The judiciary is independent, although in the mid-1990s, the official Law Reform Commission reported that women face discrimination in the legal system. Australia s main human rights issue is the treatment of its indigenous population of approximately 353,000 Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. A 1997 Amnesty International report, examining trends in custodial deaths since a Royal Commission initiated special remedies in 1992, found that ill treatment, a systemic lack of adequate health care, and inadequate investigations into deaths still characterized the penal system. Gaps in health indicators between the indigenous and white populations are among the highest for developed countries. Figures for 1998 showed that Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders have a life expectancy of around 20 years fewer than the rest of the population.
Aborigines also face societal discrimination and inferior educational opportunities.
The government is responsive to these concerns and has undertaken numerous initiatives in health care and other areas. In 1992, the high court handed down a landmark ruling formally recognizing that from a legal standpoint, Aborigines inhabited Australia prior to the British arrival. Native title could thus still be valid where Aboriginal groups maintained a connection to the land. In 1996, the high court ruled that native title can coexist with pastoral leases, though pastoral rights would take precedence over native title claims. The 1998 amendments to the Native Title Act placed restrictions on Aboriginal claims to pastoral land.