...Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders | April 3 2016 | | | Introduction Australian Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders are one the oldest communities of the Australia. About sixty-eight percent of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders live in the urban area of Australia like Queensland and New South Wales. Rest of the population resides in the remote areas of Australia. The recent surveys show that the population of aborigines and Torres Strait Islander are having a serious health issue of increasing mental illness (Busfield, 2012). Also, the rate of suicide is getting high amongst them. These people have a traditional view towards their health; they don’t just associate it with a person, but with the whole community and spiritual, social and emotional well-being of the whole community. The Australian Government and the health department are working hard to overcome the problem of mental disorder and high rate of suicide amongst the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders (Whitlock, Wyman & Moore, 2014). Factors that are associated with mental disorder and suicide When a person is socially and emotionally unwell, and there is a remarkable change of behavior and thinking it is known as mental illness. According to a health survey in 2008, about thirty-one percent of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders aged above fifteen years were suffering from psychological distress of high level. Which was twice in comparison to non-aboriginals. This survey measured...
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...that I am significantly less likely to be subject to any racism or discrimination as white Australian people are portrayed widely in society as the “normal”. A case study from another subject resonates with me when I think of white privilege and how I will not be subject to the same appalling levels of racism and discrimination as my Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander family and friends will be, because I was born white. A lady had a stroke at a bus stop and was slumped over for hours, this lady was in this state but not one person stopped to see if she was alright, she survived and when this lady reflects on the event she talks about how people were just assuming because of her race that she was drunk or passed out, not that she had just suffered an emergency medical event. As a ‘white’ Australian person, I am not subject to the same poorer health outcomes as my friends and extended family who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. White privilege affords me the ability to feel safe and comfortable accessing health care services, knowing that my health care beliefs will be respected and understood as they relate closely to the dominant western biomedical model approach to health care. As the biomedical model of health care continues to fail to acknowledge the core of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples health beliefs; particularly the spiritual connections to land and the impact of this on overall health and wellbeing, many Indigenous Australian people...
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...August 1966. The Aboriginal pastoral workers first conveyed their misery with the poor working conditions and the disrespectful treatment. The next year the group moved to a significance place to the Gurindji people, Wattie Creek. Vincent Lingiari and Mick Rangiari asked Frank Hardy to make a sign which had the word “Gurindji” across it. This showed that their animosity was much deeper than the wages and working conditions. Despite that these people could not read, they understood the significance and power of the sign. 1967 – Referendum On the 27th of May 1967, the Holt Government approved two modifications to the Australian constitution associating to the Indigenous Australians. Australians voted to change the constitution to permit the commonwealth to construct respectful laws for the Indigenous people anywhere they lived in Australia. It also allowed them to include Aboriginal people and incorporate them in the national census. The results for the referendum vote was 94 per cent of Australians voted a strong yes, with an outstanding majority of votes in all 6...
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...around the world, based on the principles of self-determination and participation, to respect the rights and roles of Indigenous peoples within society. It is the instrument that contains the minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of Indigenous peoples all over the world” - Mick Gooda, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. | 4.Was a turning point in the struggle for Indigenous Rights because this statement was created after a long time of suffering endured by the Indigenous Peoples. | 5.It reduced the levels of disadvantage and discrimination, returned the Indigenous Peoples their rights to cultural identities, self- representation, and to their values and beliefs have been noticeably respected at an international level. | 6.The world’s indigenous peoples do not share the same story of colonization. In the New World, white European colonizers arrived and settled on the land, disregarding the Indigenous people. | 7.Many countries have continued to tackle the problem of disadvantage and discrimination of the Indigenous all around the world | 8.Young people can ensure that the fight for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Civil Rights continues….. not discriminating against anyone whose culture, race, religion, etc that is different to theirs. | Bibliography Australian Human Rights Commission. 2013. Discrimination: Know your rights Information for...
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...An interview between myself and Leanne Knowles was conducted. Leanne is a Community welfare worker and Coordinator of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation known as Warringu. An interview was arranged through a mutual friend of Leanne. It was suggested that I interview Leanne as it would be good to base my studies around Warringu. An interview was conducted on Tuesday 8/9/15 at the Woree McDonald’s at around 12 noon. Lecture notes and reading were the main sources of information I used to base my questions around as well as general interest. It was particularly intriguing interviewing Leanne coming from a males perspective. Coming into the interview I didn’t understand the nature of the organisation and I was surprised by how...
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...destroying sacred sites, which they had lived on for centuries. Aboriginal people were forced to carry around certificates stating who they were and leave their sacred customs behind. They were known as Flora and Fauna and had no rights. Until after WW2 they were not classed as citizens, meaning they were not allowed to vote. After WW2 Indigenous people who had served in war were treated terribly, being denied entry into local RSL branches and some had their wages stolen. For decades, Indigenous veterans have asked for better acknowledgement of their service to Australia as they have assisted in all conflicts since federation. In 2017, for the first time, Indigenous veterans led the national ANZAC Day...
