Water supply and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health: an overview

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have lived successfully on the Australian continent for at least 40 000 years. Their quest for water, based on an intimate knowledge of their environment, particularly in arid Australia, was a skilled and specialised endeavour. Following the European occupation over 200 years ago, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population decreased rapidly due to the ravages of colonisation. Introduced infectious diseases, such as smallpox, typhoid fever, leprosy, and venereal disease, were a major factor in increased mortality and morbidity; tribal land displacement and massacre of some communities was another major factor. The current health status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is poorer than that of other Australians. Their pattern of mortality and morbidity shows the burden of both infectious and lifestyle diseases. This poor health status is associated with wide-ranging socioeconomic disadvantage. The environmental living conditions of many