A census-based analysis of the economic status of older indigenous Australians

The focus of this paper is the educational and economic status of indigenous Australians aged 50 years and over as reported in the 1991 Population Census. These indigenous people were less likely to be in employment than other Australians in the same age group and were more likely to be in unskilled occupations. Although there was no evidence of an improvement in the relative individual incomes of indigenous people in this age group between 1986 and 1991, there was some evidence of gains relative to other Australians in the share of the population in employment. This probably reflects the expansion of the Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) scheme and as such should not be taken as an indicator of growth in indigenous employment independent of government support.