Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Research

The assignment provided is a compilation of various studies, reports, and articles related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research in Australia. The sources include peer-reviewed journals, books, and government publications. The topics covered range from children's development and wellbeing to mental health, cancer incidence, and life expectancy estimations for Indigenous Australians. The assignment aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the health challenges faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and the importance of culturally sensitive research methods. It is essential for students pursuing health-related studies or those interested in Indigenous Australian health issues.

DIPLOMA OF MENTAL
HEALTH

Table of Contents
PROJECT TASK 1..........................................................................................................................1
Overview of identified communities......................................................................................1
Cultural practices....................................................................................................................1
Importance of law in the community......................................................................................1
Importance of Kinship............................................................................................................1
Impact of European settlement on these communities...........................................................2
Impact of political issues in the community...........................................................................2
Cultural factors affecting the community...............................................................................2
Social issues faced by the community....................................................................................2
Impact of economic issues in the communities......................................................................3
Impact of trauma, exclusion, discrimination and negative attitude........................................3
Factors contributing to their ill health....................................................................................3
Common diseases experienced by these communities...........................................................4
PROJECT TASK 2..........................................................................................................................4
Biasness at the workplace with Aboriginal Australians and Torres strait..............................4
Impact of cultural background and values on interaction......................................................5
Issues impacting the communication and relationship...........................................................5
Appropriate understanding of the community........................................................................5
Ensuring cultural awareness...................................................................................................5
Demonstration of cultural competency..................................................................................5
PROJECT TASK 3..........................................................................................................................6
Addressing the impacts...........................................................................................................6
The western systems and structures ......................................................................................6
Impact of western systems and structure on community........................................................7
The key objectives of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Recognition Act 2013
................................................................................................................................................7
Identification of other piece of legislation you should comply with to ensure Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander cultural safety......................................................................................7
Example showing power relationship in recent and early colonial times..............................8

The impact of Trauma on person ability................................................................................8
PROJECT TASK 4..........................................................................................................................8
The program or service implementation for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
community..............................................................................................................................8
Identification of Aboriginal community organization in my region and the implementation of
health plan..............................................................................................................................9
The effective partnership with the staff at the Aboriginal community organization to
implement health care program..............................................................................................9
The effective partnership with the people at the Aboriginal community organization to
implement health care program..............................................................................................9
Identification of 2 resources to establish effective partnership between the communities in
order to implement plan..........................................................................................................9
The examples of each resource in context with implementation of the program.................10
Planning the different ways of the implementation of a culturally safe service or program to
the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.................................................................10
Plan the different ways to encourage increased participation of the Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander people in the service or program...................................................................10
PROJECT TASK 5........................................................................................................................11
Three outcomes which measure the cultural safety strategies..............................................11
Review and measure outcomes of the cultural safety strategies..........................................11
Methods for review and measure outcomes of the cultural safety strategies.......................11
Two Strategies to involve aboriginal community in evaluations.........................................11
Whom to involved in evaluations.........................................................................................12
PROJECT TASK 6........................................................................................................................12
Plan and proposed outcomes................................................................................................12
Received feedback................................................................................................................12
Received plan.......................................................................................................................12
Submitting the evidence of interaction with the person.......................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

PROJECT TASK 1
Overview of identified communities
Torres Strait is a narrow passage of which connects the two water bodies. It is an island
located between Australia and the Malanesian island of New Guinea. There are around 6800
Torres Strait Islanders who properly live on the islands and around 42000 people managed to
live on the mainland. In case of Aboriginal people are refers to those who belongs to this '
Aboriginal race of Australia.' They live on mainland of Australia or on the island of Tasmania
(Demaio, Drysdale and de Courten, 2012).
