Socio-Economic Impacts

Although the "resocialisation" programme aimed to improve the integration of Aboriginal people into modern society, no tangible improvement was found in the social position of "removed" Aborigines as compared to "non-removed".

Most notably, the study indicated that removed Aboriginal people were actually less likely to have completed a secondary education, three times as likely to have acquired a police record and were twice as likely to use illicit drugs.

Australia's 460,000 Aborigines make up 2% of the population, are the most disadvantaged group and continue to suffer very high rates of ill-health (have three times the rate of heart disease than other Australians), unemployment and imprisonment. Read the report here.

Their communities also have comparatively low life expectancies.