Centre for Aboriginal Studies

Weight: 40% Task: This assessment requires students to ‘map’ their local community in Sydney, in order to develop a sense of how Indigenous culture influences the local area. As well, the activity is designed to assist students to ‘see’ their communities from an Indigenous perspective. A comprehensive profile will include a range of information including traditional custodians of the land, demographics, Indigenous specific services, places of significance, key community members, and services and organisations relevant to students’ particular discipline area of study and potential profession. Length: 6 credit points - 1000 words plus resources, photos, pamphlets and other items of interest. 8 credit points - 

Running head: ABORIGINAL STUDIES
ABORIGINAL
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Introduction
Aboriginals are Australia’s first people living in the continent for more than 50 000 years.
They are classified into two groups such as an aboriginal inhabited Australia during British
colonisation in 1788 and Torres Strait Islander, and the group descended from the Torres Strait
Island, which is a part of Queensland, Australia (Ballantyne 2014). The term itself is highly
controversial as the descendants are considered to have descended from non-inhabitants of
Australia. Present statistical data have shown that there are a total of 40,000 aborigines that
constitutes about 2% of total Australia’s population. The Aborigines have shared genetic history
over the years but for the last two years, these groups have started to self-identify them as one
group. The main aim of this paper is to conduct individual research on the Aboriginals. It is
structured to discuss the aboriginal’s languages spoken, land custodian, historical significance,
services and populations.
Traditional custodian
Aboriginal people reside in the region of Sydney (Figure 1, appendix). These aboriginals’
populations are Gadigal people. The territory of these extends from the south part of Sydney
harbour to south head known as Petersham (Dudgeon and Walker 2015). It is believed that
people have migrated to the northern parts of Australia from Asia using boats. A recent study
proved that early inhabitants of Sydney came from Africa 70,000 years ago. Sydney
acknowledged Aboriginal as the traditional custodian of the land of Australia (Figure 2,
appendix). The Australian government as a sign of respect towards traditional custodians
organises events, functions, official meetings and festivals of the community in the Welcome
country ceremony (Macoun, 2016). The government also encourages other community groups

2ABORIGINAL STUDIES
and event organiser to take part in the Welcome country event and acknowledge the Aboriginals
(26th January, National mourning Day) (Figure 7, appendix).
Language
Most of the languages spoken by Aboriginal 50,000 years ago are extinct. Currently, the
government is encouraging them to hold their pride and maintain their languages. The linguistic
trend among Australia uses Aboriginal English that is classified as creole called as Kriol. There
are few parts of Australia; Aboriginal speaks Pama-Nyungan language (Kowal, Greenwood and
McWhirter 2015). Majority of Aboriginals speaks creoles other than English (Figure 5,
appendix). According to the survey done in the year 2006, it was found that about 5769 people
speak Yumplatok and 3869 people speak Kriol (Clarke 2014).
Site of significance
Aboriginal sacred sites are important for the fabrication of culture and heritage. It is
considered to be the fundamental part of the beliefs and practices performed by the inhabitants
emanating the cultural regulations and traditions of Australia. Scared sites give spiritual and
cultural values towards the kinfolk's connection of the land. The most important scared place for
all Aboriginals is the Uluru “The Rock”. Uluru is considered to be highly sacred; hence the
Australian government has banned climbing “The Rock” (Figure 3, appendix). The bulky
sandstone monolith organised different native rites for more than 10,000 years (Tarbetsky, Collie
and Martin 2016). The Aboriginal have an idea that this sacred place can be dangerous and can
have an important role in the safety of an individual. It is a big concern for them that industrial
development, new projects and development can cause serious harm to their sacred sites.

