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Indigenous Australians may be more susceptible to swine flu, compounding the many health problems they already face, according to new medical research.

The medical journal, The Lancet, reports the flu strain could have a potentially catastrophic effect.

An Aboriginal man from central Australia was the first of the country’s 10 deaths so far.

In Victoria, where the outbreak began, a respected doctor says the state’s health system has only been spared from paralysis because of the strain’s predominantly mild nature.

Professor Michael Gracey is a medical adviser to the Aboriginal-run organisation, Unity of First People of Australia.

His journal article in The Lancet says the tidal wave of lifestyle diseases have left Indigenous populations vulnerable.

“Their general poor standard of health and the fact that many Indigenous people in Australia unfortunately are smokers, or have been smokers, and this makes them more susceptible to respiratory illnesses.

Professor Gracey says swine flu is disproportionately affecting Indigenous populations around the world.

“In Manitoba in western Canada [swine flu] is several times higher in their Indigenous populations than it is in non-Indigenous people,” he said.

“That is just one example and that is the sort of disproportionate rates of infection that we are used to seeing in Indigenous people.

“It is of interest to recall that during the influenza pandemic of 1918, the so-called Spanish flu spread rapidly from Europe, came to Australia and killed many Aboriginal people in very remote parts of Australia.”

Professor Gracey says designing specific infection protection measures in Australia is difficult.

“The strategies have to be designed according to the local circumstances,” he said.

“Remoteness, isolation, poor severe staff, rapid turnover of medical nursing and health worker staff makes things much, much more difficult.”

The World Health Organisation reports as many as four out of five flu sufferers this winter will have the swine flu virus.

Ten people have died with the virus, most with pre-existing medical conditions.

Dr Peter Eizenberg, who chairs the division of general practice in the initial epicentre of the virus - Melbourne’s north-east, says had the strain not been so mild, the state’s health care system would have buckled.

“It has been like a trial run. Whilst the virus on the whole is mild and most people recover, there have been deaths and it is certain that if the virus was more virulent, there’d be more.”

Dr Eizenberg’s paper in the Medical Journal of Australia lists a string of delays in flu test approvals and processing, and risks for those on the front line.

“GPs and practice nurses are prepared to keep stepping into the firing line,” he said.

“That is our role but to do so government needs to supply the flak jackets. It wasn’t until almost four weeks before our division received the Commonwealth stockpile supply.”

He says Australia’s pandemic plan needs to be reviewed.

The first doses of a swine flu vaccine have been produced but it could be a couple of months before any is distributed

The youngest death has been that of a three-year-old Victorian boy, and in Queensland inmates are being given antivirals after outbreaks in two prisons.

A call by the Federal Opposition to extend the Northern Territory intervention into WA has drawn an angry response from a state MP.

The Productivity Commission’s report on Indigenous living standards yesterday revealed conditions are worsening in some areas, including incarceration rates and child abuse.

The federal deputy Opposition leader Julie Bishop says there has been little progress in Aboriginal education, health and housing in WA.

She says the situation in WA is dire and the Federal Government needs to take the lead.

“I would like to see the intervention moved into WA as well,” she said.

“There are some drastic circumstances for Indigenous people in the north of Western Australia.”

But the member for the Kimberley Carol Martin has described the call as ignorant and out of touch.

Ms Martin says Ms Bishop has no idea of the progress already being made to improve indigenous living conditions in the state’s north.

“I think Julie Bishop doesn’t know what she’s talking about, what an inditement on her,” she said.

“She’s actually a West Australian member of Parliament, and she doesn’t know what’s happening in her backyard.

“We’ve got police stations in remote Aboriginal communities , we’ve had our own form of justice for children, we’re dealing with poverty and here she is saying rubbish like that.”

An expert on Indigenous policy says the Federal Government needs to change its approach to the widening gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

The national Productivity Commission report, released yesterday, found the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people is widening in a number of key economic and social indicators, including child abuse.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has described the findings as “devastating”, but Dr Patrick Sullivan, who has worked closely with Indigenous communities for more than 25 years, says he is not surprised by the Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage report.

“I don’t think anyone involved with Indigenous people is surprised by these findings,” he told ABC News Online.

Dr Sullivan, an adjunct associate professor at the National Centre for Indigenous Study at the ANU, believes the gap is widening because there is “in a nutshell, too much bureaucracy”.

