The remainder of this lecture deals with key determinants of health status of the Indigenous population in Australia.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the most disadvantaged sub-population in Australia. This disadvantage results from the history of colonisation and dispossession (Commonwealth Department of Health and Family Services 1997) and is reflected today in measures of education, employment, income and housing.

Richard Trudgeon’s recent book “Why warriors lie down and die” is a poignant analysis of the reasons underlying the current poor state of health in East Arnhem Aboriginal communities.

Measures of socio-economic status such as education, employment, income and housing are well established as determinants of health status.