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Aboriginals also consider trees sacred. Hence, they believe that tree cutting and ground digging
can cause disturbance towards the spirit of their ancestors.
Aboriginal beliefs are together referred to as “The Dreaming”. They have faith that their
individuality is derived from the soul used to reside in the inhabited land. The tribe themselves
have their totem that is an animal that is innate to the tribe region (Gee et al. 2014). Aboriginals
have faith in that Dreaming is diverse and it depends on tribe, gender, totem and location.
Event of historical significance
Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islander culture and history help students in understanding
the cultural differences and develop respect towards diversity. It would further help in removing
the gap within the non-indigenous and indigenous populations. Aboriginals are considered as an
event of historical significance as it demonstrates cultural diversity (Dudgeon and Walker 2015).
Recent discoveries have shown that Aboriginal is the oldest civilization that can be sketched
back 75000 years ago, although it became genetically distinctive group 50000 group ago. The
Australian government is working hard to preserve Aboriginal due to its historical importance.
They distinguish the place of Aboriginals as they are considered as the first custodians of the
land and thereby uphold the responsiveness of the culture and history of the people.
Indigenous people
Indigenous people include those people living in Australia and the neighbouring parts of
the British colonisation. Indigenous people are categorised into two groups such as Torres Strait
Islander and Aboriginals. The indigenous people speak the unique language and they preserve
their culture and tradition. The indigenous people have dark coloured skin, are outstanding

4ABORIGINAL STUDIES
athletes and resides in remote areas. Only 30 percent of the Australian population socialise with
the indigenous people some people have a stereotypic idea that the inhabitants are hurtful
(Markhan and Biddle 2018). According to the census study of 2016, it was assumed that
indigenous Australians embody 3.3 percent above the total population of Australia recorded in
the year 2011.
The Aboriginal birth collection defines where at least one of the parents is Aboriginals or
Torres Strait Islanders. The sex ratio at birth for Aboriginals maintains a constant record of 105.6
males per 100 females in the year 2012 (Gray 2018) (Figure 4, appendix).
There is a wide gap between indigenous and non-indigenous women. Social, cultural,
psychological patterning, as well as gender differences between females and males, have put a
prominent aspect in Australian lives (Anderson et al. 2016). The gender of the Aboriginals is a
joint study by the Aboriginal Health Council of South Australia. The main purpose is to explore
the diversity of the modern idea of gender, perspective based on strength, roles of gender and
gender equity. In the years 2017 and 2018, few participants were taken with a wide range of
gender and ages. This research was done to analyse and code the collective approach through the
lens of Aboriginals. Among Aboriginals, men are demarcated by the level of cultural knowledge
and their ability to share it with others. They are called ‘provider,’ ‘godfather’ or ‘hard worker.’
Aboriginal women also have a strong dominant role in their culture and tradition. Older women
are considered as survivors and buoyant. Men and women together are considered as the
nurturers in the family (Paradies 2016).
The socio-economic display disparity between indigenous or non-indigenous people. In
comparison to the non-indigenous Australians, Indigenous people suffer from the socio-

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economic status that includes employment, income and education. The lower socioeconomic
status affects health and hence increases the risk of health factors. Unemployed indigenous
people get involved in smoking as well as unlawful substance. Therefore, smoking increases the
risk of health factors, reduces education and affects the family’s economic status (Valeggia and
Snodgrass 2015). The difference in the socio-economic status creates a difference in the lifestyle.
Indigenous people with low income have a low rate of education thus no employment. This
affects the health of the individual as they get involved in negative and unlawful activities.
Whereas the non-indigenous people having better jobs enjoys a better lifestyle, healthy living
and good education. The health problem associated with non-indigenous people is less in
comparison to the indigenous people. The health ratio is highly significant for indigenous and
non-indigenous people (Figure 6, appendix).
The socio-economic gradient states that health status differs depending on the risky
health behaviours that are higher in the lower-income group. A bog behavioural risk is
associated with employment status. In any case, it has been observed that the Indigenous people
are unemployed, thus facing a higher risk of bad health along with the increased rate of smoking
and improper diet (Jones, Parker and Jamieson 2014). Another example of the increase in the
risk factor for the unemployed indigenous population is overweight and a higher dose of alcohol.
Indigenous services
Aboriginals' land councils epitomise the affairs of Aboriginals or the indigenous people
on the territory or in the state. It protects the benefits and aspirations of the indigenous
communities. NSW Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC) is the organisation that oversees a
network of 120 local Aboriginals Land Councils, which includes numerous communities of the
indigenous people. It is an independent organisation formed under the constituted laws of the

