Issue Brief 8 / 1996

In the 1990s Indigenous households continue to experience high levels of poverty in comparison with other Australian households.

Characteristics of Indigenous households

Indigenous households are complex social and economic units. They differ in important ways from other Australian households:

• They are larger - the median size of Indigenous households was 4 persons compared with a median of 2.9 for other Australian households.
• 18 per cent of Indigenous people live in households with six or more occupants compared with 4 per cent of other Australians.
• They are more likely to be multi-generational and contain extended family members than non-Indigenous households.
• They are more likely to be multi-family households - 12.5 per cent of households included more than one resident family compared to 1.6 per cent of other Australian households.

This research reports that Indigenous households are often part of a network of kin which provide an Indigenous 'welfare net' or source of economic and social support for poor household members.

Visitors to households

The case study research reviewed by CAEPR suggests that the 1991 Census underestimates the number of visitors to Indigenous households.

• Indigenous households are likely to have a substantial flow of visitors as well as usual members who are absent.

The high number of visitors, especially if they are unemployed, may economically drain the resources of large households when core members rely on pension benefits or other, perhaps erratic, sources of income.

Indigenous household incomes

A critical area of economic disadvantage is the continuing, relative low level of Indigenous household income. Figure 1 presents the distribution of household income by the income categories identified in the 1991 Census. It shows that:

• Indigenous household incomes are more concentrated at the lower end of the income distribution and are closer to the median than those of other Australian households.
• Importantly, in 1991, 25 per cent of Indigenous households had an income below $15,370, and the income per household member was only 61 per cent of that of other Australian households.

Figure1: The distribution of household incomes, 1991 Census.

Household Income Categories

The impacts of poverty

The data suggest that in the Indigenous household context, low levels of income have important consequences.

Positive impacts

• Older people do not have to survive by themselves on meagre incomes, but are often cared for within extended family networks.
• The presence of older generations in households may have economic benefits - aged adults may receive reliable pension incomes and provide stability to households.
• In times of stress and financial hardship the care of young children can be shared by close kin in other households.

Negative impacts

• Already poor households may be at further economic risk because of their reliance on relatives who depend on welfare incomes.
• Welfare recipients may, in turn, be under pressure to support a range of unemployed relatives.
• Children will be particularly at risk in such economically vulnerable households (see Issue Brief 109 for further discussion).

Policy implications

The research warns that high rates of Indigenous mobility, large numbers of visitors and the resulting overcrowding in Indigenous households leads to faster deterioration in the condition of housing, exacerbates environmental health problems, and creates 'visitor-induced' stress on social relations and on the expenditure capacity of Indigenous households. These impacts reinforce poverty.

The large, multi-family Indigenous households, in which there are high rates of adult unemployment, high visitor numbers and dependent children, need to be identified across ATSIC regions, as they are potentially the most economically vulnerable. These households should be a focus for policy makers and service delivery agencies at the local and regional level.

D.E. Smith and A.E. Daly.

This Issue Brief summarised CAEPR Discussion Paper No. 109, 'The economic status of Indigenous Australian households: a statistical and ethnographic analysis' by D.E. Smith and A.E. Daly published in July 1996. It was prepared by Diane Smith, assisted by Linda Roach and Melissa Lucashenko, and edited by Maureen MacKenzie-Taylor.