Cultural practices
People belonging to Torres strait call the place their Torres strait home, wherever they
live, They have their own beliefs, cultures and languages. The two specific languages are spoken
by the islander which includes, Kala Lagaw and Brokan. There is a cultural diffusion present
among the societal groups of the community. They are totally dependent on sea for local marine
hunting and fishing economy. IT helps them to earn for their living as the islanders define the sea
purely for economic purpose. Torres Strait and Aboriginal have distinct culture and languages
and follow their own practices separately.
Importance of law in the community
Law is the set rules and regulation been identified which are directly created by the
government. It helps in regulating and ensuring that respect and equality is shown to a particular
community. Further it helps in giving equal rights to them with all the other people present in the
country or a state. A particular law for Torres Strait and Aboriginal communities of Australia
will help the islanders to enjoy their rights and have equal respect same as that of other people
living in Australia (Parker and Milroy, 2014). It will further help these communities to provide
the sense of belongingness to the country and enjoy their rights and obligations as well.
Importance of Kinship
Kinship helps in defining the art and culture of a particular community. Moreover, it also
helps in connecting to the history as well. There are various important functions of Kinhip which
includes:
 Set guidelines in order to interact with people. It also helps in providing acceptable
relationship role for the individual.
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 The tribal and lost communities can get to determine their rights and obligation while
living in a country
 It helps in maintaining unity in the relationships and taking appropriate decisions.
Impact of European settlement on these communities
Stolen generations were referred to as the children of these two communities who were
transferred to some other families by the Australian federal. It led to decrease in their population
leaving a great impact on the whole community. These removals where referred to as half caste
or mixed race. It was conducted during the period 1905 to 1969 (Price, 2012).
European settlement lead to loss of land and culture in the people which ultimately
increased problems in the community. Further, it has a direct impact on their lives, buying
behaviour and capacity as well.
Impact of political issues in the community
There are various impact on these communities due to prevailing political conditions of
the country. It includes,
 Lack of basic human rights of the people belonging to these communities.
 Reduced economic income as they only used to earn through fisheries.
 Experiencing extreme racism as they were not identified as Australian citizens.
 No traditional rights were given on their lands.
Cultural factors affecting the community
There are various historical and cultural factors that affected the community. It includes,
 Lack of recognition of their culture
 Instability in their economy lead to lack of harmony in their lives.
 They lack stability in their life and are differentiated by the other people based on their
colour, race and traditions followed by them
 Some people living in mainland of Australia so not treat them as a citizen of the country.
 Stolen generations have reduced their count in the country.
Social issues faced by the community
People belonging to Torres Strait and Aboriginal Australians are not able to enjoy same
rights as that of people living on the main land of the country. These people have to face social
inequality due to their colour and traditions. They are not given equal rights as that of the other
citizen leaving them in problems. This discrimination snatches their basic human rights derailing
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the constitution of the country. There original customs and traditions do not receive appropriate
acknowledgement and acceptance. It caused the social status of these people in question. It has
further reduced the trust of the people belonging to these communities towards and constitution
and basic rights and obligation.
Impact of economic issues in the communities
There are various problems faced by these communities. Income and education is the
biggest factor that affect the economic condition of the individuals. It leads to unemployment
and employment of the person as well. Another important factors affecting the basic rights of the
people includes, food shortage, homelessness, breakdown of families, poor socio economic
culture etc. Hence, these communities feel that they belong to a backward class with no extended
support from the side of government as well.
Impact of trauma, exclusion, discrimination and negative attitude
Torres Strait and Aboriginal Australians do not have good social and political standing in
the country. It affects not only their physical, but also their mental health as well. Discrimination
at public places and able to receive their rights in the country as an Australian citizen, leave them
in trauma. Their children are not able to read with other which makes them excluded. It also
aggravates lack of belongingness to the country as well. Another, important issue faced by them
is they tend to pursue negative attitude towards the country and its people due to discrimination
at public places, work place, school, colleges etc (Jamieson and et.al., 2012).
Factors contributing to their ill health
The main factors that are contributing to their ill mental health are:
 Discrimination at the work place, school and other public places
 Lack of basic human rights.
 Minimal or no support being extended by the government to reduce the intensity of the
situation.
