NT: Aborigines healther and happier living on country

AAP General News (Australia)
08-11-2008
NT: Aborigines healther and happier living on country

By Tara Ravens

DARWIN, Aug 11 AAP - Aborigines are healthier, happier and cost governments less money
when they are living on their traditional lands, according to new research.

Keeping Aboriginal people actively involved in homeland settlements also offers significant
benefits to the environment, said senior economist David Campbell.

"We're finding clear evidence that working `on country' has benefits for the health
of Aboriginal people and for the nation," said Dr Campbell from the Desert Knowledge Cooperative
Research Centre.

He has presented the initial findings of the Livelihoods inLandTM project deep in the
heart of Arnhem Land.

Speaking to a gathering of politicians, journalists, tourists and Aborigines at the
Garma Festival, Dr Campbell called it: "it's a win-win-win proposition".

"The health benefits in terms of reducing levels of high blood pressure, diabetes and
kidney disease are quite striking when people are actively engaged in looking after their
country," he said.

Hundreds of tiny settlements, with populations of less than 50 people, dot the territory outback.

They were set up by elders who wanted to move out of the centralised settlements where
government policy had encouraged - or forced them - to live.

But the federal intervention taskforce has called on the Rudd government to consider
the long-term viability of homeland settlements.

It advocated assessing the sustainability of smaller communities and only those deemed
viable given access to services such as schools and health clinics.

"Aboriginal elders and leaders set up these small settlements because it was important
to their wellbeing and health," said project leader Dr Jocelyn Davies.

"If you move people away from their land in an attempt to deliver better health and
other services, paradoxically you may sever the link that gives them both physical and
psychological health...

"The health impacts derive partly from improved diet and fitness but are also due to
the psychological and social effects of caring for country, she explains."

Dr Campbell said healthier Aboriginal communities translated into lower costs for medical
treatment and hospitalisation.

"But they also mean people live longer lives in which they can contribute to their
society grandparents, for example, can look after the kids longer or people can work for
longer and generate more economic activity," he said.

According to Dr Campbell's research, there could be savings of as much as $2 million
over 25 years for a community of 1,200.

AAP tr/maur/de

KEYWORD: INDIGENOUS COUNTRY

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