Social Work & Community Health: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

This essay delves into the experiences of a social worker engaged with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community in Australia, highlighting the complexities and challenges encountered in promoting health and well-being. It underscores the importance of cultural competence, ethical practice, and community development in addressing the socio-economic disadvantages and health inequalities faced by this population. The essay reflects on the need for improved social work education, active listening skills, and a non-judgmental approach to build trust and facilitate access to healthcare and other essential services. It further emphasizes the significance of recognizing the strengths and resilience of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, advocating for their rights, and working towards a more equitable and sustainable future. Desklib offers a range of resources, including similar essays and solved assignments, to support students in their understanding of social work and community health.

Running head: WORKING WITH COMMUNITY
Working with community
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note

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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Discussion........................................................................................................................................2
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
References........................................................................................................................................6

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Introduction
The concept to make a difference is a question of moral philosophy. By claiming to make
a difference it generally means to make a social impact on the lives of the individuals we have
improved and the rate of improved that has been done by us. Improvements in lives are generally
associated with the context of wellbeing and development and the treatment of every individual
with equity and values (Humanrights.gov.au 2018). The notion of well-being includes health,
happiness, and lack of suffering and satisfaction of the individual’s preferences. The paper
illustrates a personal experience of a social worker in making a difference to the lives and the
health of the Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander community of Australia with the help of own
practice framework including strategies, knowledge and personal values.
Discussion
The practice of social work with the Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander community is complex
since workers engaged in the community work tends to experience significant disadvantages. My
experience as a social worker has not been different. Working as a social worker, I have known
that the very definition of the social worker is the human rights worker. We help individuals to
realize their daily rights and help the community people to claim their collective rights. The
Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander community people are the most common clients of the social
worker nowadays (Mills et al. 2017). The concept of making difference in the field of Aboriginal
Torres Strait Islander community livelihood and healthcare states the improvement of the lives of
the community people, addressing of the family violence, abuses of the individual within the
community and enabling equal rights of access to proper healthcare facilities and other essential
needs for a better livelihood. All of these factors contribute to the violence of human rights at a
number of levels.
I believe that the code of ethics in case of a social worker revolves around some of the
basic principles and key values namely the dignity of the human beings, worth and the social
justice. The meaning of the human dignity and worth to a social worker illustrates the worth and
inherent dignity of each and every individual within the community and enabling of respect of
the human rights according to the norms of the United Declaration of Human Rights (Bainbridge

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et al. 2015). A social justice of a social worker encircles the satisfaction level of the basic
requirements, fair and equal access of the benefits and services by the community people for the
effective achievement of the human potential and the recognition of the rights of the community
people. These basic values and principles form the backbone of the practice framework for the
establishment of the human rights foundation on the basis of social work practices.
Community development plays very essential role in dealing with the Aboriginal Torres
Strait Islander community since many individuals within the community are suffering and
struggling with enormous issues and disadvantages. The problems and the issues that the social
workers face is very complex and often are entrenched to intervene at the individual level.
Suppose in the context of an aboriginal child who looks neglected and unhealthy, it is the
responsibility of the social worker to ensure the safe of the child firstly. Abiding by the
convention on the rights of the child, the social worker should ensure proper practice of the
making a difference within the aboriginal community (Gwynn et al. 2015).
Working with the Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander community, helped me gain loads of
information regarding the nature and the culture of the community. The aboriginal community
people has a very few options of viable employment. The housing structure of the indigenous
community is overcrowded no doubt and they represent very poor condition. One of the major
problems of the community people is the increased consumption of alcohol. With the increased
consumption of alcohol comes violence, abuse and more. It is furthermore a big challenge for the
social worker to build up a co-operative leadership in case they do not have good reputation. The
Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander community people lack confidence towards the child protection
system. The improving status of health of the Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander community is a
big challenge for both the social service workers and the Australian government
(Humanrights.gov.au 2018). There lies a wide gap of inequality among the Aboriginal Torres
Strait Islander community people and the other people of Australia which has not been abolished
till decade. While working with the community people, I developed my personal insight on how
the livelihood and the status of health of the Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander community could
tend to worsen unless substantial steps are being taken. A steady and incremental approach
towards the Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander community by the social workers will not reduce
the gap of inequality (Funston and Herring 2016). It should be understood that there is a

