The Aboriginal population of Alice Springs : a demographic study

Abstract

Our knowledge of Aboriginal demography in Australia at a national level is limited by the lack of conformity of the census counts on the size of the population and the unavailability of vital data. Hence, regional and small area studies were found useful to reveal the recent patterns of Aboriginal demography. This study begins with a review of Aboriginal demography at a national level. The distinct demographic characteristics of the Aboriginal population are pointed out in comparison with the total population of the country. The study then focuses on a regional level, Central Australia, for a closer examination of mortality and fertility levels, patterns, trends and differentials. It confirms that the levels of Aboriginal mortality and fertility in Central Australia are substantially higher than those of the total population of the country and are similar to those found for the Aboriginal population elsewhere; however, it registers, for the first time through a single study on a particular population, the occurrence of a process of steady decline in Aboriginal mortality and establishes that this decline in mortality is largely due to the reduction in deaths from diseases of the circulatory and respiratory systems, which are in the meantime still the leading causes of death of the Aboriginal people. Aboriginal fertility was found to be very high in the early ages of childbearing and the observed decline is mostly due to the reduction of fertility of the older women of 30 and over and younger women of 15-19. A detailed study of the demographic characteristics of the Aboriginal population in Alice Springs revealed that while as a whole the characteristics of Alice Springs Aborigines are similar to those of Aborigines elsewhere, different patterns of socio-economic and historical conditions have led to the emergence of two demographically distinct Aboriginal groups in Alice Springs; those Aborigines who live in the town proper and those who live in the town camps. While the majority of those Aborigines who migrated to the town proper came from other urban centres, most of the town campers are rural-urban migrants mostly from ether Aboriginal settlements and stations in Central Australia.