Australia's 460,000 Aborigines make up 2% of the population and are the most disadvantaged group. Many social problems exist among the 3,000 Aborigines living around the town of Alice Springs, including higher rates of infant mortality, drug abuse, alcoholism and unemployment than the rest of the population. Aborigines continue to live in Third-World conditions in a First-World country despite a government drive to improve their lives. The Australian government has made a formal apology for the past wrongs caused by successive governments on the indigenous Aboriginal population.