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...Tuesday, 12 August 2014 STRUCTUAL ! A lot of health services are not as accessible and user-friendly for Indigenous people as they are for non-Indigenous people, adding to higher levels of disadvantage. Sometimes this is because more Indigenous people than non-Indigenous live in remote locations and not all health services are offered outside of cities. Sometimes health services are not culturally appropriate (do not consider Indigenous culture and the specific needs of Indigenous people). Also, some Indigenous people may not be able to use some services because they are too expensive. (Slide show) Social and emotional wellbeing is a term used to talk about a person’s overall social, emotional, psychological (mental), spiritual, and cultural wellbeing. Factors that are important to social and emotional wellbeing include a person’s. (refer to slide show) Social and emotional wellbeing is often confused with mental health, but it is much broader: social and emotional wellbeing is concerned with the overall wellbeing of the person. On the other hand, mental health describes how a person thinks and feels, and how they cope with and take part in everyday life. It is often seen, incorrectly, as simply the absence of a mental illness. (Slide show) Important determinants of Indigenous health inequality in Australia include the lack of equal access to primary health care and the lower standard of health infrastructure in Indigenous communities (healthy housing, food, sanitation etc) compared...
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...UNDERSTANDING SELF AND SOCIETY: CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES Module 1: Why is Human Dignity important ? What is Human dignity ? "dignity: the quality of being worthy or honourable; worthiness, worth, nobleness, excellence. Latin dignitāt-em merit, worth" Oxford English Dictionary The focus of UNCC100 is on the theme of the common good: how we think about what is needed in order for all people to flourish in society. UNCC300 shifts this focus from the social to the individual, although of course, we can never think about the individual without reference to the broader context of society. In this unit, we are going to consider what it means to be a human being, and more particularly, how we can understand the notion of human worth, or value. This is what we are referring to when we talk about human dignity. Activity 1 Complete some research on Rosa Parks . 1. Who was she? 2. What impact did Rosa Parks have on the US Civil Rights movement? 3. What impact do you think Rosa Parks has had on our understanding of human dignity today? 4. There have been numerous songs written about Rosa Parks. The Neville Brothers recorded “Sister Rosa” in 1989. Click the link to hear the song and follow the lyrics. http://pancocojams.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/two-songs-about-rosa-parks-lyrics.html Human dignity is probably a very familiar expression, because the concept is part of many conversations taking place in the contemporary world. At the same time, once we begin...
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...The changing role of women in Australia has come about largely through waves of feminism. The first wave brought women the vote in federal and State elections. The colonies began to grant manhood suffrage halfway through the nineteenth century, however, women were not included in the begining. When Australia reached Federation in 1901, it was agreed that all women should be given the vote at a federal level since women from South Australia and Western Australia already had a State vote. In 1902 all women were given the vote in federal elections except for those who were Indigenous Australians, or of Asian, African or Pacific Islander descent. Despite the enfranchisement, no woman was elected to an Australian parliament until 1921. The first federal female parliamentarians were not elected until 1943. This is just one example of how enfranchisement fell short of truly improving the lives of Australian women or changing attitudes about them. Women were still seen as nurturers who had no other destiny than to marry and raise children. The few women who did work (excluding the wealthy who were involved in voluntary work) not only had to find paid work, but also had to carry the burden of all housework and child-rearing. The notion of what jobs a woman could do expanded during World War I, but women's role in public life was still very limited. Factors which brought about the women's movement Contrary to popular belief, women's groups and activists remained active throughout the...
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...research about depression and well-being relevant to the Aboriginal and Indigenous populations in Australia. The following will identify some of the accepted causal attributes and expression of depression within remote and urban communities. In addition, the identified tools used to assess depression for this review will be examined. Finally, the relationship between the management of mental illness and current programs aimed at supporting indigenous people towards achieving holistic balance will be identified and examined to highlight possible contributions of future research. Aboriginal people have long been subjected to disadvantage in comparison to non-aboriginal people in Australia. (Reference) the roots of disadvantage is widely accepted across literature to flow from colonisation and presently developed into complex issues and traumas shared inter-generationally. These complications have impacted many aboriginal people in relation to their physical health, development, culture and their social and emotional well-being. (Reference). According to the Australian Institute of Health & Well-being (AIHW), the issued report in 2011 found that mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and substance abuse disorders were identified as being the second highest affliction in the indigenous population. Furthermore, hospitalisation was more frequently engaged upon. AIHW data represented that; aboriginal people were twice as likely to require hospitalisation...