“There are too many steps in the chain in the delivery … and there are too many chains,” he said.

“Basically it’s a problem of the inappropriateness of trying to deliver very basic benefits particularly in remote areas through bureaucratic structures involved.”

He says the Rudd Government has inherited some major policy flaws brought in by the Howard government.

He says the problem lies with the Federal Government continuing to shift Indigenous development responsibilities back to the states.

“In my view that’s mistaken. That just puts one more line in the chain,” he said.

“[There's] a whole new range of hurdles to jump before the programs can hit the ground where they really matter.”

Mr Rudd has vowed to redouble the Government’s efforts, but Dr Sullivan thinks they are going in the wrong direction.

He says the Government needs to be focusing on nurturing their direct relationship with Aboriginal communities.

“A direct relationship between the Commonwealth Government and the regions, particularly through local government and regional Indigenous service organisations, would produce much better outcomes,” he said.

“It’s hard to advise the Government on this because they’ve signed off on several inter-governmental agreements which tie state governments in.

“I’m confident in this Government’s good intentions and energy and commitment, they’ve just got the process wrong.”

Opposition weighs in

Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop says it will take a generation to overcome the gap and she says the Government should extend the Northern Territory intervention to remote Western Australia.

“I was very disappointed by Kevin Rudd’s response. He said these results are devastating and that is right. He said we need to take decisive action, well that’s what he said before the last election and it seems that nothing has been achieved,” Ms Bishop said.

“You will recall that that’s why the Howard government went ahead with the intervention in the Northern Territory, because of the shocking results and the report into the abuse of children that had been going on in the Northern Territory.”

Ms Bishop says Mr Rudd should be clearer about what he will do, and says there should be more focus on education for Indigenous people to help provide economic independence.

Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin, who released the findings in Darwin yesterday, says the Government made a record level of investment in Indigenous housing and it has increased funding in health and education.

But she admits it will take time to reverse the appalling statistics.

“We have always said that it is going to take some time to address these terrible results that we saw yesterday,” Ms Macklin said.

“It does strengthen our resolve to get on with implementing the substantial increase in housing, health, education and employment money that we have got to get out into communities, into schools, into health centres, building the houses.

The report is compiled every two years by the productivity commission and measures 50 indicators of disadvantage between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

Federal deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop says the Northern Territory intervention should be extended to remote Western Australia.

The Productivity Commission’s report on Indigenous living standards yesterday revealed conditions are worsening in some areas, including incarceration rates and child abuse.

The Government says it will redouble its efforts to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin says the Government is looking at extending alcohol restrictions for Indigenous people.

“It’s about making sure that where we can we extend these alcohol controls,” she said.

“We can see in the Kimberley in Western Australia that the West Australian Government has done that. In Queensland, they’re redoubling their efforts on alcohol controls and we’re putting in additional places for people to sober up.”

But Julie Bishop says that is not enough.

“The Prime Minister is currently in Western Australia, and we have known for some time in WA that the situation is dire,” she said.

“I would like to see the intervention moved into WA as well. There are some drastic circumstances for Indigenous people in the north of Western Australia.”

Ms Bishop says she is very disappointed by Kevin Rudd’s response.

“He said these results are devastating and that is right. He said we need to take decisive action, well that’s what he said before the last election, and it seems that nothing has been achieved.

“You will recall that’s why the Howard Government went ahead with the intervention in the Northern Territory because of the shocking results and the report into the abuse of children that had been going on in the Northern Territory.”

Teachers at a West Australian high school have threatened to stop work next term if concerns about student violence and racism are not addressed.

The parents of 12 Aboriginal students stopped their children from attending Narrogin Senior High School, in WA’s south, last month over claims of racial incidents.

Members of the State School Teachers’ Union have threatened to stop work next term if safety concerns are not addressed.

The union’s president, Anne Gisborne, says the teachers want assurances that measures will be taken to ensure the safety of staff.

“There is persistent violence and there is a threat to the safety of both staff and students,” he said.

“The teachers have a duty of care and they also want to be able to work in a safe environment.”

Ms Gisborne says it is a good opportunity for the school to review its behaviour policies.

“They’re looking for further assurances about processes and so on within the school that will make staff and students feel assured that there’s no risk of violence,” she said.

The Education Department is assuring the teachers their personal safety is not at risk.