 Lack of sense of belongingness towards the country as they do not own basic rights ad
obligations as a citizen
 Flow of negative thoughts in their mind, all the time due to non fulfilment of spiritual,
emotional and physical needs.
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Common diseases experienced by these communities
The common mental diseases faced by these communities include, depression, anxiety
disorder, lack of confidence etc. They face problems in facing people belonging to other
communities and regions. There unstable economic tension attract various neural diseases as
well. Since, they are not able to eat nutritional food they tend to reduce the immunity of their
body. It has resulted in loss of child by the pregnant women as well as they are not taken care of
properly. Some other common diseases faced by these communities include:
 Increased heart strokes diseases
 Prevalence of heart failure
 Problem of high blood pressure.
 Increased prevalence of cardiac vascular diseases.
 Acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease
 hypertensive heart disease
 Increased cases of bowel cancer
 lymphoma
 prostate cancer
 Increased cases of unknown cancers, lung cancer etc.
 Increased cases of type 1 diabetes
PROJECT TASK 2
Biasness at the workplace with Aboriginal Australians and Torres strait
The health and safety given to the these employees as not provided to the people
belonging to other communities. They are even provided with equal wages and other measures
that are the basic right of an individual that are working in some company. It has led of major
difference in the income and social status of Aboriginal Australians and Torres strait people
living in Australia. They further do not face issues in housing, employment and education as
well. They are discriminated based on race and culture leaving them in unresolved trauma. In the
end, higher incidence of death at the workplace have been found for Aboriginal Australians and
Torres strait communities in Australia. It is important to overcome these problems at the
workplace through a bit more inclination towards them.
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Impact of cultural background and values on interaction
These communities belong to strong background of culture and values which is not
bendable. They have strong connection with their land, spirituality and ancestry. They have sense
of belongingness with their own culture which makes them feel strong and self reliant. Their self
determination makes them a strong personality in their own way (McCalman and et.al., 2014).
However, people belonging to other communities do not tend to like their behaviour and not treat
them as citizens of Australia. It has the great impact on the minds of Aboriginal Australians and
Torres strait communities. It is important to have friendly behaviour with them and not
discriminating them at the workplace.
Issues impacting the communication and relationship
The main issues can be lack of education and such strong values can act as a barrier in the
relationship. However, sharing the tradition and customs can be a stepping stone for the people
and can help in understanding their rights as well. It will help in increasing the sense of
belongingness to the people.
Appropriate understanding of the community
Appropriate understanding about the community will help in evaluating their condition in
better way. I will be assessing their rights and responsibilities so that they can get all the basic
rights that can actually claim them to be the citizen of Australia. Hence, it is important for me to
have full historical and present knowledge of the community. It will help in conducting the
research in better way.
Ensuring cultural awareness
Some of the methods are:
 Increasing awareness and educating people at the workplace
 Campaigning on equal rights to all
 Appropriate allocation of work irrespective to caste, creed, colour and community
 Taking feedback from them time to time and adopt corrective actions appropriately.
Demonstration of cultural competency
It is important to have demonstration of cultural competency while working with the
people who belong to minorities. It can be demonstrated by providing them with loads of
appreciation and providing them with performance based benefits (Summary of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander health, 2015). No comments must be entertained reflecting their
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community which can make them feel invaluable. In the end, a proper unbiased treatment given
to them can help the communities to come up as strong citizens of the country.
PROJECT TASK 3
Addressing the impacts
Aboriginal community and Torres Straight Islander people faced various difficulties in
their growth and nourishment as compared to non indigenous people. It impacts on their
physiological and psychological factors in negative ways. The population of aboriginal people
gradually declined and nearly came to extinctions. As per 2011 Census, Indigenous people made
up to 3.1% of the total Australian population. The European settlements and legislation impacts
on the indigenous people in negative way (Moore and et.al., (2015). They were deliberately
killing and murdering aboriginal community which reduced their population. The lack of laws
and regulations in the policies of country impacts upon preservation and rehabilitation of
indigenous people. Aboriginal peoples of Australia have the lowest economic status as compared
to non indigenous people. This increases the poverty, debt and social isolation in them, thus,
impacting on their mental health in negative way. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
suffer greater health burdens compared to the non-Aboriginal population. Lack of employment
and education majorly influences health of indigenous population of the country.
