The relative social and economic status of Indigenous people in Bourke, Brewarinna and Walgett

This profile of the relative social and economic status of Indigenous people in Bourke, Brewarrina and Walgett in New South Wales was prepared to inform discussions which will explore solutions to pressing social and economic problems facing Indigenous communities in these three towns. The focus is on those aspects of social and economic life in the region that form the basis of policy interest and intervention. These include the demographic structure and residence patterns of the regional population, labour force status, education, income, welfare, housing, and health status. For each of these categories, the aim was to identify and describe the main characteristics of the population and highlight outstanding features in the data. A further aim was to compare the socioeconomic status of Indigenous residents of the region with that of their non-Indigenous counterparts.