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A Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Wellbeing in Australia

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Abstract

The Indigenous people of Australia are severely disadvantaged according to a range of objective indicators. Unfortunately, the use of subjective indicators has been largely absent from the Indigenous policy domain. This is problematic because many things that matter to Indigenous peoples cannot be measured objectively. This paper addresses this gap; specifically, we employ a range of econometric techniques and Australian household data to explore the subjective wellbeing of Indigenous Australians in relation to: (1) levels of life satisfaction; (2) inequality in life satisfaction; (3) the prevalence and severity of dissatisfaction; and (4) determinants of life satisfaction. Results indicate that Indigenous life satisfaction peaked in 2003 and has since declined, and inequality in life satisfaction is greater for Indigenous than non-Indigenous Australians. Further, while the determinants of life satisfaction for non-Indigenous Australians are consistent with existing evidence and a priori expectations, the results for Indigenous Australians differ in many respects.

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Notes

  1. The value for Indigenous Australians was calculated using a similar method to that employed by Yap and Biddle (2010).

  2. Stata/SE 13.1 is used throughout the data analysis

  3. Following Paul and Guilbert (2013) we define peer groups by age and education, whereby all those who are within 15 % of the individual's age and have attained the same level of education form the peer group. This means, for example, that a 20 year old male compares himself only with those people aged between 17–23 years within his education category, while a 50 years old male will compare himself only with those people aged between 43–57 years within his education category.

  4. As noted by a reviewer, the coefficients from the regressions on the determinants of well-being for Indigenous and non-Indigenous cannot be compared directly, as these refer to odds ratios.

  5. Noting that the lack of variance in Indigenous income over time may impede parameter identification in the fixed effects model, in unreported results we re-estimate Eq. (3) using a pooled ordered probit model for the Indigenous sample. Results from this re-estimation confirm the negative and now statistically significant coefficient for income.

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Acknowledgments

This paper uses unit record data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. The HILDA Project was initiated and is funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services (DSS) and is managed by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research (Melbourne Institute). The findings and views reported in this paper, however, are those of the authors and should not be attributed to either DSS or the Melbourne Institute. Thanks also to Professor Adrian Miller, Bronwyn Wolski and Samantha de Lore of Griffith University’s Indigenous Research Unit who hosted the authors while this research was undertaken. Thanks also to anonymous reviewers for their constructive and insightful comments. All errors and omissions remain our own.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, The Australian National University, Copland Building No. 24, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia

    Matthew Manning

  2. Urban Research Program, Griffith University, Nathan Campus, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan, QLD, 4111, Australia

    Christopher L. Ambrey

  3. Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics, Griffith University, Nathan Campus, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan, QLD, 4111, Australia

    Christopher M. Fleming

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  1. Matthew Manning
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Correspondence to Christopher M. Fleming.

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Manning, M., Ambrey, C.L. & Fleming, C.M. A Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Wellbeing in Australia. J Happiness Stud 17, 2503–2525 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-015-9704-y

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