SOC101: Health as a Social Injustice and Social Change in Australia

This essay examines health as a social injustice in Australia, focusing on the disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations. It explores the historical context, particularly the impact of colonization, on health outcomes and access to healthcare. The essay discusses the principles of social justice, including equity, access, and participation, and how their absence affects social change. It highlights the importance of addressing socioeconomic factors, systematic discrimination, and language barriers to improve health equity. The essay concludes by emphasizing the need for policy adherence, improved social work support, and equitable health services for all Australians, regardless of their background or location, to achieve true health justice.

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Health as a Social Injustice
Student’s Name
University Name
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The historical path of health as a social justice
Introduction
Health is a very critical sector in the community. The Australia health sector is facing
a challenge concerning the life expectancy difference. To reduce the gap between the
indigenous and non-indigenous life expectancy is very crucial in streamlining the health
industry. There is a point of separating all the policies that have already worked and
developed new commitments which they require for providing equitable health services to the
whole community in the country. There is a problem with the language differences in
Australia making it difficult for the people to read and understand the health policies in the
country. In closing the gap needs more than just reducing the life expectancy disparity within
the communities in Australia. There is more which needs to be done to improve the life
expectancy of the Aborigines and Torres Strait Islander which has been growing slowly over
the decades.
The society consists of various communities, and social justice is the rights of all the
people in a specific population in regards to fair and equitable services to every member of
the city (Blyton, 2009). The social justice mainly focuses on the marginalized groups in the
society like the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, the young ones specifically the
children, and those people who come from different backgrounds, people living with
disabilities, the aged in the society, and women. The main concerns of health as a social
justice are:
All the information that is for the public should be available in the languages that the
community understands. All the documented health policies should enhance equality of all
the people regarding health care access (Braveman, 2006). It is very critical to have a precise
translation of health information as per the different languages available amongst the

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community to enhance dissemination of information and also clear understanding without
discrimination of any societal group in the country. Policies and rules of any health sector
approved by the administrative authority should be displayed somewhere accessible to all the
members of the society. There should be easy and clear access to all the policies and rules
concerning the health sector.
The people living in the rural and marginalized regions should have similar access to
clean water and sanitation as their counterparts living in the urban areas. The people who earn
low income in the society should be able to access the same level of healthcare as their
counterparts who have a high socio-economic standard in the community (Fredericks et al.
2012). The health policies should discourage any form of discrimination in the line of
economic measures of the Australian people. All the people in Australia even those who are
considered not originated from there should receive equal treatment and equal access to the
available health services in the country.
A significant focus on health as social justice is an excellent way of reducing health
disparities in Australia. This social justice will help in building an economic empowered
country since, a health nation is a rich nation. There is a great disparity in the health sector of
Australia, the health standards of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait is lowered as compared to
the other population in the country. There is a significant difference of about 17 years of life
expectancy between the indigenous and the non-indigenous people in Australia (Holland,
2015). The socio-economic disparity in the country is the main socio justice factor that
affects the health sector in Australia. There is also another factor of systematic discrimination
that affects the indigenous people.
There are several principles of social justice which include the principle of equity
which is about ensuring equitable and fair distribution of all the available in the health sector.

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The policy of access focuses on bringing all the goods and services to all the members of the
society disregarding their age, ethnicity, and or gender. Participation aspects encourage
participation of the members of the community in all the areas that affect their lives. All the
people should have the liberty to make an informed decision concerning their health status
and any other circumstances that they feel are unfair to their lives (Fredericks et al. 2012).
The principles of social justice need adherence to with no limit to any reduction in the
country
Social justice relationship with colonization
Incongruities in wellbeing status persevere for Aboriginal individuals in Australia. In
the effort to lessen the dissimilarity hole, the idea of accomplishing public equity becomes
very crucial to propelling all administrations and frameworks that can test unjust conditions
inside the country. Colonization is a notable primary aspect impacting societal treacheries
that outcome in discriminatory wellbeing for Aboriginal individuals (Braveman, 2006). The
effects of the international actions on the societal fairness as outlined under the
interconnection of the well-being of the aboriginal people in the Australia community.
The writing recognizing the impact that annexation has on Aboriginal Australians
incorporate proves from verbal and civil chronicles and societal bases structures. Research
shows a universal accord stating that particular effect of colonialism on the soundness of
Aboriginal individuals is profoundly mind-boggling and the specific inheritances are
knowledgeable from generation to generation. Scarcity is in proof that looks at the
relationship between annexation and the effect on societal foul play. Since public equity is
integral to fair performs over all segments in the public arena (wellbeing, instruction,
lawful ), questions arising concerning the extent of the impact that annexation brings on

