University Essay: Social Policy for Indigenous Australians (SWB108)

This essay analyzes social policies for Indigenous Australians, focusing on the National Aboriginal Health Strategy implemented in 1989. It explores the importance of critical social theory in understanding the need for such policies and examines societal perceptions of these policies. The essay delves into the real-world relevance of the strategy, highlighting its impact on health, substance abuse, and mental health within the Indigenous community. Furthermore, it aligns the policy advocacy with the social justice mandate, emphasizing the need for equitable access to healthcare and addressing disparities. The essay concludes by underscoring the significance of social policies in improving the lives of vulnerable populations and maintaining social equilibrium, thereby offering a comprehensive overview of the subject matter.

Running head: SOCIAL POLICY FOR THE INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS
Social policy for the Indigenous Australians
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1SOCIAL POLICY FOR THE INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS
Introduction
The primary purpose of the government of the nation states of the world is to ensure the
well-being of its citizens and to guarantee to them a decent standard of living (Briskman, 2016).
For the assurance of the welfare of the people, the various governmental organizations are
always on the look out to formulate new policies. Such policies are deemed to be essential for the
citizens for the maintenance of their living standard in the society. The policies are formulated in
all spheres of human activity in order to ensure that the people of the society have an equal
standing in the community (Everingham, 2018). In this regard, it can be seen that polices exist
for the marginalized section of the people, for the elderly population as well as for the younger
generation. Furthermore, the policies are mainly in the nature of sociological welfare of the
people so that they may enjoy their rights and freedom as granted to the by the state leaders
(Carey & McLoughlin, 2016). This essay seeks to understand the need for social policies by the
citizens of a society, particularly that of the country of Australia. In this respect, the social
policies instituted by the government of Australia for the indigenous people of the country has
been examined and analyzed in this assignment. The essay looks in to the character of the policy,
the target group it aims to target and the objectives of the policy. The essay concludes with the
importance of social policy for uplifting the vulnerable people of the society so that an
equilibrium can be maintained in the society.
Importance of critical social theory
The field of critical theory within the wider frame work of philosophical thinking arose as
a reaction against the traditional Marxist principles as advocated by Karl Marx and the Frankfurt
school of thought (Alston, 2016). Critical theory takes a more pragmatic view of the issue at

2SOCIAL POLICY FOR THE INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS
hand. It lays emphasis to the fact that individuals are the practical objects of the earth. They
undertake several activities which cannot be seen in isolation from the other spheres of the world
such as those of politics, economic, social and cultural spheres of human activity (Smith &
Herriot, 2017). In this regard, the main purpose of critical theory is deemed to provide a more
practical outlook on the issue of human activity so as to provide them with a decent standard of
living. Critical theory is seen to ask to emancipation of the individuals from the chains of slavery
and providing them with liberty and the much needed freedom (Lingard, 2016). In this respect,
critical theory takes a detailed scrutiny of the various theories which are present in the world and
provides the human society with the knowledge as to what to expect with the instillation of the
other theories within their sphere of activity (Bryant et al., 2018).
Critical social theory for understanding the need for a social policy
Social policies are formulated for giving certain benefits to the vulnerable and
disadvantaged individuals of a society (Smith et al., 2018). Such benefits are needed by them so
as to place them in a community where they would be able to enjoy the same status as the other
people of such a community. In this respect, social policies usually have a proper frame work
which contains the objectives of the policy, the target group it attempts to look after the
resources that would be utilized in the execution of the objectives of the policy and the time
period within the policy would be successfully executed (Cuthill et al., 2016).
The application of the aspect of critical social theory within the field of social policy is
therefore deemed to be of essence. Social policies have the objective if improving upon the lives
of the people and their standard of living (Trezona, Fitzsimon & Dodson, 2019). The critical
theory evaluates the extent of success and failure of such a policy and the impact they have on
the lives f the people of the community.

3SOCIAL POLICY FOR THE INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS
Social policy for the indigenous people of Australia
Australia is one of the most populated countries of the world in terms of containing the
number of indigenous people of the society (McKittrick & McKenzie, 2018). This country was
colonized for a considerable period of time by the imperial masters of the Western hemisphere,
especially that of Britain. With the demise of the colonial rule, the state leaders of the country
got the freedom to pursue their own course of action (Morony et al., 2017). However, the people
of the Australian community experiences certain aspects of the colonial hangover, especially in
the field of looking after the needs of the indigenous people.
In this respect, mention can be made of a social policy by the name of National
Aboriginal Health Strategy which was formulated in the year of 1989 (Orthwein, 2017). The
main objective of this strategy is to ensure that the health of the indigenous people of the society
is effectively maintained. Such indigenous people are usually found to be living in the
marginalized parts of the society (Wakerman et al., 2017). This proves to be harmful for them in
terms of their health as they do not have easy access to any kind of medical facilities and medical
aid. In this context, the state leaders of Australia deemed it to be necessary to formulate and
implement a health care policy of the indigenous people of Australia so that they can enjoy a
decent standard of living within the society like their counterparts.
Perceptions of the society towards the need for the social policy
The National Aboriginal Health Strategy (1989) has found a favorable place within the
context of the broader society. Providing a healthy life to the citizens of the community is one of
the main pre requisites of the leaders of the society ("Are Social Policies for Indigenous
Australians Actually ‘Closing the Gap’? – Issues facing Indigenous communities in Australia",

