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THE RECOGNITION OF ABORIGINAL CUSTOMARY LAWS - 31. Measuring Present Disadvantage.
The extent of past dislocation and dispossession is well documented,
but it is more difficult to assess its impact on current poverty
and disadvantage among widespread and diverse Aboriginal populations.
Statistics on poverty and disadvantage are inadequate and there has
been a reluctance to collect or keep statistics identifying
Aborigines as a separate group. Moreover statistics tend to show
symptoms, not causes, and there is sometimes an assumption that the
social realities they reflect are a product of external factors
operating on passive (Aboriginal) populations. Statistics used to
demonstrate disadvantage may also be reflecting cultural differences,
and a preference by Aborigines to retain their own way of life
despite those disadvantages. Nonetheless the symptoms, and the
statistics, are important:
[Aborigines}