Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health

This assignment requires students to analyze the complex health issues impacting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Utilizing a list of academic resources, students must delve into topics like socioeconomic disparities, healthcare access, and cultural considerations influencing Indigenous health outcomes. The goal is to develop a comprehensive understanding of these challenges and potential solutions.

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Health and Well-Being of Aborginals
Student’s name
Institution

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Health and Well-Being of Aborginals
Introduction
The health of Aboriginal or the Torres Strait Islander has been of grave concern for long, due to
various reasons. The fact that they are living in the same condition as they were, decades earlier,
or in even poorer conditions due to non-availability of land or no great faith in the health care
system gives enough proof about their health conditions. Although a few aboriginals still live as
‘Bush Tucker’, many have originated in cities and farmlands for employment. This essay is an
effort to discuss the four determinants of health in aboriginals and Torrer Strait Islanders living
in cities, farmlands or along the coast. The determinants that are to be discussed include:
a. Education
b. Employment and income
c. Housing
d. Racism and Racial Discrimination
Determinants of Health in Aboriginals, and Torres Strait Islanders (Body of the Essay)
There are several determinants which govern the health of an aboriginal in Australia, and the
primary among them are as follows:
a. Education
The study conducted by Lowell and his colleagues concluded that western education, or a formal
education is as much essential as the traditional one that aboriginals gain from their elders, to
focus on health (Lowell, 2003). Education, therefore, becomes a mandatory requirement for
recognizing the health factors, and the problems related to unhealthy living.

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Although Aboriginals have shifted towards urban areas and have moved to cities for
employment, the lack of education has seen as a serious factor that affects their health. Every
year, children of aboriginal are admitted for lung diseases, which usually turns out to be a serious
case of bronchitis, and malnutrition due to lack of sufficient funds, and knowledge about the
seriousness of the illness (Brown, N.J, 2011). Although there have been sufficient steps taken to
educate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, the fact that there has been a innumerable
drop-out every year, does not show favorable towards the issue. Every year, the percentage of
dropouts among indigenous children far exceed the average of non-indigenous dropouts. Hence,
education posses a major threat towards maintenance of health and nutrition among the
indigenous community.
The lack of education and sufficient knowledge about the ‘food to eat’ or treatments to be
provided for a particular illness makes health care a serious issue. The experts believe that
‘education leads to empowerment, and also a medium to enlighten the indigenous children’ about
the important facts of life, such as hygiene and nutrition. Since children are future citizens,
tapping this potential can lead to a major improvement in health of indigenous people.
However, the lack of funds or enough people to feed make indigenous people take out the
children from western education, and put them to work as laborers at an early age. The circle
continues, since without sufficient education, all the work that the indigenous children (or
youngsters) are able to find is those in farmlands or those jobs which pay less.
Thus, education is a main instigator, which can bring in changes in the lives of indigenous
people, both living in urban and rural areas. Education not only can make the aboriginals view
health care system positively, and bring their children for treatment with greater faith, but it can

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also provide them with an opportunity to earn well. A well-educated person can look into better
jobs, and thereby provide good living conditions for his/her family. As living conditions are one
of the significant issues which leads to
Health conditions, unless the indigenous people are brought to the western education system,
which can help them in finding good employment, it is difficult to focus on health concerns that
are rising at an alarming rate among Aboriginals due to lack of fund and knowledge.
b. Employment and Income
As per an estimation done in 2011, about half of the indigenous population, above the age of 15
earned $362 per week, as compared to $582 earned by the non-indigenous crowd (Anon, 2016).
Although the estimate is done six years before, the difference today is still considerable.
Employment, and income, therefore, remains a vital issue among the Aboriginals and Torres
Strait Islanders, and thereby affects their health.
It is often noted that despite a considerable increase in the minimum education status of the
Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders, there remains a steep gap between their income and
those of non-indigenous population. This is, attributed to either:
1. Lack of formal education
2. Lack of higher education
3. Laziness and lack of enthusiasm to find jobs
4. Substance abuse and drinking issues
5. Not finding fitting jobs due to several issues, such as discrimination

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A formal education or higher education, above 12th grade, is essential to land up in a better job.
However, due to non-belief in the system, and also due to lack of funds in parents, children drop-
out at the age of 15 or less, to take up farm work or other less paying jobs for their survival
(Lowell, 2003). This process continues, thereby making them survive on less wages.
Now, with lower income and sometimes lack of employment, or no proper instigation (sheer
laziness sometimes) to find good work, the health suffers. Substance abuse, malnutrition and
other problems such as lung diseases are common among the indigenous crowd, because with
low income, they do not have the means to approach the health care system. Even though there
are many free clinics and hospitals to encourage the indigenous crowd to take care of their
health, they are hesitant to approach in case they are charged for something. Hence, instead of
getting sufficient and primary care for health issues, they deal with the problem in their own
way, by practicing their healing methods.
The only way to tackle this issue of lack of employment or lower income is to empower them
with the knowledge that education leads to good jobs, and that can then give a better lifestyle.
Many steps have been taken to mentor and teach them the values of education, and also to
inculcate habits that can then help them to change their lives for good. Several health care
providers approach the indigenous people living in rural and Urban areas, to inculcate better
habits, such as eating a proper diet and maintaining hygiene. These health care providers also
teach them the necessity of approaching health care for any serious issues, at an early stage, to
avoid major problems at a later stage.
A better employment can bring in more income, and thereby can increase the standard of living
among the aboriginals. AS PER an analysis, an indigenous male or female, with a graduate

