Case Management Practice for First Australians

Running Head: CASE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE FOR FIRST AUSTRALIANS 1
Case Management Practice for First Australians
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Date

CASE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE FOR FIRST AUSTRALIANS 2
Case Management Practice for First Australians
Introduction
The people of the European ancestry have occupied Australia for only about 10
generations. Before their arrival in 1788, for possibly more than 2,600 generations (65, 000
years) the land was owned and occupied by various indigenous communities who co-existed
peacefully and harmoniously. Their cohesion was based on their comparable customary values
and laws, as well as similar life experiences and practices such as communal initiation rites and
exchange of women amongst extended families. They were hunters and gatherers who survived
mostly on world foods. However, they were organized in such a way that women dug up and
collected food resources such as edible roots, ants, burrowing animals, grubs, insects, shellfish
and vegetables while the men fished and hunted. (Jalata, 2013). These nations had a rich artistic
heritage and culture and possessed distinctive skills in areas such as forest regeneration and
navigation. They are now referred to as Australia’s first peoples and include the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people in the country. This essay discusses the historical as well as the
contemporary issues faced by the first Australians. It also deliberates case management practice
for these communities putting emphasis on how it is carried out and the models commonly used.
In addition, the paper brings to light the benefits and limitations of case management in relation
to Australia’s first people and highlights any tensions identified in the practice.
Historical and Contemporary Issues Facing the Aboriginal People
Historical Background
Prior to the arrival of English colonial settlers, the land of Australia was occupied by
indigenous nations with a unique culture. They did not have permanent settlements neither did

CASE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE FOR FIRST AUSTRALIANS 3
they keep domestic animals, in exception of the dog. Their movements were dependent on the
accessibility of food and water resources in the region (Jalata, 2013). Conversely, they had
property rights in groups as they recognized kinship relations which were vital to their economic
and social practices. Indigenous Australians mostly produced for their subsistence consumption
and only traded within and outside their kin associations to a limited extent which sometimes
brought about episodes of conflict among the groups. These communities also engaged in
activities of leisure, administration and management, education, investment, religion and ritual,
reproduction, order and sometimes warfare. Indigenous Australians were oral communities who
kept their cultural heritage alive by passing their customary laws, knowledge, performances, arts,
rituals, and languages from one generation to the next.
Key Historical Issues
The history of Australia’s first people is marked with the arrival of English, Dutch and
French settlers in the late 18th century, termed as one of the most unexpected and disastrous acts
of colonization in the world’s history. Mariners from Europe started to explore Australia in the
early 17th century. Between 1606 and 1770 approximately 54 ships belonging to European
mariners had arrived in the continent and made contact with the inhabitants. Initially, the
indigenous people were amicable to the foreigners and exchanged artifacts, cloth, food and other
materials with them. Nonetheless, the English settlers, later on, turned this friendliness and
cooperation into conflict, terrorism, and war and started expropriating their lands. This led to
resistance by these communities as the invaders were disrupting their way of life and violating
their rights to the property. The more the colonizers confiscated their lands the more the
communities resisted leading to the loss of the lives of many indigenous populations. The
English colonizers also eradicated the self-governing laws and institutions of the Aboriginal

CASE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE FOR FIRST AUSTRALIANS 4
people and replaced them with their own rules and regulations. In addition, women were raped
and children kidnaped to become unpaid laborers for the white folks (Jalata, 2013).
Contemporary Issues
This act of colonization introduced genocide, cultural destruction, epidemics, abduction,
displacement, rape, alcoholism, and warfare as many Aboriginal nations were wiped out and the
rest were subjugated. New infections such as influenza, measles, chickenpox, and smallpox were
introduced. Until the late twentieth century with the introduction of the National Sorry Day in
1998, European Australians denied or suppressed most of this horrific history. This is an event
that was introduced to commemorate the mistreatment of the indigenous people for the past two
centuries. Unfortunately, the indigenous Australians have never quite recovered from these
adversities and many still suffer the social, psychological and economic detriments of their
ancestry. An event such as the Stolen Generations adversely affects the mental health of many
aboriginal people (Blignault et al., 2014). In this incident, children of the Aboriginal and Strait
Islander lineage were removed from their families by church missions as well as the agencies of
the state and federal governments under their analogous parliaments. Some indigenous
Australians have reported losing their relatives while a percentage of others have made reports of
being separated from their families (ABS, 2009). The hardships have also affected their
wellbeing, reducing the abundance of their health. Compared to other Australians, indigenous
people have poorer health as more of them suffer from chronic conditions such as heart disease,
diabetes, cancer, trauma, and mental ailments as well. Also, more of them are involved in
excessive drinking and smoking in comparison with non-indigenous Australians (Vos et al.,
2009).