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wellbeing variations and imperatively is the object meant to handle inconsistencies that came
from colonial era (Blyton, 2009).
It isn't valid to propose that one of the wealthiest countries of the world can't
understand a wellbeing emergency influencing under 3% of its nationals (Bennett, 2009).
This is a disturbing statistic because Australia stand at as one of the wealthiest countries and
we expect that the state should be the leading in health services. Health social justice should
be at its best in this country and helping the other countries achieve well-being awareness and
reducing any discrepancy by below 1%. Health social justice aims at accomplishing decency,
and uniformity of results and treatment; perceiving the poise and equal worth and
empowering the confidence of all; the gathering of essential needs; amplifying the decrease
of imbalances in riches, salary and life shots; and the support of all, including the most
burdened. All the services offered at all the health centers should be uniform and there should
also be uniform administration of medication and procedures undertaken at the hospitals by
the health workers and the social workers. (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2013).
Here, critical parts of social equity are noticeable: its multidimensional, sociopolitical,
and complex nature; installed ideas of reasonableness and fairness; the auxiliary premise of
social imbalances; and, an accentuation on individuals' rights to get to both material assets
(Health and financial status) and equivalent cooperation of chances (Anderson & Kowal,
2012). In efforts to achieve a better health ass a social justice the accompaniments of the
health sector like mobile clinics, dispensaries and the underlying infrastructure like drug store
should be in place.
How the absence of health as a social justice affects social change
For a better social change in the health sector of Australia should put into
consideration the underlying fundamental principles of the health sector. All the policies need

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adherence and enhance public participation together with the equal distribution of resources
to all the regions to improve great health services available to all the states in the country
www.australianmuseum.net.au. (January 2016). Public participation gives the sector better
development of policies which will be helpful to the people because the policies developed,
are the ones affecting them directly at the grassroots. Public participation gives members of
the society a sense of ownership and they are proud to be associated with the community.
The health sector has brought about division in the Australia community between the
Indigenous and non- indigenous. The administrative policies of the country should advocate
for equal rights across all the members of the society. There should be uniform in the defense
for the rights of the people in status. And, all the cultural believes of different cities, rights to
self-determination which gives people the freedom to choose their future and decide how to
address any issue arising from their lives and, finally have the liberty to land and own a safe
place for cultural and spiritual practices (Anderson & Kowal, 2012). A safe place will give
the community safe environment to live in in terms of better sanitation and improved access
to health services from all the points of the country.
It is also very critical also to advocate for better health services for those people in the
society that have low socioeconomic class, those people living in the rural area should be able
to access better health services to reduce the health difficulties experienced in those regions.
The absence of health facilities has brought division regarding the economic class of the
people in Australia. There is also a problem with the social work community that deals with
mostly the well-being of the society. The city should be Enlighted on how to treat social
workers, the rights of the social worker need utmost respect and observation (Blyton, 2009).
Social workers should be provided with better working conditions and, reasonable wages and,
also allowances to keep them motivated to serve more people in the society. Social work

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should be termed communal and needs individuals with outmost faith and dedication to drive
the dream of a health nation.
Conclusion
There are some notable inequalities in the health sector between indigenous and non-
indigenous, most notably in the dominance of anxiety and depression, and the societal factors
of health. This brings consequences for indication-rooted rule growth and can inform the
advancement of the public health development and may inform the development of public
health advancement. To reduce the difference and make sure that health is asocial justice to
every member of Australia society the policies developed in the health sector needs to be
followed and put into practice across the country. There is an excellent observation of
improving the social work sector to support and help with the ad mistering of better health
services in the country, especially in the rural areas and to those people with low
socioeconomic standings www.australianmuseum.net.au. (January 2016).
The idea of availing equitable health services to all Australian is also notable in such
that the health social justice is available to every member of the community. Social justice
should be equal despite the regions that the people leave, their culture, language, ethnicity or
even socioeconomic class.
The ownership of language is also an important factor in enhancing the quality of
health services getting to the people. The way people communicate and how the citizens can
understand the policies, their rights, how to access health services and where to obtain the
services is also a critical consideration in improving the health justice in Australia (Holland,
2015).

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References
Anderson, H., & Kowal, E. (2012). Culture, history, and health in an Australian Aboriginal
community. The case of Utopia. Medical Anthropology, 31(5), 438–457.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2013). Life tables for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Australians
Australian Museum. (2015). Glossary of Indigenous Australia Terms.
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Bennett, M. J. (2009). Smallpox and cowpox under the Southern Cross.
The smallpox epidemic of 1789 and the advent of vaccination in colonial Australia. Bulletin
of the History of Medicine, 7–62.
Blyton, G. (2009). Healthier times?: Revisiting Indigenous Australian health history.
Health & History, 11(2), 116–135.
Braveman, P. (2006). Health disparities and health equity: Concepts and measurement.
Annual Review of Public Health, 167–194.
Fredericks, B., Lee, V., Adams, M., & Mahoney, R. (2012). Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander health. In M. L. Fleming (Ed.), Introduction to public health (pp. 350–372). London
(UK). Elsevier Health Sciences.
Holland, C. (2015). The Close the Gap Campaign: Progress and priorities report 2015.
The Close the Gap Steering Committee. Paragon Australasia Group