UNCC300 : Justice and Change in A Global World

Running head: GLOBAL ISSUE
Global Issue
Name o the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1GLOBAL ISSUE
Brief critique on the mentioned global issue
The term “indigenous Australians are referred to the Aboriginal as well as Torres Strait
Islander individuals who are the decedents of groups that existed in Australia a well as the
surroundings before the British Colonization had taken place. In spite of the fact that there are a
number of commonalities between Indigenous Aboriginal Australians, a great diversity also
exists among different Indigenous communities and societies in Australia, each with its own
mixture of cultures, customs and languages. According to researchers, the participation rate of
the indigenous community of the nation that includes the Torres strait Islanders is much lower
than that of the non-indigenous Australians when it comes to health care as well as education
associated sectors (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2016). The chief reason behind this
lack of participation in the above mentioned vital sectors is the poor social determinants of health
experienced by the indigenous population along with the lack of initiatives taken by the
government. In order to eradicate the gap between the indigenous and non-indigenous
Australians, in the year 2006, the government of Australia had introduced the closing the gap
policy in order to improve the life of the indigenous Australia as well as to enhance their
participation in both the health as well as educational sector. The chief aim of the mentioned
campaign was to close the gap off indigenous disadvantages and discrimination. However, even
after 12years after the initiation of the campaign 63.6 percent of the indigenous people are found
to be suffering from poor social determinants of health in the domain of employment, education,
health related factors, poor financial structure and unhealthy lifestyles and negative mental health
outcomes (Donato and Segal 2013). The mortality rate of the indigenous Australians is still
higher than that of the non-indigenous Australians and due to lack of educational opportunity a

2GLOBAL ISSUE
good number of the members of the mentioned group are unemployed which in turn is leading to
depression and substance abuse.
Ways to approach the challenges
In order to enhance the participation of the indigenous population in the healthcare and
educational sector steps should be taken by both the citizens as well as the government of the
nation. As being mentioned earlier, the government have already initiated the Closing the Gap
campaign in 2006. According to researchers, several positives changes have taken place due to
the campaign when it comes to the healthcare of the community (Budden et al. 2017). For
instance the mortality rate of the indigenous children has got reduced. Not only that, in the past
12 months, 95 percent of the four years olds has been incorporated for early childhood education.
However, issues like lack off school attendance and life expectancy of the indigenous
population, halving the gap in literacy and numeracy and in employment outcomes has not
improved till date. In order to eradicate the lack of healthcare services of the mentioned
community the government of Australia is taking active approach by implementing the National
Strategic Framework for Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islander Health (Conway et al. 2017).
The chief aim of the mentioned approach is to promote appropriate reorganization of the health
inequalities as well as to implement the health related quality of life by taking into consideration
of the spiritual, physical, social as well as cultural wellbeing of the people. Considering the fact
that that the participation of the population in the healthcare sector is directly proportional to the
socio-economic level of the society, the government is also concentrating on the social
determinants that includes income, unemployment, and education.

3GLOBAL ISSUE
According to Australian Human Rights Commission (2017), community engagement is
one of the most effective ways that posses the potential to reduce the healthcare associated
inequalities among the indigenous as well as noon indigenous Australian. Not only that the
mentioned method also poses the potential to enhance the participation of the non indigenous
population in the healthcare services. In order to establish the community engagement it is
crucial to enhance the interaction and collaboration between the local aboriginal population as
well as the health care service users. The chief reasons behind lack of participation of the
indigenous people in the healthcare setting includes unwelcoming hospital settings, lack of
transport, mistrust of mainstream health care, a sense of alienation, and inflexible treatment
options. Along with that poor communication between the healthcare service providers and lack
of aboriginal staffs exacerbates the issue. In order to eradicate the issue it is highly crucial for the
healthcare service providers to commit to develop respectful partnership with the local aboriginal
communities and ensure to enhance the capacity of the services to be more responsive towards
the requirements of the Aboriginal people. In order to enhance the understanding of the
healthcare service providers about the specific requirements of the indigenous healthcare service
users, effective training should be provided by the government. Along with that, training should
also be given to the service providers so that they can develop enough understanding of the
aboriginal culture and rituals that are associated with their healthcare issues (Durey et al. 2016).
Considering the fact that language is a major barrier for the healthcare service providers when it
comes to treating the indigenous population, training should be provided to the same so that they
can develop effective knowledge associated with e local indigenous language. In order to
develop the cultural competencies of the healthcare service providers, effective training and
seminars associated with the culture and tradition of the aboriginal and Torres islander should be