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degree has more than 80% chance of finding better employment than their parents, while it
reduces considerably when the children are dropouts.
c. Housing
Living conditions are as essential as income, to maintain healthy conditions in Aboriginals and
Torres Strait Islanders. As we know, hygiene is related to the water we use for everyday
purposes, the air we breathe, and the food we eat or even store.
When you live on a farm land, the housing provided by the employer is not always (or most of
the time) up to the mark. There are issues such as no sufficient toilets and bathing areas for
children and adults, the food is stored in areas where they might not be safe hygienically, or even
the toilets not as per standards. This, then, affects the health of children as well as the farmland
workers.
The laborers are forced to stay in cramped up conditions, where maintaining hygiene is a
challenge. Hence, basically, it trickles down to again the problems of unemployment or lower
income, which leads to no proper housing conditions to live in. Overcrowding is a serious
concern in most of the indigenous households across the country. (Anon, 2014).
The experts believe that ‘Housing is a key factor which determines the health of an individual’.
A proper housing can help in overcoming issues related to hygiene and health. Since both health
and housing are interrelated, unless a proper housing condition is offered, maintaining the
standards of living, or health, is difficult. However, this works both ways.
A serious illness due to lack of hygiene conditions (or poor housing) can cause one to lose
employment, and reduce the income further, again leading to poor living conditions. Hence,

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experts call housing and health as bi-directional. Lack of one leads to lack of another. Although
the effect of housing on the health of indigenous crowd vary according to their geographic
location, the impact is more or less the same. (The magnitude may vary).
Hence, the only way to address this issue is to provide proper guidance and promotions as to
‘what works better, where hygiene can be improved, design guidelines for proper housing
infrastructure’ and so on. The indigenous health workers, can provide this guidance by
instructing on proper housing maintenance and also provide tips to improve living conditions of
indigenous people. Issues such as availability of toilets, taps, sinks and so on, can be raised, and
addressed to, thereby ensuring essential hygiene is maintained.
The issues such as temperature regulations, prevention of dampness (and thereby putting an end
to health issues due to it), and cleaning up areas which are infested with molds and fungus can be
addressed to maintain proper living conditions.
To do that, apart from the indigenous health care workers providing sufficient instigation and
tips, the people involved need to actively participate in the plans provided. Knowledge here,
(education) becomes an essential and mandatory criteria, to understand what is required and to
act upon it. The necessity of the indigenous crowd to understand the tips and suggestion
provided, and receive it with positive mind is critical to improve housing conditions, and
thereby, their health. Hence, all trickles down to education and gaining sufficient knowledge to
accept the changes brought forth by welfare workers.
d. Racism and Racial Discrimination
The issue of racism and racial discrimination rears its ugly head now and then. With the senior
indigenous crowd more apprehensive about accepting change, since they have been at the

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receiving end of racial discrimination for long, it becomes extremely difficult for the younger
crowd to accept changes. They have been, since early, told stories of racism and discriminations
they have faced earlier in their lives, to cloud the judgements of the youngsters.
The experts and researchers believe that the ‘self-reported perceptions’ about racial
discrimination leads to ‘mentally not accepting’ changes and thereby suffering ill health (Anon,
2014). A person, who believes that he or she will not be treated well by the non-indigenous
crowd, fail to approach health care in advance for any illness. This, then, leads to mental and
physical strain on those dealing with the illness at home.
There are several ways, therefore, from racism to ill-health. Not sending children to school, and
thereby, lack of knowledge, which then leads to lack of proper employment, poor housing, and
so on and so forth. Hence, a person believing in racism where none exists, can bring ill-health
upon themselves and their family, for no reason.
The reason for such beliefs, although not completely ill-founded (since some discrimination
occurs both in public places and employment), several times are exaggerated, making the
indigenous crowd vary of approaching the system for any help. Hence, instead of sending
children for higher education, they stop their formal education at an early stage, in the belief that
they will be anyways discriminated in employment. This, then, make the children as small as 15
seek lower employments such as farm laborers, leading again to poor housing, low income and
ill-health due to lack of hygiene.
While ‘Racial discrimination and racism’ cannot be completely ruled out as ‘non-existent’, steps
need to be taken to build enough confidence among the aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders to
come forward and report issues of discrimination.

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Building confidence, and thereby ensuring they come up in the system for education, and
employment can help them in maintaining their health sufficiently.
Since a person facing racism in health care, will start avoiding it completely in the future, and
will ensure his family and friends are told about it, it is also the responsibility of those concerned
to act upon any complaint that arises due to discrimination (Durey, 2012). The point here is that
the authorities in health care need to identify the issues relating to racial discrimination of
indigenous people in health care, and act upon it immediately when a complaint is raised.
Conclusion
Issues such as education, employment, housing and racism, all leads to health related problems
among the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. Since all these are interrelated, and health
care suffers due to any of the discussed factors, it is important to address the above issues to
solve the problem of health care in indigenous crowd. Education can lead to better employment
and income, and that can then ensure good housing conditions among the indigenous crowd.
When the housing conditions (and income) are sufficient, it is easier to maintain hygiene and
approach health care for any illness. The health care of indigenous people, can only succeed, if
they can come forward to put racism of the past behind, and look forward to educate themselves
to empower their youngsters.

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