News Service from House Harris

SA: Racism must be tackled to help indigenous health: study

ADELAIDE, March 26 AAP - Health disparities between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians will not end unless racism is tackled, a new study shows.

The report on indigenous people in urban South Australia revealed 93 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who took part in the study had experienced racism.

And people who had experienced racism were, as a result, reluctant to visit their doctor or seek educational opportunities, Anna Ziersch, one of the Flinders University project's chief investigators, told reporters on Thursday.

"A huge proportion talked about being angry and frustrated," she said.

"And there was a really scared proportion of people saying they just avoid it. So, if you're thinking about the situations you're avoiding racism ... across those institutional settings and in your neighbourhood, then it becomes quite constraining in your everyday life."

A life expectancy gap of 17 years between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians was "enormous and unacceptable", she said.

"The federal government's aspiration to close the gap will not be achieved unless racism is tackled."

Another researcher on the project, Fran Baum, said she expected studies, if conducted interstate, would reveal similar results.

"Our particular research interest was looking at people's experiences in their local neighbourhood ... and how that effects their health," said Professor Baum, director of the Southgate Institute.

"When we read some of the quotes (from the interviews), I think all of our research team was quite shocked by the persistent and relentless level of racism that Aboriginal people here in Adelaide face in their every day lives."

The report identifies a series of key policy issues, including making health services more friendly and welcoming to include a holistic approach to improving mental health.

Promoting indigenous culture to a more mainstream position and encouraging behavioural changes were among other suggestions.

The three year study, In Our Own Backyard: urban health inequities and Aboriginal experiences of neighbourhood life, social capital and racism will be formally unveiled in Adelaide on Thursday night.