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...LEGT1710: Business and the Law Part One The Australian legal system operates under the theory that there is a separation of powers among the three divisions of government. The doctrine of the separation of powers was instigated to divide the institutions of government into three separate entities; legislative, executive and judicial. Each entity has different responsibilities; the legislative (parliament) is the supreme law-maker, and responsible for making the law. The executive (administration) administers laws made by parliament, and the judiciary, or courts, enforce and interpret the laws. As a result, the powers and functions of each branch are supposedly separate, allowing no single entity to establish complete authority, while each remain interdependent on one another. This ensures that there are checks and balances on authority, placing limits on what each institution can do, guaranteeing the prevention of absolutism or corruption and certifying the protection of individual rights. However, under the Westminster System, this separation is not in complete operation. In reality, the legislature and executive are not entirely separated. As the ministers, government departments and agencies are elected from, and consequently accountable to the parliament, there is a significant amount of interconnection between the two branches. This embodies the doctrine of responsible government; a system of government that exemplifies parliamentary accountability. Conversely, there is...
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...disorder (PTSD). Studies of stress levels of shown that not only does stress have physical concerns but also emotional issues in which lead to addiction and gambling problems (Currie et al. 2013). Stress can lead to a lack of control over an individual life that leads to lower life expectancy. The added stress for indigenous Australians caused by racial discrimination throughout their life is evident into many young indigenous committing suicide. Brennan (2015) explains that the government has a major issue in addressing young indigenous life expectancy due to the lack of resources to aid a better future. Paradies & Cunningham (2012) mention that racial discrimination has been shown to be a vital component in individuals suffering from depression and...
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...Copyright © eContent Management Pty Ltd. Contemporary Nurse (2007) 24: 33–44. Telling stories: Nurses, politics and Aboriginal Australians, circa 1900–1980s ABSTRACT The focus of this paper is stories by, and about (mainly non-Aboriginal) Registered Nurses working in hospitals and clinics in remote areas of Australia from the early 1900s to the 1980s as they came into contact with, or cared for, Aboriginal people. Government policies that controlled and regulated Aboriginal Australians provide the context for these stories. Memoirs and other contemporary sources reveal the ways in which government policies in different eras influenced nurse’s attitudes and clinical practice in relation to Aboriginal people, and helped institutionalise racism in health care. Up until the 1970s, most nurses in this study unquestioningly accepted firstly segregation, then assimilation policies and their underlying paternalistic ideologies, and incorporated them into their practice. The quite marked politicisation of Aboriginal issues in the 1970s in Australia and the move towards selfdetermination for Aboriginal people politicised many – but not all – nurses. For the first time, many nurses engaged in a robust critique of government policies and what this meant for their practice and for Aboriginal health. Other nurses, however, continued as they had before – neither questioning prevailing policy nor its effects on their practice. It is argued that only by understanding and confronting the...
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...In the last decade health gains have been fewer than expected, reflecting the fact that the primary health care service that delivers the best results for Indigenous Australians (ACCHS) is the least funded.6 Two-thirds of Aboriginal people rely on Indigenous-specific primary health care services, yet three-quarters of all government Indigenous health expenditure is on mainstream services, with 48.4% of the expenditure on hospitals.6 Government expenditure on Indigenous primary health care continues to be directed to mainstream primary care.6 Government funding issues include rationing Aboriginal health expenditure, underutilization of mainstream services, mainstreaming Indigenous expenditure, and failure to distribute funding equitably by a coherent, transparent, formal process.6 Low levels of Indigenous primary healthcare funding are shown by the fact that in recent years, the funding directed towards mainstream primary healthcare has increased even though data shows that there is a 6.3% annual increase in demand for ACCHS services.6 Thus, it is extremely important for solutions, such as reforms to the health funding system, to be implemented as many Aboriginals rely on ACCHS services and the demand for these services is increasing.6 The National Aboriginal Community Health Organization has some suggested solutions to help remedy funding issues such as, conducting regional analysis of health outcomes and service capacity to identify areas where new ACCHS are required and allocating...
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...To what extent has Indigenous tourism either empowered or exploited Indigenous communities in Australia or internationally. In your discussion refer to at least two case studies of Indigenous tourism. Both past and present, Indigenous culture is becoming increasingly recognised as a significant aspect of the Australian tourism product and experience (Johnston 2006). Therefore, in order to manage the long-term sustainability of Indigenous tourism and involvement of host communities in the tourism industry, the socio-cultural impacts of tourism on Indigenous communities need to be addressed and monitored (Hodgson, Firth & Presbury 2005). Research conducted by various authors have identified positive impacts commonly associated with Indigenous tourism on host communities including conservation of traditional customs and cultural heritage (Tomaselli 2012), sense of community pride, cross-cultural understanding, maintaining community stability and the broadening of horizons (Hodgson, Firth & Presbury 2005). As a result, host communities may recognise the significance and economic value of their cultural heritage. Thus, tourism may come to play a vital role in promoting cross-cultural exchange, education and preservation of Indigenous communities. Conversely, much of the literature regarding this topic suggests that the negative sociocultural impacts outweigh the benefits seen as a result of Indigenous tourism which include disruption to daily life and traditional lifestyles...
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