The 2012-13 Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey collected information from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians living in non-remote areas about whether they thought they were immediately recognisable as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, and whether they were known to be Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander among their social circles. Based on an analysis of these data, I explore the intersection of “visibility” and “identification” in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identity. The results paint a complex picture of identity, discrimination, disadvantage and wellbeing among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians living in non-remote areas of Australia.

These findings are presented against a broader backdrop of information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians’ experience of discrimination, and the relationship between discrimination and wellbeing, drawn from surveys of the Australian Indigenous population spanning the last decade: the 2004-05 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey; the 2008 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey; and the 2012-13 Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey.

Biography - Ms Heather Crawford  

Ms Heather Crawford joined the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR) at the ANU in 2014. Heather previously held Assistant Director positions in the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Australian Institute for Health and Welfare. She is an experienced data analyst and social researcher with over 20 years' experience working with social surveys and social statistics. Heather has worked with surveys and statistics covering a range of areas, in particular families and child care, labour force, literacy and time use. 

Heather is currently working in the area of Indigenous socioeconomic outcomes, particularly in the area of higher education, and Indigenous health and wellbeing. Since joining CAEPR she has worked extensively with Census data including the Australian Census Longitudinal Dataset.