CINDY SHANNON PRO VICE CHANCELLOR (INDIGENOUS EDUCATION) Barriers to Women Work and Education

‘White Apron, Black Hands’

Map of Australia by remoteness

ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER PEOPLES(a) – Indigenous Regions with largest counts ABS 2011 CRICOS Provider No 00025B Indigenous RegionNumber% of total Indigenous population Brisbane NSW Central and North Coast Sydney – Wolloongong Perth Cairns – Atherton Townsville – Mackay Adelaide Riverina – Orange Victoria (excluding Melbourne) Tasmania Australia

Education Deficit of Indigenous QLD Students From `A Shared Challenge: Improving literacy, numeracy and science learning in Queensland Primary Schools. Geoff N. Masters, Australian Council for Education Research 2009’

Unemployment Rate by Indigenous status by sex and age group ( ABS 2006)

Health outcomes Aboriginal women – across many health indicators – are faring worse than the Indigenous population as a whole:  More likely to have at least one long term condition  More likely to have several chronic diseases  More likely to have high or very high psychological distress  More likely to rate their own health as fair or poor

Indigenous people as carers Carers Australia 12.4% of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population are carers, compared to 10.5% of the non-Indigenous Australian population there is likely to be under-reporting of the caring role amongst Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders due to lack of carer self-identification. There has been an increase in Indigenous Australians identifying as carers from 32,581 in 2006 to 45,328 in 2011 The average age of Indigenous Australian carers was 37 years; 12 years less than the average age of non-Indigenous Australian carers. This may reflect higher birth rates at younger ages and earlier onset of many chronic diseases for Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australian carers were between one-and-a half and three times as likely as non-Indigenous carers to need assistance with self-care, mobility and/or communication

Incarceration rates Indigenous women severely overrepresented 34% increase between 2002 and 2006 compared to a 22% increase for Indigenous men Indigenous women 23 times more likely to be imprisoned than non-Indigenous women, while Indigenous men are 16 times more likely than non-Indigenous men HREOC 2008

Other issues for consideration Stereotypes Organisational culture Institutional racism Teenage pregnancy Burnout and premature promotion Opportunity and aspiration