4GLOBAL ISSUE
provided to the healthcare service providers (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2018). In
order to enhance the comfort level of the mentioned healthcare service users, more indigenous
healthcare service provided should be recruited. This will not only encourage the local aboriginal
population to seek help but will also enhance the employment rate of the community.
While the above mentioned measures are to be taken in order to enhance the quality o
service of the healthcare service users, the following steps are to be taken to enhance the
awareness of the indigenous people so that they develop the tendency to participate in the
healthcare sector (Hunt et al. 2015). Campaigns should be organized where the local aboriginal
population will be made are of the diseases that takes place due to unhygienic lifestyle and
substance abuse. Besides that Government along with the NGOs should provide financial help as
well as employment to the population so that they can enhance their lifestyle.
When it comes to the participation of the mentioned group of people in the educational
sector, the first step that should be taken by the government is to enhance their awareness of the
beneficial effect of education. Regular campaigns should be held by both the government as well
as the NGOs where, the population will be made aware of the importance of education and how
it can eradicate their poverty and issue of unemployment (Sav et al. 2013). Along with that, a
good number o educational institution should be established in the areas of residence of the
Aboriginal and Torres island population so that they can have a better access to education. In
order to encourage their participation, several beneficial policies like incorporation of the free
midday meal to the students and scholarship program for the meritorious indigenous students
should be developed.

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Reference List
Australian Human Rights Commission. 2017. Social determinants and the health of Indigenous
peoples in Australia – a human rights based approach. Australian Human Rights Commission
Access date: 21st September 2018. Retrieved from:
https://www.humanrights.gov.au/news/speeches/social-determinants-and-health-indigenous-
peoples-australia-human-rights-based
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2016. Australia’s Health 2016. Access date: 21st
September 2018. Retrieved from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/d115fe0f-9452-4475-b31e-
bf6e7d099693/ah16-4-2-social-determinants-indigenous-health.pdf.aspx
Budden, L.M., Birks, M., Cant, R., Bagley, T. and Park, T., 2017. Australian nursing students’
experience of bullying and/or harassment during clinical placement. Collegian, 24(2), pp.125-
133.
Conway, J., Tsourtos, G. and Lawn, S., 2017. The barriers and facilitators that indigenous health
workers experience in their workplace and communities in providing self-management support: a
multiple case study. BMC health services research, 17(1), pp.319.
Donato, R. and Segal, L., 2013. Does Australia have the appropriate health reform agenda to
close the gap in Indigenous health?. Australian Health Review, 37(2), pp.232-238.
Durey, A., McEvoy, S., Swift-Otero, V., Taylor, K., Katzenellenbogen, J. and Bessarab, D.,
2016. Improving healthcare for Aboriginal Australians through effective engagement between
community and health services. BMC health services research, 16(1), pp.224.

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Hunt, L., Ramjan, L., McDonald, G., Koch, J., Baird, D. and Salamonson, Y., 2015. Nursing
students' perspectives of the health and healthcare issues of Australian indigenous people. Nurse
education today, 35(3), pp.461-467.
Sav, A., Kendall, E., McMillan, S.S., Kelly, F., Whitty, J.A., King, M.A. and Wheeler, A.J.,
2013. ‘You say treatment, I say hard work’: treatment burden among people with chronic illness
and their carers in Australia. Health & social care in the community, 21(6), pp.665-674.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2018. The Common Good. Access date: 21st September
2018. Retrieved from: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/common-good/