The western systems and structures
In western societies of Australia, the fundamentals of kinship ties central population to
Aboriginal life. Social interaction and obligations changes the standard of living of indigenous
people. They were able to interact with other communities without having any fear and anxiety.
Traditional Aboriginal society family structure, rights and obligations underlying them to extend
to the whole society (Dockery and et.al., 2013). In addition to the kinship, indigenous societies
also had a system of sections or sub-sections which compartmentalised the society further. This
aid in reduction of depression, anxiety and increases the confidence in the aboriginal community
of the country. In the western Australia, different rules and regulations were formulated in order
to protect the aboriginal culture and people. This implies that the western structure and society of
the country was efficient enough to aid in growth and development of aboriginal population.
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Impact of western systems and structure on community
The western society and structure of Australia, helps the aboriginal people to increase in
interaction and communication with non indigenous society. This impacts on their psychological,
social and economical state. They were able to form bonds and relationship with non indigenous
community of the country. Western Australian laws and legislations helps the community by
providing protection and rehabilitation (Phillips and et.al., 2014). Thus, it implies that western
society and structure assist in growth and nourishment of aboriginal community of the country.
Further, the political environment of Western Australia, helps in development of aboriginal
communities, by providing them all the basic amenities such as food, education and employment.
Thus, this help in reduction of depression and anxiety in aboriginal community of the country.
The key objectives of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Recognition Act 2013
The key objectives of the act are as follows:
 The law declares that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the first
inhabitants of this nation.
 The Act seeks to foster momentum for a referendum for constitutional recognition of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
 The government and non indigenous people of Australia acknowledges and respects
continuing cultures, heritage and languages of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
People.
Identification of other piece of legislation you should comply with to ensure Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander cultural safety.
In order to reduce the depression and mental health problems faced by the aboriginal
community of Australia, various acts and laws have been formulated which are describe belo:
1. Aboriginal Protection Act 1869: The law aim to provide protection of aboriginal
communities from exploitation (Morphy and Smith, 2013). Victoria enacted the law
while democratic reforms were being introduced for the population. This act aim to
provide free public education.
2. Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988: The main purpose of the act is to protect and preserve
the state's Aboriginal heritage. The act was introduced to prevent the exploitation of the
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natural heritage of Australia, which is precious to the aboriginal community of the
country.
Example showing power relationship in recent and early colonial times
Indigenous People faced troubles and various problems in the colonisation period of
Australia. The Europeans started acquiring lands which were precious to the aboriginal
community of the country. They started practising the ethnocide, in which they deliberately
embarked brutal killing and murder of indigenous community of the country. It impacts upon the
social health of the aboriginal people. They started getting depressed and anxious, which leads to
premature deaths. Thus, this result in declination of population of indigenous community of the
country. After the colonisation, various laws and regulations were implemented to increase the
power relationship between aboriginal community and other people of country.
The impact of Trauma on person ability Decision Making: Trauma impacts on person cognitive process and cognitive thinking in
negative way (Dudgeon and Kelly 2014). Person experience troubles while making any
decisions. Communicating: Trauma breakdown the communication ability of the person. It impacts
on the mental health and make any person anxious and depressed. Understanding: Trauma reduces the learning and understanding ability of a person. Any
person experiencing trauma faces difficulty in learning and acquiring knowledge in
efficient way.
 Retaining Information: Trauma reduces the capability of retaining information in any
person.
