Australia's treatment of its indigenous population was branded apartheid by international aid alliance Oxfam in a report released Sunday.
Oxfam spokeswoman Hedy D'Ancona said if apartheid was defined as a situation where all citizens were not treated equally, then Australia operated a "form of apartheid".
She said countries like Bangladesh and Malaysia treated indigenous populations better than Australia.
The report found what it said were alarming gaps between the rights and access to services offered to indigenous Australians and other Australians.
"Not only do indigenous Australians lag behind the rest of the country in all relative social indicators, there is structural discrimination in the laws and regulations in such a way that they are not able to make use of so called equal opportunities in terms of their legal, cultural or economic rights," D'Ancona said.
"(On) defined rights for indigenous people, even developing countries in southeast Asia like Bangladesh, like Malaysia, come up better than Australia."
The report listed lower life-expectancy, poverty and lack of access to services as shortcomings in Australia's support to indigenous populations.
It suggested health and support spending for indigenous Australian's should increase until these indicators showed signs of catching up.
Accepting the report on behalf of the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission, Social Justice Commissioner Bill Jonas said indigenous disadvantage had to be treated as a human rights issue or reconciliation would not be achieved.
"The report highlights that indigenous health, housing, employment and education are basic rights of all Australians which Australia has pledged both to its own citizens and the international community to provide on the basis of equality and non-discrimination," he said.
"Redressing indigenous disadvantage is a matter of obligation."
The report said Australia could not hold its head high while its constitution permitted racially discriminatory laws, such as mandatory sentencing of repeat offenders, usually young Aborigines for petty misdemeanors -- SYDNEY (AFP)
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