Indigenous Health & Social Issues in Australia

This assignment delves into the complex health and social challenges faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia. It analyzes the impact of historical injustices, systemic discrimination, and ongoing inequalities on their well-being. The assignment draws upon various sources like government reports, academic studies, and news articles to explore key issues such as healthcare access, mental health, incarceration rates, and political representation. It also examines current policies and initiatives aimed at addressing these disparities and proposes potential solutions for achieving greater equity.

0Running head: CURRENT ISSUES IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People

1CURRENT ISSUES IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Question 1
This report will focus on the issues face by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
(ATSI) people that are living in Australia and evaluate their current position. Further, the
report will analyse the impact of current regulations and policies established by the
government for Aboriginal people and evaluate their strength and weaknesses.
ATSI people are known as the first inhabitants of Australia. Traditionally, individuals
with specific skin colour or ‘Aboriginal blood’ were considered as the Aboriginal but modern
definition has been changed. Now, the Federal Government provide the definition which
define Aboriginal person as individual who (Australia Human Rights Commission, 2005):
 Is of Aboriginal ancestry;
 Recognises as Aboriginal person; and
 The community in which he/she lives has accepted him.
Historical Context
The ATSI communities of Australia are the oldest living cultural history in the world;
the Indigenous culture is around 50,000 years old, and many experts argue that they are about
65,000 years old (Australia Government, 2015). The Indigenous culture has survived this
long because of their capability to change and adjust as per time. Land is a fundamental part
of Indigenous culture, and it is the core of their spirituality. The Aboriginal people were
semi-nomadic hunter and gatherers who lived as clans in different territories which were
divided based on mountain, lakes, and rivers. The Indigenous people were divided into about
600 clan groups. In 1770, British arrived in Australia and claimed it in the name of United
Kingdom (Dudgeon, Wright, Paradies, Garvey & Walker, 2010).
The consequence of British arrival brings a wave of new diseases in Australia such as
smallpox, measles, chickenpox, and influenza; these illnesses spread between Indigenous
communities and especially between the large population territories. The diseases cause the
population of Indigenous peoples to drop substantially. The British took tradition lands of
Indigenous people which were situated near agriculture lands and water sources. Between
1788 and 1900, the combination of factors such as diseases, direct violence and loss of land
reduces the population of Indigenous people by 90 percent; in 1920, the population reduced
between 50,000 and 90,000 (Hughes, 2007).

2CURRENT ISSUES IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Current Context
The impact of colonisation is still negatively influencing various aspects of ATSI
people. The government has started giving recognition to Indigenous people and begun to
implement new regulation to protect and promote their rights. But the situation of Aboriginal
people is still poor in Australia since they face various economic, social, political, legal,
physical and mental issues (Esler, Johnston, Thomas & Davis, 2008). After Mabo case, the
government started to accept the ownership of Indigenous people on traditional lands, but it
did not have a substantial influence. The population ATSI people in 2011 was 669,900 which
consist about 3 percent of the total population of Australia (Australian Bureau of Statistics,
2016). Currently, the Indigenous people face various issues in Australia that adversely
influence their physical and mental health.
Question 2
Issues
The ATSI people face various issues in Australia due to the negative effect of
colonisation, racism, lack of health care options, and other poor government regulations such
as:
 Low life expectancy rate
 High rate of suicide, incarceration and youth incarceration
 Discrimination in employment
 Lack of healthcare options that increase vulnerability to dangerous diseases
 Sexual violence and domestic violence
 Physical and mental health issue
The government of Australia has implemented various regulations to uplift Indigenous
people condition, but they have failed to do so. Most of the Aboriginal people suffered
through physical and mental problems because of lack of facilities. Following are social,
political and economic issues faced by Indigenous people in Australia.
Political Issues
 Indigenous people experience extreme level of racism throughout Australia,
especially in southern states. The Aboriginal people face racism in schools, hospitals,
courts and other public agencies. The racism causes mental trauma in Indigenous

