Final Report on RREF 2001 - Department of Health

Part B: Development of Options for a Revised RREF
VARIABLE 4: KOORI POPULATION - % OF LGA POPULATION IDENTIFYING
AS KOORI
Data Source:
Census, updated every 5 years
Issues:
• The lower health status of Koori people has been widely documented. Many of these
health problems are associated with chronic diseases, with Koori people experiencing
earlier onset and more severe levels of illness and resulting disability than the rest of the
population. For example, diabetes, heart disease and stroke are more common at early
ages among the Koori population and all give rise to on-going need for nursing,
personal care and allied health care and associated disability gives rise to a need for
further assistance in activities of daily living.
• Many Kooris require complex care and packages of services; these needs add to the
volume of service required.
• Recruitment and training of Koori staff and small scale of agencies serving Koori
clients may also add to costs and are more appropriately dealt with through service
development grants.
• The Koori population accounts for approximately 1% of Victoria’s total population, but
it is widely considered that Koori identity is under-reported. The post census count
increased the number of Kooris in Victoria by some 3000, an increase of around 16%.
• The Koori population is very unevenly spread across the state. A large number of
LGAs have very small Koori populations; the 41 LGAs in the lowest decile receive no
weighting for Koori population.
• Only 3 LGAs have more than 2% Koori population and receive high weightings. These
are all rural LGAs and have small total populations, so while the overall impact of
weighting for Koori population on the redistribution of growth funds will be small; it
will be responsive to localised need.
• Consideration was given to using the number of Kooris in each LGA rather than the
percentage share of the population. While the ranking of LGAs on both measures
corresponded closely, use of absolute numbers meant that more LGAs received a higher
scaled score and the contribution of the Koori variable to the total model increased to a
level equal to the cultural diversity variable; this outcome was seen to be
disproportionate to the relative size of the Koori population and the population from
culturally and linguistically diverse background. Use of percentage shares was
therefore adopted, and gave consistency with other variables.
<strong>Final</strong> <strong>Report</strong> July 2001 58