Impact of Child Maltreatment

In order to prove that child maltreatment results in the previously mentioned health issues I have found statistics (specifically on the indigenous population of Australia) that reinforce the all

Health and Physical Impacts  One-in-eight (12%) Indigenous people reported in the (AATSIHS) that they had some form of cardiovascular disease.  One-in-twenty-five (4%) Indigenous people reported having had heart, stroke and/or cardiovascular diseases.  One-in-twenty (5%) Indigenous people reported having had high blood pressure (hypertensive heart disease).  Cardiovascular disease was the leading cause of death of Indigenous people in It was responsible for 25% of the deaths of Indigenous people living in NSW, Qld, WA, SA and the NT

Continued…  The hospitalisation rate for assault on Indigenous children in 2007–2008 was more than 5 times the rate for non-Indigenous children. Indigenous children were hospitalised for burns and scalds at twice the rate of other children.  Assault was the most common cause of injury hospitalisation for Indigenous young people (1,440 per 100,000 population), almost 5 times that of non- Indigenous young people (298 per 100,000)  In , the hospitalisation rate for assault was 34 times higher for Indigenous women than for other women.  In 2012, injury was the third most common cause of death among Indigenous people, accounting for 15% of Indigenous deaths.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases  Almost 1,000 per 100,000 Indigenous Australians were infected with chlamydia in 2009, compared to just 287 per 100,000 in the non- Indigenous population.  In 2009, the overall rate of gonorrhoea infection for Indigenous Australians was 37 per cent compared to that of non-Indigenous Australians, at 28 per cent  The rate for infectious syphilis for Indigenous people living in WA was 44 per 100,000 in 2011, which was 11 times the rate reported for their non- Indigenous counterparts  In 2011, there were 98 cases of newly diagnosed HIV infection in WA, of which five were identified as Indigenous

Tobacco Smoking  Tobacco smoking was the leading cause of the burden of disease and injury for Indigenous Australians in 2003, accounting for 12.1% of the total burden and 20% of all deaths  50% of the adult indigenous population are regular smokers (this is approximately twice the rate in the non- indigenous population)

Obesity:  Obesity was the second leading cause of death amoungst indigenous Australians, accounting for 11% of the total burden of disease and 13% of all deaths.  28% of Indigenous peoples aged 15 years and over were overweight and 29% were obese

Illicit Substance abuse  In 2012–13, more than 1 in 5 Indigenous people aged 15 and over (22%) reported that they had used an illicit substance in the previous 12 months.

Excessive alcohol consumption  In 2003, alcohol was associated with 7% of all deaths and 6% of the total burden of disease for Indigenous Australians  Excessive alcohol consumption also accounted for the greatest proportion of the burden of disease and injury for young Indigenous males (aged 15–34 years) and the second highest (after intimate partner violence) for young Indigenous females

Disability Based on the 2006 Census suggest that the rate of the need for assistance with a core activity (disability) is almost twice as high overall for Indigenous Australians as it is for non-Indigenous Australians

Continued… These risk factors explain a large proportion of the difference in health outcomes and rate of disability between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. Child abuse contributes to disabilities but also is the cause of the many of the other factors that can result in disability

Mental Health  In 2008, almost one-third of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (aged 16–24 years) had high or very high levels of psychological distress—more than twice the rate of young non- Indigenous Australians.  Indigenous young people were hospitalised more commonly for mental and behavioral disorders, at 1.8 times the non-Indigenous rate. The leading causes were schizophrenia, alcohol misuse and reactions to severe stress.  Death rates from suicide for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males and females are over twice the rate for other Australian males and almost twice the rate for other Australian females – Mindframe.

References:  Aboriginal health - sexually transmissible infections | Better Health Channel Aboriginal health - sexually transmissible infections | Better Health Channel. [ONLINE] Available at: ually_transmitted_infections. [Accessed 08 January 2015]. ually_transmitted_infections. [Accessed 08 January 2015].  A statistical overview of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia: Social Justice Report 2008 | Australian Human Rights Commission A statistical overview of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia: Social Justice Report 2008 | Australian Human Rights Commission. [ONLINE] Available at: torres-strait-islander-peoples-australia-social#Heading136. [Accessed 08 January 2015]. torres-strait-islander-peoples-australia-social#Heading136. [Accessed 08 January 2015].  Summary of Australian Indigenous health « Health facts « Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet Summary of Australian Indigenous health « Health facts « Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet. [ONLINE] Available at: [Accessed 08 January 2015]. [Accessed 08 January 2015].