When compared with mainstream Australia, many aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities are very remote and often have limited access to services, opportunities, and facilities considered standard for much of the country. These two groups represent 2.5% of the population, and have historically been targeted by discrimination and attempts to assimilate the groups into mainstream culture. These interferences have not benefited the populations: 30% of Aboriginal adults lack basic literacy skills, and in 2009, the gap in the unemployment rate between aboriginal and non-aboriginals in Australia was 12.6%. Furthermore, the groups are facing a threat of losing cultural diversity. Only 60 of the once 250 plus linguistic traditions remain alive today.