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History continues to impact Aboriginal / Torres Strait islander people today. There has been some improvements over the years but not enough when compared to other Australians. They have the highest growth rate, birth rate, death rate, the worst health and housing and the lowest educational, occupational, economic, social & legal status of any identifiable section of the Australian
The contributions and achievements of Indigenous role models continue to make substantial impacts upon our history in areas such as the arts, sport, education, science and more increasingly; the world of Politics. Modern Australia is recognising and celebrating the achievements of Aboriginal people more than ever before, where the social landscape is changing (albeit slowly) as a result. The gradual change of peoples ingrained preconceptions, unfounded ideas and prejudiced notions are being challenged and ultimately transformed.
What is the connection between official education policies and key events in Aboriginal Australian history? How have Aboriginal people responded to these policies?
Another issue which commonly affects the Aboriginal population, inhibiting the experience of good health, is culture clash which consistently lead to social exclusion and societal assimilation. Urquhart (2009) identifies social exclusion as the fourth of ten social determinants of health and is often a result of culture clash. It is very important to recognise that culture clash is a cultural issue which gives rise to certain discrepancies that highly influence Aboriginal health. These discrepancies are complex and interspersed factors such as ethnocentrism, segregation and oppression, which all result in the social exclusion and societal assimilation of Aboriginals. Ethnocentrism is described as the tendency to view one’s own culture as superior to all other cultures (Cooper, 2012). Crisp and Taylor (2008) endow that “All people are inclined towards ethnocentrism” and this was reiterated by the Storti (2012) who stated that “Not only is judging natural, it is essential to function effectively in society”. Although, whilst it is a common issue, ethnocentrism becomes a problem when it is exhibited by people whom hold a position of power and who also have the ability to overrule those with lesser power (Crisp & Taylor, 2008). Ethnocentrism is an important factor because it has the potential to develop into such social exclusions as segregation and oppression, especially when it is exhibited by people who hold such positions of power as community or Government leaders. Such was the case when the Aboriginal population began to raise at the beginning of the 20th century (Crisp & Taylor, 2008). The Government powers, influenced by ethnocentrism, developed the policy of segregation which ultimately impacted on many facets of Aborigina...
...nt of impact upon Aboriginal family life in relation to lost cultural links and family members roles, there is evidence to suggest that the policy of assimilation, thus the removal of children had a far longer lasting affect. The assimilation policies not only contributed to the separation of families and whole communities, but also affected both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples and is the result of many inter-generational problems among Aboriginals, such as parenting, thus overall has had a greater impact on Aboriginal family life.
In the nineteenth century, the “History wars” became the fight between the most prominent historians revolving around the deception of frontier conflict between the labor and coalition. The debate aroused from the different interpretations of the violence that took place during the European colonization and to what degree. It became a crisis in history, emerging from the dispossession of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (ATSI) that resulted in exclusion of their traditions and culture. The ATSI were the first people of Australia that brought along a different culture, language, kinship structures and a different way of life (Face the Facts, 2012). Post European colonization was a time where the ATSI people experienced disadvantage in the land they called home. With the paramount role as future educators, it demands proficient knowledge on the Australian history and one of the most influential moments in our history started from the first European settlers.
