6. Aboriginal child mortality in Australia: Recent levels and covariates

The subject of infant and child survival continues to be of great interest to policy makers, health planners, social and bio-medical researchers as well as communities and interest groups around the world. Overall, Australia is one of the healthiest and safest countries for young children to live with an infant mortality rate of less than six per thousand live births and an under-five mortality rate of some seven per thousand children (ABS 2004b). However, the same cannot be said with confidence for Australia’s Indigenous population, where morbidity and mortality among young children remain excessive. Available evidence suggests that, at current rates, as many as one in fifty Aboriginal children will die before reaching age one, while an additional eight per thousand will have no chance of reaching their fifth birthday (Kinfu & Taylor 2005).