ABSTRACT
Indigenous Australians are the most disadvantaged and poorest section of Australian society. This chapter pursues a multi-dimensional approach to poverty by exploring health, housing, crime and land as well as the more usual income-based measures. It illustrates the indigenous experience of poverty using several case studies and personal accounts. The chapter details the historic factors which underpin ongoing high levels of indigenous poverty including the lack of inherited wealth or a significant capital base. It introduces several conceptual and empirical issues for measuring the multi-faceted nature of indigenous poverty, and describes the data and method used to analyse indigenous poverty. The chapter presents data that illustrate the multi-dimensional nature of indigenous poverty and provides some concluding remarks on policy options for tackling indigenous poverty. Indigenous people must make up a lot of ground if they are to have similar levels of well-being to that seen in the non-indigenous population.
