Challenges Faced by Indigenous People in Australia

This report discusses the challenges faced by Indigenous people in Australia, including human resource capacity, poverty, cultural barriers, and discrimination. It also suggests three ways to deal with these challenges.

1
A Report on Indigenous People
Subject: Community Services
Affiliate Institution:
Tutor:
Date of Submission: 7/9/2018

2
Introduction
Indigenous people exist in varied numbers throughout the world. The word indigenous in
itself describes individuals who have retained their place of birth and somewhat there history.
This individuals have stayed within their locale or dwelt in their country or place of origin for
hundreds of years or for a long period of time. Other terms are preferred in various places of the
world other than the use of the word indigenous. For instance in Australia, the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islanders is the preferred term. Within the United States and vicinity of Canada, the
preferred term for this group of individuals include the first nations to describe the Indians and
the Metis and Inuit populations that are found situated in Huawei (Anderson I, Crengle S,
Kamaka ML, Chen TH, Palafox N, Jackson-Pulver L., 2006).
These groups of Indigenous individuals have a shockingly similar way of life in most
cases and come with a longer lifetime compared to the non-indigenous groups. Most of the
indigenous groups dwell in seclusion or separate themselves from the general populations.
However, some of the indigenous groups such as the Aboriginal people have been found to
integrate themselves into the general populations. However, they are faced with many obstacles
in their quest to integrate themselves into the general population notwithstanding (Freemantle J,
Read A, de Klerk N, McAullay D, Anderson I, Stanley, 2006).
Challenges the indigenous people are likely to face in Australia
Human resource capacity and infrastructure is one of the many challenges experienced by
this Indigenous communities within the Australia in general. Major gaps exist in the health
information systems for Canada’s Aboriginal peoples (McDermott, R., O'Dea, K., Rowley, K.,
Knight, S., & Burgess, P, 1998; Smylie, 2008). This is in regard to universally accepted

3
measures and sources of measurement as well as the process of development of measures that are
culturally relevant and acceptable. The issues of Jurisdiction and the exercise of the right of
sled-determination require the collaboration of authorities and health information agencies that
are available. The infrastructure that needs to be developed for the Aboriginal people is
tremendous and needs the inclusion of very many individuals within the health and infrastructure
development sector (Smylie, 2008; McDermott, R., O'Dea, K., Rowley, K., Knight, S., &
Burgess, P, 1998).
The need to have the indigenous people educated in various aspects such as medicine also
rises. There are as few as 10 to 20 individuals who have an Aboriginal ancestry who have had a
history of learning or education in such fields. Training in public health will be a necessity to be
included in their integration with the common people.
Poverty is yet another aspect the aboriginal people will have to deal with as they move to
their new location. Considering that Australia is above the third world countries in terms of
resources, the Islanders have to work harder to gain access to basic needs such as food and water
when they move into the Australia. The likely even that many of them move into the country
increases the population and completion for basic necessities such as food and water. As a results
of competition for basic necessities, poverty is bound to face them as they have fewer
opportunities of self-development due t to their history (Renwick, A. R., Robinson, C. J.,
Garnett, S. T., Leiper, I., Possingham, H. P., & Carwardine, J., 2017).
Cultural barriers with the general population may promote inequitable health access to
the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Considering that the Aboriginal people poses a
different culture and way of treatment that has lasted for many decades, the disparity in the way
healthcare services are provided for the people is highly likely to occur. However, nurses are the

4
first contact persons in terms of healthcare provision and may have the ability to change their
perceptions. Cultural barriers also interfere with the way the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islanders communicate and interpret communication with others (Robson B. & Harris R., 2007).
The amount of income that the Aboriginal people will likely get is also likely to be lower
to that of the general population. For instance, during the year 2010 the mean income of the
Aboriginal people was estimated to be twenty thousand, seven hundred and one dollars per
annum while the median income for the non-Aboriginal people was estimated to stand at thirty
thousand one hundred and ninety six dollars (Anderson I, Crengle S, Kamaka ML, Chen TH,
Palafox N, Jackson-Pulver L., 2006).
Higher levels of incarceration is an additional problem that the Aboriginal people. During
the year 2015 to 2016, the number of Aboriginal individuals within correctional units was found
to stand at twenty six percent of the admissions. Nearly half of all the people who were
incarcerated in correctional units came from indigenous groups. More women than men were
incarcerated in correctional units during this period in time. This data shows that when
indigenous people are mixed with the general population, there is a higher likelihood for
conflicting ideas. The conflicting ideas can be seen in the way the people are arrested into
correctional units (Anderson I, Crengle S, Kamaka ML, Chen TH, Palafox N, Jackson-Pulver L.,
2006).
How this factors affect the inclusion of the indigenous people in the Australian
community
The inclusion of the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders in the day to day
activities is significantly affected by this factors. For instance, the culture of the Aboriginal