PROJECT TASK 4
The program or service implementation for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community
The health plan program need to be implemented for this community as it will improve
the well-being and health of these people (Hill and et.al., 2012).The implementation of this plan
will ensure that the needs of these communities need to be met by reducing racism and enhance
the cultural safety of the mainstream heath system and making sure that delivering a good quality
care and evidence base-case for these people. This program will decrease the number of
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infectious disease that is taking place among the community. Also the safer place for the
community and children will be created with the implementation of this program,.
Identification of Aboriginal community organization in my region and the implementation of
health plan
This program related to health plan can be made for this community Agamudayar .The
implementation of this plan in this community will improve the living condition of these people
that are residing there (Hunter and et.al., 2012). It will ensure that proper food items are
delivered to them and all the needs related to the health-care will be identified by this program.
The hygiene and clean environment will be given to them. No discrimination on the basis of
caste,color,creed and sex will be done.
The effective partnership with the staff at the Aboriginal community organization to implement
health care program
The main aim and objective of this program will be discussed with the staff of this
community in order to make them aware about the advantages and benefits of this program. This
partnership will make sure that priority health requirements of these communities are recognized
and addressed (Jongen and et.al, 2014).
The effective partnership with the people at the Aboriginal community organization to
implement health care program
This partnership with these people will be done in order to understand their health related
needs. The various factors that are leading to health related issues such as spread of infectious
disease,not getting hygienic food item etc will be discussed with them and the program will be
implemented to overcome all the issues that they are facing (Casey, 2012).
Identification of 2 resources to establish effective partnership between the communities in order
to implement plan
The two resources that have been identified are as follows-:
 The usage of suitable protocols is needed
 One can make use of cross-sectional training section courses
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The examples of each resource in context with implementation of the program
 The usage of suitable protocols is needed while dealing with these people and staff to
enhance and promote effective partnership (O’Donoghue and et.al., 2014).These
protocols used can be beneficial to make them aware about the health plans that is been
implemented.
 One can make use of cross-sectional training section courses .This may result in a bigger
appreciation of indigenous culture and the ability of mainstream service provider to
interact on particular level with indigenous individual an communities will improve.
Planning the different ways of the implementation of a culturally safe service or program to the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
The diffent ways that can be sued to implement a safe service or program for these
community can be as follows-:
 The events that celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Culture need to be
organized such as NAIDOC and Reconciliation of events of Australia.
 In order to increase in the number of indigenous employees there is a need to develop and
implement an employment strategy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander .
 The stereotypes barriers will be recognized and avoided in order to implement a safe and
secured cultural safety for these people.
Plan the different ways to encourage increased participation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people in the service or program
 The development of partnership among the individuals,communities and organization of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.
 The various training sessions need to be implemented in order to make these people
aware regarding the service or program. Such sessions of training will help to enhance
the participation for these groups (Ware, 2013).
 All the needs and wants of these people will be examined and appropriate solution will
make in order to fulfil all the requirements that they are facing with the health. A safe
environment that will reduce the racism and give them the right to live safety in the
environment will be given
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All these ways can increase the participation of these communities in the service or program.
PROJECT TASK 5
Three outcomes which measure the cultural safety strategies
The three outcomes which could measures cultural safety strategies are:
 Education: By providing education to the aboriginal children for their growth and
development.
 Employment: By providing employment to aboriginal people to reduce poverty and other
issues related to economies.
 Social Interactions: By increasing the social interaction between non-aboriginal and
aboriginal community of country.
Review and measure outcomes of the cultural safety strategies
These strategies can be reviewed and measure after one year of implementation. This will
provide precise results and accurate information about the impact of these strategies of cultural
safety.
Methods for review and measure outcomes of the cultural safety strategies
The following methods will be used for reviewing and measuring outcomes for cultural safety
strategies:
 Observation
By observing transformation takes place in the living of aboriginal community.
 Interviewing: By interviewing aboriginal people about the current changes experience by
them.
Two Strategies to involve aboriginal community in evaluations
1. Survey: Through surveying aboriginal people about their livelihood, we can involve
aboriginal people in research.
