Indigenous Health and Assimilation Policy

This assignment examines the issues surrounding Indigenous health in Australia, particularly focusing on the impact of the Assimilation policy. The author analyzes Haebich's (2007) critique of this policy, highlighting its shortcomings and the ongoing disparities in health outcomes for Aboriginal Australians. The author connects these historical injustices to contemporary healthcare challenges faced by Indigenous communities and emphasizes the importance of culturally competent care in addressing these disparities.

Running head: INDIGENOUS HEALTH
Indigenous health
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author’s note

1INDIGENOUS HEALTH
The article by Haebich (2007) mainly presented an argument regarding the issues of race,
ethnicity, indigenous rights and immigration. The author mainly critiques the Australian
Government claim of turning back to the Assimilation policy by saying that although Australia
celebrate cultural diversity and acknowledgment of cultural rights, however practical integration
and protection of rights of the aboriginal community is still not seen. The main learning form this
reading was that I got to know about the hidden unpalatable political agenda which has
camouflaged the goal of well being and equal rights of indigenous people. The author’s point of
view and support for the right of indigenous people is also evident as he regards that indigenous
as an important part of Australian history and he justifies the action to protect distinctive rights
of indigenous population on the ground of social justice and human rights principles. According
to the Australian Human Right Commission, social justice should be given to the original
inhabitants of Australia by maintaining their individual cultural identity and status, giving them
control over their status and giving them the right to land (Australian Human Rights Commission
2017).
Haebich (2007) gave the idea that amidst unprecedented global migration and
extraordinary economic development, all welfare activities were overshadowed by the
competition between capitalism and communism. With reference to the past, the author
explained about the limitation of the Australian leaders in taking a stand for colonialism and
racer. Many campaigns were implemented to support immigrants however by 1957 many
migrants remained ambivalent and had not adopted for Australian citizenship (Haebich 2007).
Hence, I got to learn that even after the Assimilation policy, much less time and money was
spent on promoting aboriginal assimilation. The material used for promoting assimilation was
ambiguous. The main insight and conclusion from the reading is that Assimilation policy was

2INDIGENOUS HEALTH
implemented to provide equal right to all citizens, however the mechanics of assimilation further
reinforced inequalities. This is the reason for greater disparities in health and social status of
aboriginals till date (Chen et al. 2015). This finding has great implications for my own practice
as being a health care professional I can play a direct role in improving the health of indigenous
Australians. Though I may not be able to address social and economic issues in their life such as
giving them right to land, however addressing health disparities in their life is possible according
to the scope of my professional practice.
The author Haebich (2007) has mainly focused on discussing about the political agenda
and process by which the assimilation policy directive was implemented in Australia. However,
it lacks details regarding health impacts of the ineffective process on the aboriginals. With my
experience in practice, I already know that health disparities in indigenous Australians are wider
because of language barrier and poor access to health care. Hence, considering the
socioeconomic situation and health disparities in this group, I aim to improve the health of
indigenous Australians by developing my competency in cultural practice. This will mainly
depend on increasing the cultural knowledge, skills and behaviors of individuals working in the
health care system. This will depend on improving the cultural knowledge and behavior while
interacting with indigenous people. Respecting their culture and advocating for unfair treatment
of the group is essential to assimilate this people in the Australian community (Davy et al. 2014).

3INDIGENOUS HEALTH
Reference
Australian Human Rights Commission. 2017. Information Sheet - Social justice and human
rights for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples | Australian Human Rights Commission.
Humanrights.gov.au. [online] Available at:
https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-social-justice/
guides/information-sheet-social [Accessed 10 Oct. 2017].
Chen, L., Xiao, L., Auger, N., Torrie, J., McHugh, N.G.L., Zoungrana, H. and Luo, Z.C., 2015.
Disparities and trends in birth outcomes, perinatal and infant mortality in Aboriginal vs. non-
Aboriginal populations: a population-based study in Quebec, Canada 1996–2010. PloS
one, 10(9), p.e0138562.
Davy, C., Kite, E., Sivak, L., Brown, A., Ahmat, T., Brahim, G., Dowling, A., Jacobson, S.,
Kelly, T., Kemp, K. and Mitchell, F., 2017. Towards the development of a wellbeing model for
aboriginal and Torres Strait islander peoples living with chronic disease. BMC Health Services
Research, 17(1), p.659.
Haebich, A. 2007. Retro-assimilation [Paper in: Divided Nation. Schultz, Julianne
(ed.).]. Griffith REVIEW, (15), 243.