There has been a substantial, and increasing, amount written on Aboriginal health inequalities in Australia. Unfortunately much of this material involves stating, or restating, health status statistics. Repetitious surveying and describing the extent of such inequality is of very limited use in engendering change. In order to reflect more usefully on the problematic nature of such approaches to Aboriginal people’s health experiences in the context of a supposedly rich and homogenous Australian society, a more comprehensive consideration of both historical and contemporary understandings is needed.