People suffering from an illness may not be currently engaging in any health risk behaviours. However, they may have engaged in health risk behaviours before they developed the illness condition. This review presents data on the proportion of Indigenous people who reported being current smokers and drinkers. Strictly comparable data are not available for the entire Australian population. In May 1994, the PSM collected data on the smoking and drinking behaviour of people aged 18 and over.
Capital city comprises all state and territory capital city statistical divisions.
Other urban comprises all centres with a total population of 1,000 and over, excluding capital cities. Rural comprises rural areas and towns with a total population of less than 1,000 people. Most remote Indigenous communities are included in this category. A similar proportion of males and females reported drugs as a health problem in their local area. This may be because many people have family responsibilities at this age.