Reflecting on the Aboriginal Health Disparity in Australia

This sociology assignment presents a student's critical reflection on the health disparities between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations in Australia. The student utilizes the Gibbs Reflective Cycle to analyze their personal learning experience, focusing on the existing gap in health and life expectancy. The reflection explores the student's initial biases and stereotypes regarding Aboriginal health, acknowledging the impact of historical colonization, policies, and social determinants like poverty, unemployment, and racism. The student references the 'Close the Gap' campaign and its targets, including child mortality, employment, education, and healthcare gaps. The analysis highlights the need for government action and a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by the Aboriginal community. The assignment includes a critical evaluation of the student's prior beliefs and proposes an action plan for addressing the identified disparities, supported by peer-reviewed references.

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University Name
Name of course
Author Note

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Description
Issue
One of the major challenge that the country of Australia has been facing is the existing gap
among the aboriginals and the non-aboriginal population. The gap refers to the wide life and
health expectation inequality among the indigenous and the non-indigenous Australian. The gap
signifies the effect of the colonisation and the discrimination that has been prevailing over the
lives of the indigenous community people. Some of the inequality includes shorter life
expectancy rates, higher rates of poorer health outcomes and infant mortality rates as well as low
level of employment and education. According to the data gathered from the Australian Institute
of Health and Welfare, the life expectancy rate of the non-aboriginal Australians are higher than
the aboriginal people.
Feelings
My feelings before understanding the issue as well as the existence of the gap among the
aboriginal and the non aboriginals, centred around a wrong impression regarding often used to
think that the aboriginal community people of Australia. I often used to think that people being
their sole owner of their decision of health habits and living standards, it is the aboriginal and
Torres strait islander people who have bad choices and decision of poor living standards. I had
the feeling that the current degrading health care status of the aboriginals are the result of their
poor life choices which basically made them vulnerable towards high mortality rate and diseases.
After learning about the existing gap among the aboriginal and the non aboriginal community
people, during my lecture classes, I realised how the factors of historical colonization, policies as
well as the statistics relates to poverty, unemployment, racism and the disadvantage among the
life and health status of the aboriginal community people in the current decade. Though I knew
about this social determinant of health, I never knew about the practical implications of these
over the lives of an individual.
Being fortunate enough of not having to see poverty, now I can feel the challenges faced by the
aboriginal community of people.
Critical evaluation
I realised that there are several factors which are diverse from self control of an individual and
which effects the living of an individual . This realisation made me reconsider my perception
over the choices of aboriginal. I realised that I had an entire wrong perception towards the
understanding and the beliefs I had regarding aboriginal people as well as my wrong tendency to
blame them.
The discrimination and racism that is still prevalent today have imprinted my thinking. I read the
current close the gap report and I realised how the life expectancy gap is not connected to the
health behaviours and there are other social determinants of health. These factors have been
negatively and unfairly way, influencing the life and the health expectancy of aboriginal people.

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Analysis
I came to know about this issue from the close the gap campaign which is the human rights based
campaign that is led by the aboriginal people. While going through the report of closing the gap,
2019, that was launched with the target for ending the health inequality among the communities
by the year 2030, I noted down some of the major targets of the campaign. These are addressing
the gap in the child mortality rate, the gap mong the employment, ensuring childhood education
and halving the health care gaps.
Conclusion
Still in our society, strong stereotypes about the aboriginal community people are prevalent.
After learning the current situation of the aboriginal community and their health disparities, I
think I need to go in-depth and understand the challenges they face, the violation of rights they
faces before I express my attitude’s and believes. Since my attitude towards these community
people were negative beforehand due to the lack of information regarding the gap, I am not quite
sure of I have ever discriminated or responded at a stereotypical view towards the aboriginal
people.
Action plan
I think that the government needs to take some of the serious actions for addressing the targets of
close the gap campaign. This is because though the commonwealth , territory and the local
governments , though have been working for the improvement of the outcomes of the lives of the
aboriginals, very little progress has been made till date. Hence I think that while four targets of
the close the gap campaign expires, the government of Australia needs to accelerate their work
for achieving the targets and the priorities.

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Bibliography
Australia. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. (2020). Closing the Gap report 2020.
Coffin, J. (2007). Rising to the challenge in Aboriginal health by creating cultural security.
Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal, 31(3), 22-24.
NSW Health (2019). Communicating positively. A guide to appropriate Aboriginal
terminology. Accessed 11/4/20 from
New South Wales Department of Health (2019) - Communicating positively: A guide to
appropriate Aboriginal terminology
Prime Ministers Report (2019). Closing the Gap. Accessed 11/4/20 from
Prime Ministers Report - Closing the Gap 2019