3CURRENT ISSUES IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
children that adversely influence their education and create mental problems
(Donelly, 2015).
 The rate of ingenious incarceration is substantially high in Australia; they represent 3
percent of the Australian population still more than 28 percent of Australian prisons
are Aboriginal. The number of Indigenous incarcerated women is more than 34.3
percent of total women prisons (Korff, 2017a).
 Even after the establishment of many regulations for the protection of land rights of
Aboriginal people, most of the Indigenous individuals are not able to claim their
traditional lands because of the mining corporation. The government proceedings and
requirements for proving the ownership are complicated which made it difficult for
Indigenous people to claim ownership over traditional lands.
 The rate of crime against Indigenous people is substantially high in Australia; most of
the Aboriginal children experience or suffer from crimes that negatively influence
their point of view towards life.
Economic Issues
 The low income and education facilities made it difficult for Aboriginal people to
influence and engage with society. The Indigenous people have the lowest economic
status than compared to other societies in Australia.
 The Aboriginal people face many difficulties that create barriers to their education
like (Bennett & Zubrzycki, 2013):
i. English teaching material
ii. Inappropriate history of Aboriginal people in the books that did not depict
reality
iii. Not enough Indigenous history in textbooks
iv. Racism by teachers, staff and other students
v. Poverty made it difficult for parents to afford study material
 High rate of debt, homelessness, financial hardship, social isolation, family
breakdown, domestic violence, and lack of proper representation in the judicial
system.
Social Issues
 Discrimination between Indigenous and non-Aboriginal Australian during
employment, education, healthcare, and other social situations

4CURRENT ISSUES IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
 Lack of appropriate healthcare facilities that create various physical and mental health
problems for Aboriginal people
 High rate of suicide due to mental stress
 Lack of respect for native title
 Social exclusion in major cities
 Vulnerability to rape, gambling, domestic violence, assaults, drugs and alcohol abuse
Question 3
Many studies have been conducted by experts on ATSI people and communities, most
of the research supports the argument that most of the Indigenous people in Australia are
suffering from various social, economic, political and health issues. Many studies have
provided that the ATSI people in Australia are the most socially and economically
disadvantaged group. Bodkin-Andrews, Paradies, Parada, Denson, Priest & Bansel (2012)
provided theory and research on racism and bullying faced by Indigenous people in Australia.
The study showed negative impact of bullying and racism on Indigenous people; these two
stressors adversely affect mental, physical and educational wellbeing outcomes. The racism
has always been affecting Indigenous people negatively, whereas bullying is more recent.
Many types of research have been conducted on racism issues, but the issue of bullying has
been largely ignored. The theory stated that government should clearly understand the two
primary stressors of the negatively influence Aboriginal people’s health, find the reason for
such stressors and who are being targeted the most. The government should formulate strict
policies to develop a culturally sensitive and secure environment for Indigenous people
(Purdie, Dudgeon & Walker, 2010).
There have been several other major theories and studies that have underpinned the
negative condition of Aboriginal people. The Mabo Case is one of the most famous cases
relating to ownership of Aboriginal people on traditional lands of Australia. In this case, the
high court dismissed the doctrine of Terra nullius. The principles of terra nullius imported all
British law on Australian land and forcefully apply them over Indigenous Australian, this
principle applies on barren lands whereas Aboriginal communities were civilised. The high
court provided historical judgement by accepting the land ownership title of Indigenous
people, and the government established Native Title Act 1993 (Strelein, 2009). Although the
native title act accept land ownership right of Aboriginal people, it is still significantly

5CURRENT ISSUES IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
difficult for them to prove their ownership. There are a large number of requirements for
establishing land title, and most cases take years to succeed.
The studies and theories have proved that Aboriginal people are the most disadvantageous
group. Still, the government did not provide extra funding for Indigenous communities. The
Australian government has implemented few non-monetary facilities for Aboriginal
communities to overcome disadvantage such as:
 Aboriginal Medical and Legal Services
 The Indigenous Education Strategic Initiatives Programme
 Employment to indigenous community development scheme
 The Indigenous Employment Programme
These programs focus on providing employment, healthcare, education, training, and
other facilities to the Aboriginal communities. As per the theory of Muller (2014), the
initiatives of government are not enough to fulfill healthcare and medical requirements of
Indigenous people. According to Dick (2007), social determinants’ theory recognise that
Indigenous population is facing various issues relating to health and inequality which
negatively influence their development because the social determinants fail to recognise the
fundamental connection between human rights and health status. Thomson, Darcy & Pearce
(2010) provided that sports development program and Ganma theory should be implemented
for Indigenous youth to improve the involvement and collaboration between agencies and
local communities to benefit Aboriginal people mutually.
Question 4
The Australian government stated reconciliation with Aboriginal peoples in 1991. Since
then, the government recognise the disadvantage suffered by Indigenous people in Australia,
and they have implemented many policies and practices to maintain equality and provide
facilities to Indigenous people. Following are the recent policies in Australia regarding issues
face by Aboriginal people:
1. The Australian Government Department of Health (2015) has implemented a health
plan 2013-2023 for Indigenous people facilities. The plan focuses on establishing an
effective health system to fulfill healthcare requirements of Indigenous people
(HealthInfoNet, 2017a). The plan includes following strategies:

