Australian history as experienced by Aboriginal people was a violent one

Pat Anderson

Today, a new wave of violence is sweeping through remote Aboriginal communities. This time the perpetrators, like the victims, are the Aboriginal members of those communities. Nationally, mortality rates for homicide are 7 to 8 times those experienced by the general population.

This paper will attempt to examine the causes of this violence, referring both to the experience of Aboriginal people and to contemporary theory, in particular that of the social determinants of health.


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