Narrogin’s Director for Schools Rosalba Buttersworth says the department is continuing its meetings with Aboriginal parents and safety measures are being implemented.

“I believe the issue and the matter can be resolved without the need for industrial action,” she said.

“Many of the measures that have been suggested by the teachers to increase safety have been either considered or are being implemented at the school.”

A western New South Wales Aboriginal leader, Dr Beryl Carmichael, says she is not surprised by a bleak report released by the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin.

The report measured the key indicators of disadvantage between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians over the past two years.

It found no improvement in 80 per cent of the economic and social indicators such as domestic violence, education and child abuse.

Dr Carmichael says the results are sickening and she says the Government needs to stop throwing money at the problem.

“Just chucking money at the communities is not correct,” she said.

“Go out to the communities, listen to the aspirations of the communities and then work with the community to find the solutions.”

State and territory leaders have agreed to a new national licensing scheme to ensure stores in remote Indigenous communities sell healthy food.

There are plenty of accounts of poor and exorbitantly priced food on sale, but there are some examples of successful community stores.

Warburton is one of more than 1,200 remote Indigenous communities across inland Australia. Located halfway between Alice Springs and Kalgoorlie, it has struggled getting food to its people.

Damian McLean is Warburton’s community development officer.

“Out in Nangarra lands and where Warburton is, there were no phones, there were no fax,” he said.

“Everything was done by radio in terms of ordering, and Flying Doctor telegram skeds [schedules], so it was very difficult to run a store this far out.

“People were worried about food - more than healthy food, any food at all. It was as grim as that.”

Mr McLean says the community has successfully turned around their troubles by setting up a food co-operative with neighbouring communities.

“We agreed as a group that things were fairly strained and if we were going to survive we would do two things,” he said.

“We would have a flat freight rate through each of the communities to even it out, and the benefit would be that we would have additional purchasing power operating as a cooperative.

“From very, very modest beginnings it developed into a sound business over a long period of time.”

However many other communities continue to battle getting affordable fresh food into their stores.

In response to widespread cases of poor nutrition, leaders at the Council of Australian Governments (COAG ) meeting in Darwin have commissioned an Indigenous food security strategy.

It includes a national licensing scheme to ensure remote stores sell nutritious goods.

But Mr McLean from Warburton is not sure if that will solve the problem.

“I’ve got to be honest and say that I don’t think a national licensing scheme would add anything to what we have been doing over the past 26, 27 years,” he said.

“But it may be applicable in some places where their circumstances are different, but I don’t think a licence is actually going to get people to cooperate and make better decisions.”

Karen Mellott heads WA Buying Power, a company servicing 16 remote communities across the Kimberley region.

She says to improve the situation, governments would be better off subsidising freight costs.

“The community are having to pay three times as much for a loaf of bread because they have got to pay the freight costs,” she said.

“We would like to see the Government assist them with the freight costing. That would be possibly the best thing that could happen.”

The Indigenous Food Strategy is due at the end of this year.

The latest report on national Indigenous disadvantage is tragic, the federal Opposition’s spokesman on Indigenous affairs, Tony Abbott, says.

The ‘Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage’ report shows improvements in just 10 out of the 50 indicators measured by the Productivity Commission.

One of the statistics that has worsened is the rate of child abuse, with Indigenous children now six times more likely to be abused than non-Indigenous children.

Mr Abbott says it shows there is a lot that needs to be done to make a difference.

“This is a very disappointing report and it does reflect ill on all governments of both political persuasions,” he said.

“But the essential problem here is the doctrine of exceptionalism which has been far too prevalent for far too long.”

Mr Abbott says governments have had many reports detailing the extent of the gap over the years and more action is needed on the ground.

“Rather than having more partnerships and endless consultations, I think what we really need to do is to try and ensure that the same reasonable expectations are adhered to in respect of Aboriginal communities as applied to the general Australian population.

“And we could start by trying to ensure that 100 per cent of Aboriginal kids are enrolled at school.”

Torres Strait Islanders are faring better than Aboriginal people in most social indicators, but there is still some way to go to close the gap with non-indigenous Australians.

The Productivity Commissions report into Indigenous disadvantage shows one in three Torres Strait Islanders have completed year 12.

Employment levels have risen from 50 to 55 per cent in the years leading up to 2006 and the average income has increased four per cent above inflation.

But housing for Torres Strait Islanders has not improved, with one in four still living in overcrowded conditions.