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FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN DATANotwithstanding some improvements, data for Indigenous people are of poorquality in several key areas.IndicatorLife expectancy and causes ofdeathSubstantiated child abuse andneglect; children on care andprotection ordersAlcohol and tobaccoconsumption; drug and othersubstance useBirthweightHearing impedimentsHospitalisation dataSocial and emotionalwellbeingFamily and communityviolenceChildren with tooth decayJuvenile diversionsSelf employment andIndigenous businessAccess to clean water andfunctional sewerageData priority• Continue work on improving quality and availability ofIndigenous data, including changes over time.• Develop data collections to better reflect theunderlying extent of child protection issues that arenot necessarily apparent from administrative data onsubstantiations, notifications and orders.• Collect regular data comparing Indigenous and non-Indigenous consumption and more robust data byjurisdictional and geographic levels.• Extend data collections to focus on the Indigenousstatus of babies (rather than mothers).• Collect data to enable the assessment of the trueburden of hearing loss and the type and severity ofear infections in the Indigenous population.• Improve quality of Indigenous identification in hospitaladministrative systems.• Improve data on comparable measures of social andemotional wellbeing.• Improve data on relationship of victim to offender andcomparability between states and territories.• Expand the availability of comparable data onchildren’s dental health.• Collect comparable national data.• Collect regular data on Indigenous business and selfemployment.• Collect regular data allowing comparison betweenservices in Indigenous communities and those66 OVERCOMINGINDIGENOUSDISADVANTAGE 2007