Improved Healthcare For Aboriginal Australians Exposed To British Nuclear Tests

Aboriginal Australians exposed to radiation from British nuclear tests in the 1950s and 60s will receive improved health care.

Britain tested atomic bombs at several sites in South and Western Australia from 1952 to 1963, the majority taking place at Maralinga in South Australia from 1956.

Other tests took place 200km away at Emu Field, and around the Montebello Islands in Western Australia.

Indigenous people suffered significant injuries and disabilities as a result of radiation exposure and there has been a long campaign for greater compensation.

Despite many people leaving the southern region prior to tests taking place, those who stayed were subjected to high levels of exposure, which was linked to injuries and disabilities by a royal commission inquiry in Australia in the 1980s.

They will be eligible for a war veterans' Gold Card, covering the majority of medicial bills, according to Australian Veterans' Affairs Minister Dan Tehan.

He said:

"The measure will provide Gold Cards to indigenous people present at or near Maralinga, Emu Field or the Montebello Islands at the time of the British nuclear tests in the 1950s or 1960s."