4SOCIAL POLICY FOR THE INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS
2019). In this respect, they are required to ensure that every individual of the community has an
access to the medical supplies as and when needed. Furthermore, the state leaders are also
required to provide for an effective health care infrastructure which should be made accessible to
all the people. With the implementation of the social policy of the National Aboriginal Health
Strategy (1989), the aboriginals of the society have been given the opportunity to find medical
aid and supplies within a place which is convenient to them ("Are Social Policies for Indigenous
Australians Actually ‘Closing the Gap’? – Issues facing Indigenous communities in Australia",
2019). Additionally, such aid has been made affordable keeping in mind the poor financial health
of most of the indigenous people of the Australian society.
Relevance for real world practice
The National Aboriginal Health Strategy (1989) is found to be relevant for the real world
practice. Health is one of the most primary requirement for leading a decent standard of living. In
other words, it is only when the people are healthy that they would be able to enjoy a happy and
satisfied life.
In this respect, certain examples can be provided. The extent of substance abuse is
considerably high within the Aboriginal community of Australia. In the year of 2002, the
younger generation aged fifteen years and more, belonging to the indigenous population, were
found to be addicted to smoking and consumption of alcohol ("Government policy in relation to
Aboriginal people - Barani", 2019). This posed a great risk to their health as their internal body
organs started to deteriorate since they did not have access to any medical facilities.
In this regard, it is important to understand that one of the main objective of the National
Aboriginal Health Strategy (1989) is to provide valuable knowledge and information to the

5SOCIAL POLICY FOR THE INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS
people with respect to the ill effects of substance abuse. The consumption of substances is not
hoped to be completely eliminated within a short period of time, but the population should at
least attempt not to misuse them through over consumption ("Government policy in relation to
Aboriginal people - Barani", 2019). The relevance of the National Aboriginal Health Strategy
(1989) therefore lies in the fact that it aids in the spreading of awareness of health among the
marginalized and vulnerable sections of the population.
A second example which can be stated which has underlined the importance of the
National Aboriginal Health Strategy (1989) for the Aboriginals of Australia is that of the
extremely high level of emotional and mental stress which affects most of the indigenous
population of Australia. In the year of 2003 and 2004, the number of indigenous people who
were submitted in to hospitals for behavioral issues and mental stress was almost twice as more
as experienced in the earlier time frame ("Government policy in relation to Aboriginal people -
Barani", 2019). Furthermore, it can be seen that the individuals belonging to the indigenous
population of Australia are found to be vulnerable to infliction of self harm. The male members
of the indigenous population in the year 2003 and 2004 were reported to inflict a lot of harm to
themselves ("Government policy in relation to Aboriginal people - Barani", 2019). The numbers
admitted in to the hospitals arose by almost a seven hundred percent in the same time period.
However, the most astounding change which could be observed was within the female
population. The number of people who inflicted harm on themselves rose by almost thirty one
times in that same time period.
Alignment of policy advocacy with the social justice mandate
This shows that there is a severe need on the part of the indigenous population to be
given an easy and fast access to the various medical aids of the society. The hospitals need to be

6SOCIAL POLICY FOR THE INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS
made affordable to them and they must be taught the importance of being aware of the various
adverse effects to their health which can occur. In this regard, the National Aboriginal Health
Strategy which was formulated in the year of 1989 sought to bring about such changes in the
society ("Government policy in relation to Aboriginal people - Barani", 2019). The advocacy for
the ploy lies in the fact that it seeks to provide an alternative vision to the people of the society.
The Aboriginals are the marginalized sections of the community. They do not have access to the
most basic needs of human survival such as those of health care services and clean water and
sanitation services. In this regard, certain policies were made in order to bring the Aboriginals at
par with the other people of the society.
The social justice mandate of any society requires the state leaders to be conscious about
their responsibilities and obligation to the members of the society whose charge has been under
taken by them. The upholding of such instances of social justices depends upon the various
social policies which are formulated within the structure of the society. In other words, the state
leaders try to ensure a quality life for their citizens and the prevalence of the ideas of equality
and liberty by formulating certain policies which comply with such intentions of the state leaders
("Are Social Policies for Indigenous Australians Actually ‘Closing the Gap’? – Issues facing
Indigenous communities in Australia", 2019). Thus, it can be seen that the primary objective of
any society is fulfilling the needs and aspirations of the people.
Conclusion
Thus, to conclude, it can be observed that the formulation of social policies are seen to be
essential for improving upon the nature of the lives led by the people of the society. In this
regard, the National Aboriginal Health Strategy which was formed in 1989. This was
necessitated mainly because of the prevalence of the ailments that were observed within the

7SOCIAL POLICY FOR THE INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS
members of this community of the indigenous population. The National Aboriginal Health
Strategy aimed to provide certain health benefits for the members of this society so that they may
be able to enjoy a decent standard of living. They were provided with educational awareness and
information which would help them to have easy access to the various medical facilities of the
mainstream society.

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