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Recent Change in A boriginal and T orres S trait I slander Population and Housing Geographies
Author(s) -
BIDDLE NICHOLAS,
PROUT SARAH
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
geographical research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.695
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1745-5871
pISSN - 1745-5863
DOI - 10.1111/1745-5871.12047
Subject(s) - indigenous , population , geography , purchasing , trait , demographic economics , distribution (mathematics) , demography , socioeconomics , business , economics , sociology , marketing , biology , ecology , mathematical analysis , mathematics , computer science , programming language
The intercensal period (2006–2011) was a time of significant policy and population change in I ndigenous affairs. The aim of this paper is to document the changing distribution of A boriginal and T orres S trait I slander population and housing geographies over that period. We use the Indigenous Region structure developed by the A ustralian B ureau of S tatistics to show that I ndigenous A ustralians grew at a rate that significantly outstrips the non‐Indigenous population with an increasing concentration of the Indigenous population on the urban eastern seaboard and particularly among older people. We present results that show that for certain measures, the housing situation of the I ndigenous population in 2011 had improved relative to the Indigenous population in 2006. A smaller proportion of Indigenous households were estimated to live in an overcrowded dwelling compared with I ndigenous households in 2006. There were also significant increases in the per cent of Indigenous households that owned or were purchasing their own home. Other results might be seen as less positive with community housing (a tenure type identified as having benefits in both qualitative and quantitative analysis) declining in importance. In net terms though, Indigenous households continue to experience a high degree of housing need. Compared with other households, they were 3.7 times as likely to live in an overcrowded dwelling.