Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough called the situation a “national disgrace,” referring to a recent government report that shows child abuse is prolific among Aborigines in northern Australia.

“This is a national disgrace, it's a disaster, and it is something that should never happen in this country,” Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough told reporters.

“We should all find it absolutely abhorrent and should be doing everything in our power to fix it,” Brough said.

The government report, released in Darwin on Friday, said children were sexually abused in all 45 Aboriginal communities in north Australia.

Social worker Pat Anderson and government lawyer Rex Wild, who wrote the document, listed alcohol consumption and lack of education as the main factors leading to child sex abuse.

Brough talked about one particular situation he thought was exemplary – what was happening in an isolated Aboriginal community.

“In the last two months, 13 out of an approximate adult population of 90 have been charged with child sex offences against children as young as three with the main offence being penetration of a girl under 13.”

The report outlines 97 recommendations. Northern Territory Chief Minister Clare Martin said her government would implement the key recommendations.

Australia has a population of almost 21 million; half a million are Aborigines (2.5 percent). Their life expectancy is 17 years shorter than other Australians’.

They suffer significantly higher rates of poverty, substance addiction and poor education. Indigenous Australians are also greatly over-represented in prison.