Prime Minister John Howard’s rhetoric about Aboriginal people becoming part of the mainstream of this ‘great and prosperous nation’ was blown out of the water today with the release of new data comparing Australia to other OECD countries.
Australia ranks behind countries like Japan and Canada as 14th out of 18 countries on the United Nations Human Poverty Index.
The gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people is much greater in Australia than in the United States, Canada and New Zealand.
Around 10 percent of Australians are estimated to be living below the poverty line, up from 7.6 percent to 9.9 percent between 1994 and 2004.
Poverty levels were even higher when calculated accordion to UK rates, which measures 60 percent of median incomes, making the poverty level in Australia 19.8 percent of the entire population.
The report, A Fair Go for All Australians, says Australia has ‘entrenched and continuing’ social exclusion, despite a booming economy.
Twenty-two of the 30 OECD countries have implemented strategies to reduce poverty, but Australia is not one of them.
Australia spends less on education than other developed English speaking nations, housing affordability and dental health problems are the worst of any English speaking country.