“The status of Indigenous health in contemporary Australia is a result of historic factors as well as contemporary socio-economic issues” (Hampton & Toombs, 2013, p. 1).
The poor health position of Indigenous Australians is a contemporary reflection of their historical treatment as Australia’s traditional owners. This treatment has led to Indigenous Australians experiencing social disadvantages, significantly low socio-economic status, dispossession, poverty and powerlessness as a direct result of the institutionalised racism inherent in contemporary Australian society.
Indigenous populations have been the carers and custodians of Australia and the Torres Strait for a period in excess of 60,000 years before being During 1970’s Indigenous Australians were beginning to become acknowledged as Australian citizens, this led to the development of the self-determination and self-management (1970’s-1990’s) programs (Hampton & Toombs, Racism, colonisation/colonialism and impacts on indigenous people, 2013). These policies were based on the slow acceptance of multiculturalism and the beginnings of Indigenous Australians involvement in Australian politics, although the actual amount of self-determination available to them was limited. When these polices were found to be ineffective the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (CAR) was established in 1992 to overcome differences and inequities between Indigenous Australians and the wider Australian community (Hampton & Toombs, Racism, colonisation/colonialism and impacts on indigenous people, 2013).
The Reconciliation movement (1990’s-present) seeks to advocate for Indigenous Australians rights, their place in our shared history and to establish economic independence among Indigenous Australians in order to promote equality for all Australians (Hampton & Toombs, Racism, colonisation/colonialism and impacts on indigenous people, 2013). Whilst government policy appears to be moving in the right direction, we are still a long way away from Indigenous autonomy and self-determination. All of these policies had a very detrimental effect on the health of Indigenous
Page 1 The World Health Organisation (World Health Organisation, 2008) states that the indigenous peoples of Australia are one of the most disadvantaged indigenous groups in the developed world. The health of the Indigenous population of Australia is an increasingly pressing issue. Current research and statistics reveals great inequality in many areas of health care and health status between the Aboriginal people and the general population of Australia. Couzos and Murray (2008, p. 29) report that…
life in the care of the government. Traumatized by the abuse you suffered you turn to drugs and alcohol. This was the story for many Indigenous Australians. Ever since the European Invasion of Australia, aboriginals have been oppressed into a society that is unlike the self-sufficient life they had thousands of years ago. Prior to the invasion the Indigenous Australian’s lived a harmonious life, fishing and hunting, trading with other tribal clans and moving through the country in accordance to…
Smoking Smoking is one of the factors that remotely affect the aboriginal health. • In 2008, approximately half the Indigenous adults (49.9%) were current smokers—more than double the rate of non-Indigenous people who smoked. Smoking-related cancer is more common in Aboriginal communities than the rest of the population • Indigenous people in remote areas smoked at higher rates (51%) than those in non-remote areas (46%) in 2008. At least 40% of the aboriginal population in some aboriginal…
ISSUES ANALYSIS RACISM It was quite shocking to learn about and experience the horror of racism and how it can affect the health of our Indigenous population in Australia. The Australian Eye, a film by Jane Elliot, although produced in 2001, still had a very important lesson to teach with regards to the deep feelings of despair and hopelessness that the recipient of such appalling treatment can incur. This film divided people into two separate population groups; The Blue Eyes and the Brown…
Close the Gap The history of Australia in its aspect of racial-based policies and the relation between the population of European origin and Indigenous Australians people is a complex, controversial, and highly sensitive sphere that does not lend itself to straightforward and unambiguous interpretations. It would be hard to debate the statement that “Australia is both colony and colonizer – both dominant and subordinate. Many old certainties – or myths – are dissolving… and new myths are being…
STRAIT ISLANDER COMMUNITY Diabetes management in Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander community presents with an evident deficit compared to non-indigenous communities. In diabetes, quality use of medicines and devices are essential for quality assurance, adherence and compliance of diabetics. Australia has been effectively improving the lack of health care in aboriginal and torres strait islander community through governmental policies and programs such as “Closing the Gap”. However, more effective…
Aboriginal people have a kinship structure where immediate and extended family are seen as part of the group and within Indigenous communities their health is seen as a collective of the emotional, social and cultural wellbeing of the community (Pattel, 2007). I have personally never worked with clients with VSA, but I feel that motivational interviewing would also benefit…
Core 1 – Summary Notes How are priority issues for Australia’s health identified? Epidemiology is study of the patterns and causes of health and disease in populations, and how to apply this study to improve health. Measures of Epidemiology include Mortality: no. of deaths in a pop’n from a particular cause over a period of time Trend – Aust death rate has ↓ by 2/3 over past century, due to ↓ in infectious disease, improved sanitation and living conditions, devel of vaccines and antibiotics Infant…
In our group’s artefact creation, we choose the topic of indigenous education and after our group discussion we decided to focus on the question: can media representation of indigenous education be challenged? The reason why our group choose this particular topic is because we all think indigenous education is a big issue in Australian education and we want to challenge the negative media representation. We have four group members: Vince Wang, Zachary Johns, Cliantha Tanea and I (Linting Chen). As…
Meetings on Indigenous Australians I attend on a regular basis a meeting that raises Indigenous Australian issue and develop plans with government agencies. These meetings address the barriers for Indigenous Communities residing in the Baw Baw Area which is in West Gippsland. The people in attendance were 14 elders and 5 community members of the West Gippsland area called the Kurnai Tribe. There were also one member representing all the different agencies from the Baw…
