Table 1.
Socio-demographic characteristics of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians aged 18-64 years, 2004-05.*
| Indigenous % (95% CI)† |
Non-Indigenous % (95% CI)† |
|
|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | ||
| 18-24 | 23.1 (21.7-24.4) | 15.1 (14.8-15.4) |
| 25-34 | 28.4 (27.7-29.0) | 22.4 (22.3-22.6) |
| 35-44 | 24.0 (23.5-24.5) | 23.5 (23.4-23.7) |
| 45-54 | 16.1 (15.7-16.4) | 22.0 (21.8-22.1) |
| 55-64 | 8.5 (7.1-9.9) | 17.0 (16.9-17.1) |
| Sex | ||
| Male | 46.8 (45.6-47.9) | 49.8 (49.6-50.1) |
| Female | 53.2 (52.1-54.4) | 50.2 (49.9-50.4) |
| Main language spoken at home | ||
| English | 86.0 (84.5-87.5) | 90.8 (89.9-91.7) |
| Not English | 14.0 (12.5-15.5) | 9.2 (8.3-10.1) |
| Highest year of school completed | ||
| Year 12 | 23.5 (21.2-25.8) | 52.5 (51.2-53.8) |
| Year 11 | 13.0 (11.7-14.4) | 10.9 (10.3-11.6) |
| Year 10 | 31.2 (29.4-33.1) | 24.7 (23.7-25.7) |
| Year 9 | 13.9 (12.5-15.3) | 6.3 (5.8-6.7) |
| ≤Year 8 or never went to school | 18.3 (16.7-20.0) | 5.6 (5.1-6.1) |
| Level of highest non-school qualification | ||
| Post-graduate degree | 1.9 (1.0-2.7) | 6.2 (5.8-6.7) |
| Bachelor's degree | 2.9 (2.3-3.6) | 14.5 (13.8-15.3) |
| Diploma | 4.7 (3.7-5.7) | 9.7 (9.1-10.3) |
| Certificate | 24.2 (22.2-26.1) | 26.0 (25.0-27.1) |
| No qualifications | 66.4 (64.1-68.6) | 43.5 (42.5-44.5) |
| Employment status | ||
| Employed | 54.7 (52.2-57.1) | 76.1 (75.3-76.8) |
| Unemployed | 8.1 (6.9-9.2) | 3.0 (2.7-3.4) |
| Not in the labour force | 37.3 (35.0-39.6) | 20.9 (20.1-21.7) |
| Housing tenure | ||
| Owner/purchaser‡ | 24.7 (22.1-27.3) | n/a§ |
| Renter/other tenure | 75.3 (72.7-77.9) | n/a§ |
| Equivalised household income quintile|| | ||
| 1 (lowest) | 33.7 (31.4-36.1) | 11.3 (10.7-11.9) |
| 2 | 21.6 (19.7-23.6) | 13.1 (12.5-13.8) |
| 3 | 14.3 (12.4-16.1) | 16.9 (16.1-17.6) |
| 4 | 9.4 (7.7-11.2) | 19.5 (18.7-20.2) |
| 5 (highest) | 5.2 (4.0-6.4) | 21.7 (20.7-22.7) |
| Not known or not stated | 15.6 (13.6-17.6) | 17.5 (16.6-18.4) |
| Reported food insecurity** | ||
| Yes | 24.6 (22.7-26.6) | 5.6 (5.1-6.0) |
| No | 75.4 (73.4-77.3) | 94.4 (94.0-94.9) |
| SEIFA quintile†† | ||
| 1 (most disadvantaged) | 49.3 (43.7-55.0) | 17.1 (15.7-18.5) |
| 2 | 19.3 (15.2-23.3) | 19.0 (17.4-20.7) |
| 3 | 18.5 (14.3-22.7) | 20.3 (18.4-22.2) |
| 4 | 9.0 (6.4-11.6) | 21.3 (19.5-23.0) |
| 5 (least disadvantaged) | 3.9 (2.2-5.7) | 22.3 (20.0-24.7) |
| Area of residence‡‡ | ||
| Major cities | 30.6 (29.1-32.0) | 70.2 (68.6-71.8) |
| Inner regional | 20.1 (19.0-21.3) | 19.5 (17.9-21.0) |
| Outer regional | 21.5 (20.4-22.5) | 10.4 (9.2-11.5) |
| Remote or very remote | 27.8 (26.3-29.4) | ---§§ |
| Smoking status | ||
| Current smoker | 53.5 (51.2-55.8) | 25.7 (24.8-26.7) |
| Former smoker | 16.8 (15.1-18.5) | 23.2 (22.4-24.1) |
| Never smoker | 29.7 (27.6-31.9) | 51.0 (49.7-52.3) |
* Weighted data from the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey 2004-05 confidentialised unit record file (CURF) [14].
† CI, confidence interval. Proportions are weighted to provide population estimates. Totals are based on those with non-missing data, except for equivalised household income, for which a separate category is shown.
‡ Includes ownership/purchase by any of the dwelling's occupants (not necessarily the respondent) [15,17].
§ n/a, not available.
|| Gross weekly equivalised cash income of household, which takes into account household size and composition, was estimated using the OECD scale [15,17]. Quintiles were determined based on all-Australian figures. That is, the same category boundaries were used for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants.
** Food insecurity was based on the response to a question about whether, in the past 12 months, the respondent had run out of food and couldn't afford to buy more [15].
†† SEIFA, Socioeconomic Index for Areas, Index of Relative Disadvantage. SEIFA quintile was based on the 2001 score for the CD of the selected dwelling and is used as a measure of area-level disadvantage [15,17]. Quintiles were determined based on all-Australian figures. That is, the same category boundaries were used for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous respondents.
‡‡ Classified according to the Australian Standard Geographical Classification remoteness classification (based on the ARIA+ index) [15,17].