Clearly Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders qualify for special programs and measures at this point in time. The different rates of expenditure on health services for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people reflect differences in disease incidence, income, location and preference for services delivered in a culturally sensitive manner. Given the very poor health status of Indigenous people, allocation of public expenditure according to need would still require more resources for health services for Indigenous people. This is because Indigenous households have a higher number of residents on average than other households. Indigenous households are also more likely to be in an inadequate state of repair, and to lack available and functioning services.
Dispossession refers primarily to loss of land.
In effect, their dispossession underwrote the development of the nation. Given the spiritual ties that Indigenous people have to their land, the resulting dislocation dispossessed them of their cultures, languages and religions as well as their economic welfare and independence. Well into the twentieth century, many policies and laws forced Indigenous people to be segregated and denied them fundamental human rights, including the right to vote and access to social welfare. From the time of settlement up until early this century, large numbers of Indigenous men, women and children died in random killings and massacres. The forcible removal of Indigenous peoples from their lands was supplemented by policies for the removal of children from Indigenous families.