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requirement of commitments for initiating an action and proper funding towards the welfare of
the community people’s rights for a real and a sustainable change. I believe the social workers
surely have a very unique character to play for targeting the issues and the disadvantages of the
community people, but the experience has always been a problematic one that highlights the fear,
mistrust and anger of the people. The complexities in the comfort among the aboriginal and the
social workers stem from racism and cultural misunderstanding (Humanrights.gov.au 2018).
From the perceptions regarding the aboriginal people and their connection with the social
workers I believe I need to improve some of my knowledge and initiate in taking effective social
work educational preparation. These include improvement of the active listening skills: it is very
important for the social workers to listen to the concern of the community people, and then only
the people will rely on the social worker. Next, critical thinking: it is the duty of the social
worker to guide and support the disadvantaged group of aboriginal people with their effective
remedial solutions gained from critical thinking (Davy et al. 2017). Communication is one of the
most important skills that I need to improve, it is the effective communication which enables the
social worker to identify and understand the issues and how the aboriginal people are
marginalized from their basic human rights (Bennett 2015). Furthermore, I need to improve my
knowledges regarding the nature of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. I had a
misconception that the people of the community are harmful and tends to attack any outsider
within their community. I should take proper preparation of social work education. The three
main factors contributing to the barrier in the effective preparation and improvement of
knowledges include racism and lack of proper understanding of the colonization impact and
absence of extensive teaching resources (Humanrights.gov.au 2018). Practical steps I will take
while working with them includes attitudinal factors and certain relevant factors in relation to
skills and knowledges. Effective practice of social work with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander community people is a longstanding practice that is grounded in the indigenous
knowledge (Somerville et al. 2017).
The entrenched elitism and professionalism of welfare and social work has contributed to
the opposition to effectively struggle of Australian Aboriginal culture. The Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people of the indigenous community should not considered as the needy
and a suffering community, instead they should be encouraged for having capacity and strength

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to survive irrespective of many attempts to enslave, deculture and exterminate them (Funston and
Herring 2016). The moral mandate towards addressing the aboriginal issues is apparent and the
Australian Association of Social Workers made it mandatory for all the social workers to
encompass the Indigenous curriculum content for a culturally responsive social work procedure
(Lindstedt et al. 2017). It is furthermore important for the social workers to deal with the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for redressing the disadvantages of the community
people. According to my personal opinion, some of the steps that can be taken while initiating
the social work includes effective communication, active listening, non-judgmental attitudes,
friendly behavior, acts of refrain from stereotyping, initiating the build of trust and respect and
effective remedial solutions. Furthermore, it is the duty of the social worker to make the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people understand their rights and the procedure for
accessing some standard healthcare facilities for a better standard of living and wellness.
Conclusion
The social workers who are working with the aboriginal group in the indigenous
communities plays a key role for addressing the health and socio-economic disadvantages and
reduction in continuing inequalities experienced by the community people in their daily lives.
The paper describes my personal opinion regarding the issues and problems the social worker
faces while working and dealing with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. I
furthermore highlighted the skills and knowledge I need to gain and improve and the steps on
how actions should be taken to preserve the rights of the Aboriginal community people.
Recommendation of social work education has also been stated in the essay.

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References
Bainbridge, R., Tsey, K., McCalman, J., Kinchin, I., Saunders, V., Lui, F.W., Cadet-James, Y.,
Miller, A. and Lawson, K., 2015. No one’s discussing the elephant in the room: contemplating
questions of research impact and benefit in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australian
health research. BMC Public Health, 15(1), p.696.
Bennett, B., 2015. “Stop deploying your white privilege on me!” Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander engagement with the Australian Association of Social Workers. Australian Social
Work, 68(1), pp.19-31.
Davy, C., Kite, E., Sivak, L., Brown, A., Ahmat, T., Brahim, G., Dowling, A., Jacobson, S.,
Kelly, T., Kemp, K. and Mitchell, F., 2017. Towards the development of a wellbeing model for
aboriginal and Torres Strait islander peoples living with chronic disease. BMC health services
research, 17(1), p.659.
Funston, L. and Herring, S., 2016. When Will the Stolen Generations End? A Qualitative Critical
Exploration of Contemporary'Child Protection'Practices in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Communities. Sexual Abuse in Australia and New Zealand, 7(1), p.51.
Gwynn, J., Lock, M., Turner, N., Dennison, R., Coleman, C., Kelly, B. and Wiggers, J., 2015.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community governance of health research: Turning
principles into practice. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 23(4), pp.235-242.
Humanrights.gov.au. 2018. Achieving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health equality
within a generation - A human rights based approach | Australian Human Rights Commission.

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[online] Available at: https://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/achieving-aboriginal-and-
torres-strait-islander-health-equality-within-generation-human [Accessed 31 May 2018].
Humanrights.gov.au. 2018. The role of social workers as human rights workers with Indigenous
people and communities | Australian Human Rights Commission. [online] Available at:
https://www.humanrights.gov.au/news/speeches/role-social-workers-human-rights-workers-
indigenous-people-and-communities [Accessed 31 May 2018].
Lindstedt, S., Moeller-Saxone, K., Black, C., Herrman, H. and Szwarc, J., 2017. Realist Review
of Programs, Policies, and Interventions to Enhance the Social, Emotional, and Spiritual Well-
Being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Young People Living in Out-of-Home Care. The
International Indigenous Policy Journal, 8(3), p.5.
Mills, K., Gatton, M.L., Mahoney, R. and Nelson, A., 2017. ‘Work it out’: evaluation of a
chronic condition self-management program for urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people, with or at risk of cardiovascular disease. BMC health services research, 17(1), p.680.
Somerville, R., Cullen, J., McIntyre, M., Townsend, C. and Pope, S., 2017. Engaging Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the ‘Proper Way’. Newparadigm: the Australian Journal on
Psychosocial Rehabilitation, 14.