E/CN.4/2002/24/Add.1 page 27 Table 1 Indicators for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian adults Indicator Holding a post-secondary qualification Unemployment rate Median income (males) Median income (females) Own house (or in process of purchasing it) Life expectancy (males) Life expectancy (females) Indigenous adults 11% 23% $189 $190 31% 56.9 years 61.7 years Non-Indigenous adults 31% 9% $415 $224 71% 75.2 years 81.1 years 58. The Special Rapporteur’s attention was particularly drawn to the situation of Aboriginal women, which the Australian Bureau of Statistics illustrates in the passage below following the survey undertaken in 1996: “The health disadvantage of Indigenous Australians begins early in life and continues throughout the life cycle. On average, Indigenous mothers give birth at a younger age than non-Indigenous mothers. In most states and territories, their babies are about twice as likely to be of low birth weight and more than twice as likely to die at birth than are babies born to non-Indigenous mothers. “The average age of Indigenous mothers was 24.0 years, compared to 28.6 years for non-Indigenous mothers. 23.1 per cent of Indigenous mothers were teenagers, more than four times the non-Indigenous rate (4.8 per cent); the proportion of low birth weight babies (less than 2,500 grams) of Indigenous mothers was 12.4%, more than twice the rate of non-Indigenous mothers (6.2 per cent); the foetal death rate among births to Indigenous mothers of 13.9 per 1,000 births was more than double that of 6.7 per 1,000 for non-Indigenous births.”4 2. Restriction of land rights 59. The Race Discrimination and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner has made a detailed analysis of the consequences of the Native Title Amendment Act 1998. In this connection, he notes that despite decision 2 (54) of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination adopted in August 1999, calling on Australia to suspend implementation of this Act, which is contrary to its international obligations, the Act continues to be applied. Notwithstanding that the validation provisions, the confirmation of extinguishment provisions, the primary upgrade provisions, and the restrictions concerning the right of Indigenous title holders to negotiate stipulated in the law discriminate against native title holders,5 states and territories continue to implement the amended Act. The Commonwealth has not entered into negotiations with Indigenous peoples and extinguishment of native title continues to be effected by the states, under the authority of the Commonwealth Government. In particular, the validation provisions result in the loss or impairment of the rights of native title