The 2002 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey

Assessing the evidence on Indigenous socioeconomic outcomes : A focus on the 2002 NATSISS

“…While the 1994 NATSIS has provided some valuable insights into the processes underlying the disproportionate level of Indigenous arrest (Carcach & Mukherjee 1996;Hunter , 2001Hunter & Borland 1999), several important research questions remain unanswered. Why do Indigenous people appear in court at a rate five times higher than the rest of the population?…”

“…2 Hunter (2001) asserted that there was a need to reassess the evidence when the data from the 2002 NATSISS was released. One of his arguments for emphasising this survey was that analogous data would be collected for the non-Indigenous population, thus providing a national benchmark against which to compare the Indigenous analysis.…”

“…Firstly, and most importantly, it is unclear why 'fishing or hunting in a group' was not included as an option under the involvement in social activities question in NCAs, especially when a similar question on 'hunting, fishing and gathering bush foods' was included in all areas in the 1994 NATSIS (Hunter 1996;Smith & Roach 1996). Subsequent research shows that the customary sector is of economic importance to non-remote Indigenous people, especially in inner and outer regional areas.…”

“…The Metis supplement 7 Altman & Allen (1992: 138) note that while participation in the informal economy is not limited to Indigenous Australians, the major distinction is 'that for those Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who continue to live off the land, subsistence is their 'primary' work and income-generating activity'. Hunter (1996) suggests that caution should be exercised in interpreting hunting, fishing and gathering activity automatically as customary activity. Hunter (1996: 60) warns that hunting, fishing and gathering in urban areas requires a certain level of income to allow engagement and may be more accurately interpreted as a consumption activity as opposed to a productive economic activity providing an alternative to market sector employment..…”

“…The 1994 NATSIS did permit some unique analysis of social interactions (Borland & Hunter 2000;Hunter 2001). However, it was probably too easy for NATSIS-based research (and future research based on the NATSISS) to be dismissed as being specific to the Indigenous population, simply because there was no general omnibus survey at the time that collected a similar range of data on arrest and incarceration.…”