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Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (ALRA). The election always held every four years and it
includes 9 councilor marking 9 regional areas. In Sydney, Cr Abie Wright is the winning
candidate for NSWALC. The Chief executive officer of NSWALC 2019 is James Christian.
The national leadership body for the indigenous people is NACCHO (The National
Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, proctoring the health in Australia. This
organising body provides evidence; guidance and advice to the government of Australia
regarding the economy and policies need to be implemented. This helps in the development of
the improvement in the health outcome and changes the quality of life. NACCHO members
include Aboriginal Community Controlled health organisation (ACCHOs). This organisation
provides health services that are operated by the Indigenous people controlled by the board of
management elected by local people (Survivalinternational.org. 2020). The members of
NACCHO’s operates in 300 clinics providing ample, universal and cultural competency towards
primary health care to the indigenous people living in Australia. It is the largest employer for the
indigenous people that employs 6000 staff, among which 3500 are indigenous people.
Mainstream service
AMS (Aboriginal Medical Services) is a health service financed for providing services to
indigenous people. AMS is not controlled by the community service; hence all AMS does not
come under NACCHO. State or territory government controls it. AMS was built in the year
1971, controlled by the Aboriginal community. Mum (Shirl) Smith, Chicka Dixon, Elsa Dixon
and Ken Brindle established AMS. It provides care and medical services addressing health
disparity of the Aboriginal people (Australianstogether.org.au. 2020). The organisation provides
a perspective analysis of Aboriginals' health in Australia. It provides services to improve the

7ABORIGINAL STUDIES
health care policies by supplying better services to the indigenous people and addressing
concerns that are related to mental health issues in Australia.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that this paper explained the history as well as the present status of
the aboriginals in Australia. It has been proved that the Aboriginal community is the combination
of various ceremonies, practices and beliefs that is going on for many years. This paper
explained that communities' spirituality is considered scared and they also maintain a socio-
economic status for the well being of their community. The Aboriginal people are considered to
be violent, more prone to disease and economically poor. Due to their improper social status,
they are having serious health issues. The Australian government is working hard to uplift this
community’s health services by increasing economic status. The Aboriginal is considered the
cultural heritage of Australia as it is assumed that the civilisation started 70000 years ago even
though the genetic analysis for the community started 50000 years ago. The Australian
government is organisation various functioning and ceremonies to acknowledge aboriginals.

8ABORIGINAL STUDIES
References
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Ballantyne, T., 2014. Mobility, empire, colonisation. History Australia, 11(2), pp.7-37.
Clarke, P.A., 2014. The Aboriginal Australian cosmic landscape. Part 1: The ethnobotany of the
skyworld. Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, 17(3), pp.307-325.
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Islander social and emotional wellbeing. Working together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait
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Australian National University.

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Jones, K., Parker, E. and Jamieson, L., 2014. Access, literacy and behavioural correlates of poor
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Aljazeera.com., 2020. Australia Day, a day of mourning for Aboriginals. Available at:
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/01/australia-day-day-mourning-aborigines-
160126075832312.html [Accessed 12 Feb. 2020].

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Appendix
Fig 1: Australia Aboriginal (Survivalinternational.org. 2020)
Figure 2: Traditional custodians of the land (Australianstogether.org.au. 2020)

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Figure 3: Sacred place for Aboriginals “The Uluru”, Sydney (Australianstogether.org.au. 2020)
Figure 4: Sex ratio among Aboriginals (Survivalinternational.org. 2020)

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Figure 5: language spoken by Aboriginal clans in Sydney (Australianstogether.org.au. 2020)
Figure 6: Disease statistics among Aboriginals (Survivalinternational.org. 2020)

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Figure 7: For indigenous Australians, January 26 is a day of mourning (Source: Aljazeera.com.
2020)