalities. European journal
of epidemiology, 32(7), 537-546.
Newman, L., Baum, F., Javanparast, S., O'Rourke, K., & Carlon, L. (2015). Addressing
social determinants of health inequities through settings: a rapid review. Health
Promotion International, 30(suppl_2), ii126-ii143.
Rohde, N., Tang, K. K., Osberg, L., & Rao, P. (2016). The effect of economic insecurity on
mental health: Recent evidence from Australian panel data. Social Science &
Medicine, 151, 250-258.

4HEALTH INEQUALITY AMONG DIFFERENT POPULATION GROUPS
Waterworth, P., Pescud, M., Braham, R., Dimmock, J., & Rosenberg, M. (2015). Factors
influencing the health behaviour of indigenous Australians: Perspectives from support
people. PloS one, 10(11), e0142323.