Indigenous Australians in the city: Urbanisation and segregation
According to the 2006 Census, around three quarters of Indigenous Australians live in regional areas or major cities. This represents a small, but noticeable increase from previous census years, especially in large regional towns. While most measured socioeconomic outcomes are advantageous relative to remote parts of the country, there are still substantial gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in regional and urban Australia. Indeed, in absolute terms, many of the extra jobs and houses that will need to be found for Indigenous Australians in order to achieve a policy of 'closing the gaps' will need to be situated in regional and urban areas. However, the constraints and policy challenges involved in doing so are in a number of ways separate to those in remote Australia. In order to provide an evidence base to help meet these challenges, this paper has three aims regarding Indigenous Australians in urban and regional Australia. Firstly, to document the measured socio-economic outcomes of Indigenous Australians relative to their non-Indigenous counterparts in these areas. Secondly, to identify the patterns of migration into and within urban Australia over the most recent inter-censal period. Thirdly, to examine the extent and type of residential segregation into poor urban neighbourhoods and how this is changing through time.