Housing for Indigenous Australians: Link between Housing and Health

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HOUSING FOR INDEGINOUS AUSTRALIANS
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Introduction
For a long time, housing has been identified as a social determinant of health. Not only does
housing offer somewhere to stay, but also reasonable, proper, and enough housing is suggested
to have, amongst several other things, an apparent effect on the health of individuals, their
obtainability of occupation markets, and many other advantages. Furthermore, the 2016 National
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS) shows that 25% of Indigenous
individuals above 16 years of age resided in residences with main structural issues such as cracks
on the floors and walls, termite damage or wood decay, and drainage system problems.
Approximately 3 in 10 individuals residing in rural areas lived in homes with structural issues
(Schuch, Haag, Kapellas, Thomson, and Jamieson 2017, p. 440). Nonetheless, the condition
might be beginning to become better owing to a variety of main housing building and
maintenance resourcefulness. This essay highlights the link between housing and health and
gives reasons why the Northern Territory government should build housing for Indigenous
Australians. The article further provides policy recommendations on the same.
Social Determinants of Health
According to Brigg and Curth-Bibb (2017), the impacts of housing on Indigenous health may
differ across occupation, climatic areas, and topographies. Differences are similarly amongst
settlements in metropolitans, towns, rural, and native land settings, with inadequate housing
being a specially severe problem in rural town centers. A noteworthy section of Indigenous
housing, specifically in rural regions, has been built poorly. Contributing aspects are an
insufficient observation to guarantee that the house meets basic state health safety specifications,
and inferior quality building materials that are unsuitable for the climatic requirements places

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upon them. These aspects imply that fundamental tools necessary for healthy living practices
such as toilets, sinks, showers, sewerage system, and working taps frequently break down. This
happens since they were either installed wrongly or not strong enough for the climate and the
many individuals utilizing them, both of which might have added to their premature breakdown.
Malfunctioning hardware is associated with higher occurrences of accidents such as falls, and
electrocution, and illnesses such as skin infections and gastroenteritis (Fisher, Battams,
Mcdermott, Baum, and Macdougall 2019, p. 175).
The lack of sufficient food storage amenities may result in early perishing of food and
consequently have a negative influence on food security and its effects on physical and
psychological health. A lack of clean water for cooking and drinking and an insufficient or
absent sewerage scheme is equally strongly associated with higher incidences of gastroenteritis.
Similarly, a deprivation of fresh water for bathing and washing clothes is connected with
escalated skin infections, as well as infections in younger kids. Conversely, studies recurrently
prove that guaranteeing hardware such as stoves, light switches, and taps function correctly and
safely, and having a clean, dependable source of water, are connected with enhanced health.
Phillips, Fisher, Baum, MacDougall, Newman, and McDermott (2016) asserts that houses built
with insufficient insulation or ventilation, or with materials unsuitable to the regional climate,
could add to dampness or excesses of indoor temperatures. Regulating the indoor air
temperatures, humidity, and quality may add to the existence or non-existence of a variety of
biological health threats. Excesses of air temperature, equally cold and hot, are similarly
associated with early mortality. In a damp house, mould and fungi could grow, resulting in a

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variety of respiratory diseases. It may likewise stimulate higher dust mites, which are connected
to respiratory conditions such as asthma. However, lessening dust may lead to better health.
The degree of maintenance of a house may ascertain if the hardware works appropriately.
Residences in numerous rural Indigenous societies are in a deplorable condition or overhaul, and
several houses face disruptions to their water and electric provisions, majorly owing to
equipment breakdown, with well recorded adverse effects on health, such as higher parasitic
contaminations, and gastroenteritis (Smith and Herriot 2017, p. 6).
In many developed countries, indigenous communities often live in conditions of severe poverty,
social exclusion, and inequality. Andersen, Williamson, Fernando, Eades, and Redman (2018),
over 20% of the population often lives in muddy houses having their roofs and floors made of
wood, cardboard, or corrugated sheets without proper access to effective services and
infrastructure. They are also located in high risk areas vulnerable to bad weather. With time,
there has been different initiatives adopted with the aim of improving the living conditions of
these communities through the use of alternative sustainable and people centered approach. The
significant economic ways through which housing effects upon health common as they exist via
tenancy and affordability of housing. The absence of security or unsafe rental may have first
impacts on physical wellbeing and at least a secondary effect on mental wellbeing (Ellinghaus,
and Healy 2018, p. 54). Poor housing affordability has a noteworthy impact on involvement in
the job market and financial safety. Indigenous families experience increased rated of risky
housing; for instance, they are approximately 15 times more probable to reside in housing that is
in a poor state. Inexpensive housing may secondarily affect physical wellbeing, especially of
kids, in several ways. It changes the sum of money available to expend on fundamental