2. Questionnaire: Through questionnaire, involvement of aboriginal people can be made.
Whom to involved in evaluations
 Youths: For survey youths and adult male will be included.
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 Employed People: For questionnaire, people employed in companies will be included.
PROJECT TASK 6
Plan and proposed outcomes.
The plan is developed and implemented in order to provide better food and medical
services to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. Currently, they are facing various
challenges in order to get food and basis facilities. The above proposed plan helps them at grate
extend, with the help of this step backward community will be also provided with better
facilities. It helps them in order to improve their physical and mental healths. Also provide
support in order to overcome poverty.
Received feedback
As per the feedbacks of the poor and backward people, it is analysed that prople are
happy with the services that are being provided to them. With the help of this step they are able
to improve their health condition. However there are various loopholes are also identifies such as
provided food services are not effective (Ware, 2013)..
Received plan
On the basis of received feedback it is analysed that offered food services is not effective.
Propel are still not provided with the fresh and hygienic food, in order to overcome this issue, a
team is developed for monitoring the food processing, along with this properly handling the
distribution process. It helps in maintaining the freshness and hygienic of the food.
Submitting the evidence of interaction with the person
Through the email communication with the person this project is being
undertaken .Various documents regarding the plan of the project were verified by the person
through email communication (Casey, 2012).. The feedback was also received and the
documents were then signed by the approved authorities.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Casey, M. (2012). Telling Stories: Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander Performance.
Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing
Demaio, A., Drysdale, M., & de Courten, M. (2012). Appropriate health promotion for
Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities: crucial for closing the
gap. Global Health Promotion. 19(2). 58-62.
Dockery, A. M. & et.al., (2013). Housing and children’s development and wellbeing: evidence
from Australian data.
Dudgeon, P., & Kelly, K. (2014). Contextual factors for research on psychological therapies for
Aboriginal Australians. Australian Psychologist. 49(1). 8-13.
Hill, R. & et.al. (2012). A typology of indigenous engagement in Australian environmental
management: implications for knowledge integration and social-ecological system
sustainability. Ecology and society. 17(1).
Hunter, E. M. & et.al. (2012). Psychosis in indigenous populations of Cape York and the Torres
Strait. Med J Aust. 196(2). 133-5.
Jamieson, L. M. & et.al. (2012). Ten principles relevant to health research among Indigenous
Australian populations. Medical Journal of Australia. 197(1). 16-18.
Jongen, C. & et.al. (2014). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander maternal and child health and
wellbeing: a systematic search of programs and services in Australian primary health
care settings. BMC pregnancy and childbirth. 14(1). 251.
McCalman, J. & et.al. (2014). The characteristics, implementation and effects of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander health promotion tools: a systematic literature search.BMC Public
Health. 14(1). 712.
Moore, S. P., & et.al., (2015). Cancer incidence in indigenous people in Australia, New Zealand,
Canada, and the USA: a comparative population-based study. The Lancet
Oncology. 16(15). 1483-1492.
Morphy, F., & Smith, B. R. (2013). The Social Effects of Native Title: Recognition, Translation,
Coexistence (p. 223). ANU Press.
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O’Donoghue, L. & et.al. (2014). Evaluating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health
promotion activities using audit and feedback. Australian Journal of Primary
Health. 20(4). 339-344.
Parker, R., & Milroy, H. (2014). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health: an
overview. Working together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and
wellbeing principles and practice. 2. 25-38.
Phillips, B., & et.al., (2014). A review of life expectancy and infant mortality estimations for
Australian Aboriginal people. BMC Public Health. 14(1). 1.
Price, K. (2012). A brief history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education in
Australia. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education: An introduction for the
teaching profession, 1-20.
Ware, V. (2013). Improving the accessibility of health services in urban and regional settings for
Indigenous people (Vol. 27). Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Online
Summary of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. 2015. [Online]. Available through
<http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/health-facts/summary>. [Accessed on 2nd October
2017].
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