Equality in health implies that ideally everyone should have a fair opportunity to attain his or her full health potential and, more reasonably, that no one should be disadvantaged from achieving this potential. Based on this definition, the aim of policy for equity and health is not to eliminate all health differences so that everyone has the same level and quality of health, but rather to reduce or eliminate those which result from factors which are considered to be avoidable and unfair. To appreciate the importance of striving for equity in relation to health, it is necessary to be aware of just how extensive are the differences in health found in the world today. In every part of the region, and in every type of political and social system, differences in health have been noted between different social groups and between different geographical areas in the same country (Whitehead 2000). There is consistent evidence that inequalities in health result in disadvantaged groups having poorer survival chances, suffering a heavier burden of illness, and sharing a similar pattern of low quality of life
The Stolen Generation has left devastating impacts upon the Aboriginal culture and heritage, Australian history and the presence of equality experienced today. The ‘Stolen Generation’ refers to the children of Aboriginal descent being forcefully abducted by government officials of Australia and placed within institutions and catholic orphanages, being forced to assimilate into ‘white society’. These dehumanising acts placed these stolen children to experience desecration of culture, loss of identity and the extinction of their race. The destructive consequences that followed were effects of corruption including attempted suicide, depression and drug and alcohol abuse. The indigenous peoples affected by this have endured solitude for many years, this has only been expressed to the public recently and a proper apology has been issued, for the years of ignorance to the implementation of destruction of culture. The Stolen Generation has dramatically shaped Australian history and culture.
Since the time of federation the Aboriginal people have been fighting for their rights through protests, strikes and the notorious ‘day of mourning’. However, over the last century the Australian federal government has generated policies which manage and restrained that of the Aboriginal people’s rights, citizenships and general protection. The Australian government policy that has had the most significant impact on indigenous Australians is the assimilation policy. The reasons behind this include the influences that the stolen generation has had on the indigenous Australians, their relegated rights and their entitlement to vote and the impact that the policy has had on the indigenous people of Australia.
The Indigenous population rapidly declined as a result of disease, government policies and destruction of traditional life styles, now the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders comprise only 2.3% of the total population (Indigenous People Issues and Resources, 2014).
Through an analysis of the impacts of colonization and the concomitant Australian government policies of genocide and assimilation, this paper will argue that the social inequality experienced by Indigenous Australians, in the forms of higher rates of ill-health and mortality, are a direct result of structural violence which has incubated intergenerational trauma and effectively gotten under the skin of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
British colonization of Australia had many long term and immediate effects on Aboriginal people. Disease was prevalent in the colonial period and without modern medicine, or in the case of Aboriginal people having access even to the medicine of the time, many people would often die from disease. In 1789, 50% of all Aboriginals in the Sydney area, died as a result of a small pox epidemic. Disease was even more prevalent in the Aboriginal communities as Aboriginal women were used as a sex resource by the British colonial men. These diseases were new for Aboriginal people and therefore they did not have the same tolerance for it, as the settlers did. Disease wasn’t the only thing that the colonies brought which impacted upon Aboriginal people,
But we have not always celebrated difference. Built on oppression and institutionalised racism, Australia has a dark history, one that cannot be hidden away nor forgotten. The lives and deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, South Sea Islanders and migrants are woven into Australia’s history; the people whose blood, sweat and tears built our country.
In 1975, the government passed the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. From a healthcare perspective, it established the ability of federal agencies to provide grants to tribes able to set up not-for-profit corporations able to replace the IHS. Grant funding comes mainly from the annual IHS budget. Additionally, uninsured Native Americans can receive state-funded healthcare like all US citizens.
The Aborigines, native people of Australia, have been subjected to restrictive laws, unimaginable treatment, and abuse for over a century. This mistreatment of fellow human beings by the Australian government led to the almost depletion of an entire race of people. Because of this, without a doubt it can be correctly stated that the Australian government committed a genocide of the Aboriginal people. This genocide has left social tears in Australia that are still visible today.
The social and health disadvantages of Indigenous Australians is well documented (Marmott, 2005, p.1099; Mathews, 1998). The historical experiences of Aboriginal peoples has been of loss of control and human rights. Dispossession and dislocation has resulted in poverty, loss of identity, culture and spiritual connection, impacting generations of Indigenous Australian's health (Hampton & Toombs, 2013b, p. 79). The combination of SDoH and historical factors has led to poor lifestyle choices and anti-social behaviours with an end result of increased disease such as diabetes and renal disease among contemporary Indigenous Australians (Calma, 2007, Mathews, 1998). ‘Everyone agrees that there is one critical social determinant of health, the effect of colonization’ (CSDH, 2007, p.30)