The impact of engagement in front‐line service roles on the subjective wellbeing of Indigenous employees

Indigenous (Aboriginal) populations in advanced economies such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US are severely disadvantaged in comparison to wider society across most socioeconomic, health and wellbeing indicators (Manning, Ambrey and Fleming, 2016). For example, in Australia when compared to the community at large, Aboriginal members of the Australian society are still overrepresented in key social areas such as infant mortality rates, poor school attendance, literacy and numeracy levels, and labor force participation (Commonwealth of Australia, 2017). Moreover, according to ‘Australia’s Health 2016’, a recent report by Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2016), there are large gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians on many health and well-being measures, after adjusting for differences in age structure. However, effective solutions to this ongoing policy concern is further complicated in Australia because of the long history of endemic racism towards the Indigenous community.