5
people affects how they live with other people. Cultural practices that do not support the use of
modern medicine through the use of traditional medicine, reduce their access to healthcare
facilities (Downing, R., Kowal, E., & Paradies, Y., 2011). In this way, the Aboriginal people do
not easily access healthcare. They are unusually secluded in their reserves even when they are
sick. This aspect not only affects their health but also their wellbeing. Aboriginal populations
experience poorer health compared to the non-Aboriginal groups of people. They have lower
cancer screening, experience a later diagnosis of cancer and possess a poorer continuity of care at
the end of the day. Their health seeking behavior is very poor (Anderson I, Crengle S, Kamaka
ML, Chen TH, Palafox N, Jackson-Pulver L., 2006).
Owing to the fact that technology is the hallmark of progress in the current error and that
the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are poorly educated, they have little or no access to
technology. Technology and social media are necessary for sharing of views and acculturation
into the community. The lack of sufficient opportunities to utilize technology makes the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders a secluded group within the community (Freemantle J,
Read A, de Klerk N, McAullay D, Anderson I, Stanley, 2006).
In addition to the factors already discussed, discrimination severely hampers the inclusion
of the Aboriginal and Torres Islanders in the Australian community (Booth, A. L., Leigh, A., &
Varganova, E., 2012). The persistent racial inequality within the Australian community affects a
wide sphere of domains. The domains affected include the inclusion of the Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islanders in the employment sector. The provision of housing is also serve rely affected.
The healthcare system and their access to health as a basic need is also severely derailed. In
addition, their social inclusion is also affected, that is their ability to easily socialize with other
people because of the associated levels of discrimination (Robson B. & Harris R., 2007)..

6
Three ways to deal with the challenges faced by this groups
a) Improving their access to health care- the indigenous groups have fewer avenues to access
health care. There is a need to improve access to healthcare by making it culturally and
socially acceptable to the groups and also reducing its cost. (Vos, T., Barker, B., Begg, S.,
Stanley, L., & Lopez, A. D, 2009).
b) Providing land rights, territories and resources to the groups- most of the indigenous groups
suffer from the effects of land grabbing. Land grabbers take away their land and territories.
Land rights and avenues should be provided for to this groups (Zander, K. K., & Garnett, S.
T., 2011).
c) Participation and representation in decision-making within the relevant bodies- The
indigenous groups should be included in the decision-making processes that pertain to their
own wellbeing. This is basically because they understand their community better (Downing,
R., Kowal, E., & Paradies, Y., 2011).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Aboriginal people and Torres Islanders are bound to experience a lot of
resistance and discrimination when they move into new communities. However, by recognizing
these instances of discrimination, ways and means can be put in place to enable them to be self-
aware and deal with the circumstances. A lot still has to be done for the indigenous groups to be
accepted nationally and internationally.

7
References
Anderson I, Crengle S, Kamaka ML, Chen TH, Palafox N, Jackson-Pulver L. (2006). Indigenous health n
Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific. Lancet, 367(9524):1775–1785. [PubMed].
Booth, A. L., Leigh, A., & Varganova, E. (2012). Does ethnic discrimination vary across minority groups?
Evidence from a field experiment. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 74(4), 547-573.
Downing, R., Kowal, E., & Paradies, Y. (2011). Indigenous cultural training for health workers in Australia.
International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 23(3), 247-257.
Freemantle J, Read A, de Klerk N, McAullay D, Anderson I, Stanley. (2006). Infant mortality among
Australian Aboriginals—authors’ reply. Lancet., 368(9539):916–917. [PubMed].
McDermott, R., O'Dea, K., Rowley, K., Knight, S., & Burgess, P. (1998). Beneficial impact of the
Homelands Movement on health outcomes in central Australian Aborigines. Australian and New
Zealand Journal of Public Health, 22(6), 653-658.
Renwick, A. R., Robinson, C. J., Garnett, S. T., Leiper, I., Possingham, H. P., & Carwardine, J. (2017).
Mapping Indigenous land management for threatened species conservation: An Australian case-
study. PloS one,, 12(3), e0173876.
Robson B. and Harris R. (2007). editors. Hauora: Maori Standards of Health IV. New Zealand::
Wellington,.
Smylie. (2008). The health of Aboriginal people. In: Raphael D, editor. Social Determinant of Health –
Canadian Perspectives. 2nd ed. Toronto, Ontario. Canadian Scholars Press;, pp. 41–43.
Vos, T., Barker, B., Begg, S., Stanley, L., & Lopez, A. D. (2009). Burden of disease and injury in Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Peoples: the Indigenous health gap. International journal of
epidemiology, 38(2), 470-477.
Zander, K. K., & Garnett, S. T. (2011). The economic value of environmental services on indigenous-held
lands in Australia,. PloS one, 6(8), e23154.