6CURRENT ISSUES IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
i) Increasing the funding for Aboriginal community health organisations
ii) Reducing discrimination and racism to improve the cultural safety in healthcare
system for Indigenous people
iii) Recognising, mapping and responding to the requirements of Aboriginal people
based on geographic factors
iv) Providing evidence-based care
v) Ensuring the leadership of Indigenous people in healthcare system
vi) Increasing workforce capabilities
vii) Partnering with Aboriginal communities to increase their influence at different
levels such as planning, delivery, and evaluation
2. The federal government of Australia has established various bodies to administer the
issues relating to Indigenous people, such as (HealthInfoNet, 2017b):
a) The Ministerial Taskforce on Indigenous Affairs — it includes various
government ministers that formulate policies to address the problems faced by
Aboriginal people and communities.
b) The Secretaries Group — consists of chief from various federal departments
who report their actions to the Ministerial Taskforce.
c) The National Indigenous Council — this council consists of government-
appointed Board of Indigenous people that provide advice to government
regarding Aboriginal issues.
d) The Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination — the head office is situated in
the Division of Immigration, Multiculturalism, and Aboriginal Matters and it
performs the action of coordinating federal government on Aboriginal affairs.
e) Indigenous Coordination Centres — there are 27 region-based offices situated
throughout the country, and they engage with local Aboriginal communities and
coordinate government by delivering facilities straight to the communities.
3. The Council of Australian Government (COAG) has established various targets
relating to Closing the Gap program in 2008 which focuses on following six issues
(Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2014):
i. Increasing life expectancy of Indigenous people by 2031.
ii. Closing gap of the mortality rate of children under five years by 2018.
iii. Providing education facilities to four-year-olds in remote areas by 2013.
iv. Filling the gap in numeracy, writing, and reading of Aboriginal people by 2018.
v. Creating equal attainment rates for children by 2020.

7CURRENT ISSUES IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
vi. Closing the gap in employment opportunities that exist between non-indigenous
and Aboriginal people for a decade.
4. In 2014, COAG added five new targets for closing the gap, and the Australian
government has invested around $4.8 billion in its program called Indigenous
Advancement Strategy (IAS) in order to replace more than 150 programs by five
programs which include:
I. Children and education
II. Job, land, and economy
III. Culture capability
IV. Remote Australia strategy
V. Safety and wellbeing
5. Establishment of Native Title Act 1993 that recognise the ownership title of Aboriginal
people over traditional lands and giving them possession of such lands.
6. The government and non-Indigenous people are slowly recognising the disadvantages
suffered by Aboriginal people, and they are spreading awareness to provide them equal
opportunities by reducing racism and discrimination through policies such as equal pay,
citizenship, self-determination policy, land rights and native title.
Question 5
The policies for Indigenous people have failed to fulfill the requirement of Aboriginal
people.
1. Following are the failure of closing the gap policy:
1) The policy estimated to provide education facility to all four-year-old Aboriginal
children living in remote areas by 2013 which has been already missed.
2) The life expectancy gap is estimated to close by 2031 by there is not much
progress on this issue. The Aboriginal people die about ten years younger than
non-indigenous, and no impact has shown on these rates. The life expectancy for
an Aboriginal male is required to be increased by 16 years, and for a female it is
21 years. By 2012, the only gain in life expectancy was 0.1 for women and 0.8 for
men (Conifer, Leslie, Tilley & Liddy, 2017).
3) There is no significant decline in child mortality rate; in 2015, 124 Aboriginal
children died, and in 2014 118 children died.

8CURRENT ISSUES IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
4) The rate of Aboriginal employment has fallen since 2008; the gap was 24.2
percent in 2015 whereas it was 21.2 percent in 2008.
5) Other targets such as school attendance, reading and writing have yet to be
fulfilled.
2. The Native Title Act 1993 has failed to fulfill its purpose because it is substantially
difficult for Aboriginal people to prove their ownership title (Cromb, 2017).
3. The Australian Government Department of Health has failed to meet its target
because the rate of Aboriginal deaths due to suicide, mental issues, diseases and lack
of availability of mental facilities are still substantially high (Wahlquist, 2017).
Following are the strengths and weaknesses of various policies started by the Australian
government for Aboriginal people.
Strengths
 Closing the gap policy has been able to improve attainment rate of Indigenous
students because by 2015 more than 62 percent of students have finished year 12 in
school. It assists Aboriginal peoples to collect higher education that assist in their
development (Perche, 2017).
 The rate of employment has not increased as estimated by the government but as
compared to 1991, the rate has grown substantially.
 The policies promote the right and equality of Aboriginal people that reduce racism
and discrimination against them.
 The healthcare policies allow Indigenous people to get appropriate medical facilities
that reduce health issues and increase their life expectancy.
Weaknesses
 The lack of resources is a key factor that creates barriers for the Indigenous policies.
Most of the policies are underfunded, for example, there are around 150 Aboriginal
programs, and total funding for them is around $2.4 billion (Korff, 2017b).
 There are too many services available in which most are irrelevant. In Roeboure,
Western Australia, there are around 67 local services and 400 programs for a
population of 1,150, and in Tomelad South Wales there are around 70 services for 300
people.

