Employment is an important element of successful integration within one’s community. Across Australia, nearly two-thirds of prisoners were unemployed when they committed the crimes for which they were incarcerated. For Indigenous and non-Indigenous ex-prisoners alike, there are numerous benefits associated with employment. They include benefits related to the individual (for example, increased earning capacity, improved...

The low employment rate of Indigenous Australians contributes to economic deprivation and a range of social problems. Increasing employment rates is key to reducing Indigenous disadvantage (e.g., COAG 2009). Employment is central to the Closing the Gap targets that directly refer to engagement with the mainstream economy. Paid employment can provide the economic independence and...

This paper provides evidence on changes in the labour force status of Indigenous and other Australians since the mid-1990s, a period of strong macroeconomic growth. The paper expands the standard definitions of labour supply to consider marginally attached workers—people who want to work but who are not currently looking for work. The results suggest that...

The Prime Minister reports annually on progress in Closing the Gap. This is the fourth annual report, tabled in Parliament on 15 February 2012. According to the report: "This Closing the Gap report shows that the foundations for overcoming Indigenous disadvantage are now in place. It demonstrates how governments are delivering investments that will make...

This overview of Australian Indigenous health draws largely on previously published information, some of which has been re-analysed to provide clearer comparisons between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people (for more details of statistics and methods, readers should refer to the original sources). Very little information is available separately for Australian Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders...