Olympic heroes campaign for indigenous health
Two studies into indigenous health hit the headlines this week – one that showed life expectancy for Australian aboriginals was shamefully far behind that of their counterparts in places like the US and Canada,…. and one that put a more positive spin on the subject, saying there had been some catchup over the past 40 years. Really both studies were saying the same thing – if you’re indigenous in this country expect to die much sooner than if you’re white. In Sydney today Olympic heroes Cathy Freeman and Ian Thorpe launched a campaign which aims to close that life expectancy gap. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma urged Australians to join health and human rights groups in pushing for government commitment to fix the tragedy of indigenous health.