Effective environmental health systems - Overview - Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators 2007

Rates of diseases associated with poor environmental health |
Access to clean water and functional sewerage |
Overcrowding in housing

Environmental health is about safe and healthy living conditions. It depends, among other things, on the buildings in which people live, the water they drink, the safe removal of waste and control of pests. Just as important is the food people eat and their ability to clean themselves, their clothes and their homes.

Rates of diseases associated with poor environmental health

Sanitation, drinking water quality, food safety, disease control and housing conditions are major contributors to health and quality of life. However, many rural and remote Indigenous communities still struggle to achieve the basic level of environmental health that has been achieved for the rest of the population.

Research in Indigenous communities has found that infected secretions from eyes, noses, ears and coughs play a major role in transmitting infectious diseases - especially in overcrowded households. Inadequate waste disposal is also a major source of infectious disease.

KEY MESSAGES

Indigenous people had higher hospitalisation rates than non-Indigenous people for all diseases associated with poor environmental health (table 10.1.1).

Between 2001-02 and 2004-05, hospitalisation rates for the 0–14 year age group decreased for intestinal infectious diseases (25 per cent decrease), scabies (32 per cent increase), acute upper respiratory infections (14 per cent decrease), and influenza and pneumonia (31 per cent decrease) (figure 10.1.3).

Between 2001-02 and 2004-05, hospitalisation rates for older Indigenous people (65 years and over) increased for bacterial disease (10 per cent increase), influenza and pneumonia (32 per cent increase) and acute upper respiratory infections (17 per cent increase) (table 10A.1.2).

In the four jurisdictions for which data are available, death rates from diseases associated with poor environmental health were much higher for Indigenous people (between 113 and 230 deaths per 100 000 people) than for non-Indigenous people (between 25 and 40 deaths per 100 000) (table 14A.1.4).

Hospitalisation Rates for Indigenous Children 0 – 14 YEARS

Access to clean water and functional sewerage

Contaminated drinking water can be a source of sickness and disease. An adequate and reliable supply of water is necessary for personal hygiene and for washing food, kitchen utensils and clothes, which is important to prevent infectious diseases and other illnesses. A functional sewerage system prevents contamination of drinking water and food.

This photo was taken by the students of Woree High School in Cairns for Reconciliation Australia’s All About Us project that ran in their school in 2006. Photo courtesy of Reconciliation Australia.

KEY MESSAGES

The number of discrete Indigenous communities without an organised sewerage system decreased from 91 in 2001, to 25 in 2006 (table 10A.2.4).

In 2006, of the 322 discrete Indigenous communities with a reported usual population of 50 or more:

165 (51 per cent) had experienced water supply interruptions in the previous 12 months (table 10A.2.2)
130 (40 per cent) had experienced sewerage overflows or leakages in the previous 12 months (table 10A.2.5).

THINGS THAT WORK

The Aboriginal Communities Development Program in NSW is raising the health and living standards of 22 priority Aboriginal communities, with new housing, and upgrading existing housing, roads, footpaths and street lighting (box 10.2.2).

Overcrowding in housing

Overcrowding in housing (as well as housing quality and condition) can contribute to poor health, family violence and poor educational performance.

Indigenous People 15 Years and Over Living Iin Overccowded Housing The housing occupancy standard reported here compares the number of bedrooms with the number of people in a dwelling, to determine overcrowding. However, particularly in larger households, the number of bathrooms and toilets, and the size of kitchens, bedrooms and other living spaces, may be as important as the number of bedrooms.

KEY MESSAGES

In 2004-05, 25 per cent of Indigenous people aged 15 years and over lived in overcrowded housing (figure 10.3.1). There have been no statistically significant changes in the rates of overcrowding since 2002 (table 10A.3.3).

In 2004-05, overcrowding was most common in very remote areas, where 63 per cent of Indigenous people lived in overcrowded households (figure 10.3.2).

Report Chapter 10: Effective environmental health systems
(PDF document)

Attachment 10A
(Excel document)

See next strategic area for action: Economic participation and development.