9CURRENT ISSUES IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
 The administration cost is substantially high, for example, in Kimberley region, from
$1.3 million funding only $327,000 was spent on Indigenous facilities and rest were
staff salary and other expenses.
 The government policies did not include perspective or opinion of Aboriginal people,
instead, they establish policies that they think are best for Indigenous communities.

10CURRENT ISSUES IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
References
Australia Government. (2015). Australian Indigenous cultural heritage. Retrieved from
http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/austn-Indigenous-
cultural-heritage
Australia Human Rights Commission. (2005). Questions and Answers about Aboriginal &
Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Retrieved from
http://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/questions-and-answers-about-
Aboriginal-torres-strait-islander-peoples
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2016). Estimates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Australians, June 2011. Retrieved from
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/3238.0.55.001
Bennett, B., & Zubrzycki, J. (2003). Hearing the stories of Australian Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander social workers: Challenging and educating the system. Australian
Social Work, 56(1), 61-70.
Bodkin-Andrews, G., Paradies, Y., Parada, R., Denson, N., Priest, N., & Bansel, P. (2012,
January). Theory and research on bullying and racism from an Aboriginal Australian
perspective. In AARE 2012: Proceedings of the Australian Association for Research
in Education 2012 conference (pp. 1-14). Australian Association for Research in
Education.
Conifer, D., Leslie, T., Tilley, C., & Liddy, M. (2017). Closing the gap: Australia is failing
on Indigenous disadvantage goals. Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-
02-14/closing-the-gap-report-card-failing/8268450
Cromb, N. (2017). Native Title is not ‘land rights’. Retrieved from
http://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2017/06/22/native-title-not-land-rights
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. (2014). Policies and strategies. Retrieved
from https://www.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/Indigenous/Health-
Performance-Framework-2014/Aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-health-
performance-framework-2014-report/policies-and.html

11CURRENT ISSUES IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. (2014). Racism and discrimination. Retrieved
from https://www.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/Indigenous/Health-
Performance-Framework-2014/Aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-health-
performance-framework-2014-report/racism-and.html
Dick, D. (2007). Social determinants and the health of Indigenous peoples in Australia – a
human rights based approach. Retrieved from
https://www.humanrights.gov.au/news/speeches/social-determinants-and-health-
Indigenous-peoples-australia-human-rights-based
Dudgeon, P., Wright, M., Paradies, Y., Garvey, D., & Walker, I. (2010). The social, cultural
and historical context of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Working
together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and wellbeing
principles and practice, 25-42.
Esler, D., Johnston, F., Thomas, D., & Davis, B. (2008). The validity of a depression
screening tool modified for use with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people. Australian and New Zealand journal of public health, 32(4), 317-321.
HealthInfoNet. (2017a). National. Retrieved from
http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/health-infrastructure/policies/policies-
strategies/general/national
HealthInfoNet. (2017b). Organisations. Retrieved from
http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/health-infrastructure/policies/organisations
Hughes, H. (2007). Lands of Shame: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander" homelands" in
Transition. Centre for Independent Studies. Sydney, New South Wales.
Korff, J. (2017a). Aboriginal prison rates. Retrieved from
https://www.creativespirits.info/Aboriginalculture/law/Aboriginal-prison-rates
Korff, J. (2017b). Why Aboriginal politics fail. Retrieved from
https://www.creativespirits.info/Aboriginalculture/politics/why-Aboriginal-politics-
fail
Muller, L. (2014). A theory for Indigenous Australian health and human service work. Allen
& Unwin.

12CURRENT ISSUES IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Perche, D. (2017). Closing the Gap is failing and needs a radical overhaul. Retrieved from
https://theconversation.com/closing-the-gap-is-failing-and-needs-a-radical-overhaul-
72961
Purdie, N., Dudgeon, P., & Walker, R. (2010). Working together: Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander mental health and wellbeing principles and practice.
Strelein, L. (2009). Compromised jurisprudence: Native title cases since Mabo. Aboriginal
Studies Press.
Thomson, A., Darcy, S., & Pearce, S. (2010). Ganma theory and third-sector sport-
development programmes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth:
Implications for sports management. Sport Management Review, 13(4), 313-330.
Wahlquist, C. (2017). Australian governments have failed Indigenous peoples, says Oxfam.
Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/apr/12/australian-
governments-have-failed-Indigenous-peoples-says-oxfam