Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians

In Australia, the parlous state of wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples has been documented for decades.72 Key social and economic measures in areas such as life expectancy, poverty, employment, housing ownership, education, justice and health show that these populations are at substantially higher risk of poorer wellbeing and social exclusion compared with non-Indigenous Australians, and represent the most disadvantaged groups in our society. This situation is the result of the inter-generational impact of colonisation, dispossession of lands, lost and stolen generations and the attempted decimation of the cultures and languages of the peoples inhabiting Australia before 1770.73, 74 Therefore, for there to be a start to improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander wellbeing and „closing the gap‟, a process of genuine reconciliation, which acknowledges the past in light of the present, needs to be embraced across all sectors of society, accompanied by changes in attitudes, practices and the sharing of power.75,76