... psychological (mental), spiritual, and cultural wellbeing. Factors that are important to social and emotional wellbeing include a person’s. (refer to slide show) Social and emotional wellbeing is often confused with mental health, but it is much broader: social and emotional wellbeing is concerned with the overall wellbeing of the person. On the other hand, mental health describes how a person thinks and feels, and how they cope with and take part in everyday life. It is often seen, incorrectly, as simply the absence of a mental illness. (Slide show) Important determinants of Indigenous health inequality in Australia include the lack of equal access to primary health care and the lower standard of health infrastructure in Indigenous communities (healthy housing, food, sanitation etc) compared to other Australians. Equality in health care refers to the differences in the use, access, availability or quality of health care by different groups (Ward, 2009). Inequality in health care is about the ability to access health services using concepts and approaches involving social justice and therefore requires a judgement about what is fair and just. This may involve assistance to...
Words: 2314 - Pages: 10
...and devastating impacts on Indigenous people. First came the arrival of strangers who carried new diseases and involvement in violent conflict, which resulted in the death of a vast number of Aboriginal people. This colonisation also brought a lot of destruction to the native flora and fauna as they were building new houses and settlements on the sacred land of the aboriginal people, as well as many new introduced species to the australian environment. The impact of the white settlers changed the indigenous communities and the lives of the future generations forever. When settlers arrived in Australia they brought with them a number of European diseases so when contact was made with the aboriginals their immune system was unfamiliar to these diseases so their population decreased rapidly. The major cause of many of these diseases was when the convicts and settlers were ship transported this making it spread easily and due to the lack of education and knowledge of how the diseases are treated the aborigines had no way to cure their symptoms this then leading to death among tribes. when the europeans came to australia the main objective of the colonisation was to clear the lands of Aboriginal people to enable development of the land. Poisoned flour was distributed to Aboriginal people, and introduced diseases such as measles, chickenpox and influenza which had dramatic effects on people who did not have the immunity to such viruses common to Europeans. The impact of smallpox and...
Words: 858 - Pages: 4
...culture, tradition and languages. * Balance rites – Aboriginal rituals that aim to make a supernatural connection with ancestral beings from the dreaming * Crown land – Public land owned by the commonwealth of Australia and managed by Australian government * Dispossession – The forced removal of aboriginal people from their native land. * Dreaming – Aboriginal spiritual beliefs about creation and existence. The dreaming establishes the rules governing relationships between people, land and all things for Aboriginal people. It links together the past, present and future. * Freehold title – Absolute and permanent ownership of the land. * Half-castes – An offensive term referring to a person of mixed decent or ethnicity. * Land rites – Property rights pertaining to land. * Meta-temporal – the trinity of the past, present and future. * Native title – Form of land title, which recognises aboriginal people as rightful owners of their traditional land. * Protection policy – official government policy stating in the late 19th century. Removed aboriginal people from unsuitable environments and placed them under the protection of the state. * Sacred sites – Places of spiritual significance to Aboriginal people as they are connected with ancestor beings from the dreaming, they are places where rituals such as initiation and balance rites are performed. * Stolen generations – Aboriginal children who were removed from their homes between 1900...
Words: 2188 - Pages: 9
...Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are significantly exposed to new cultural, social environment and life style in the past few decades. They also affect from a colonisation process that destroyed their culture, tradition, language, politics and economy (Holland, Dudgeon & Milroy, 2013). Their life has been changed suddenly and has devastating effect on their mental and health well-being. This essay will elaborate the reasons including social and cultural factors contributing significantly higher rate of mental illness and suicidal behaviour and mental health plans that the government has adopted to prevent self-harm and increase mental awareness. There have been a few researches conducted about Aboriginal people’s suicidal behaviour and self-harm. The definition of mental illness has been updated and a few times for the last 50 years on a regular basis (Parker &Milroy, 2014). Mental illness is also known as mental health disorder and it is very common in Australia. Mental disorders as defined by WHO (2016) is “comprise a broad range of problems, with different symptoms. However they are generally characterized by some combination of abnormal thoughts, emotions, behaviour and relationship with others. Examples are schizophrenia, depression, intellectual disabilities and disorders due to drug abuse.” Almost relatively half of the population in Australia suffered affective or substance use disorder and anxiety between the age from 16 to 85 in some stage of...
Words: 2189 - Pages: 9
...European colonisation of Australia, many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are wary of white institutions and social welfare’ (Chenoweth & McAuliffe 2012, p.274). Identify and discuss one or two of the historical events that have impacted on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and how the effects can be seen today. This paper aims to discuss how the assimilation policy and forced separation of Indigenous children from their families and culture has affected the mental health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. A significant undertone of the assimilation policy is racial discrimination (Haebich 2001), which is an additional theme explored in this discussion. Racial discrimination is built on a belief of superiority that one race is better than the other (Khalafzai 2009, p.10), which is relevant to the actions of the assimilation policy; the Aboriginal culture was devalued and considered barbaric and inappropriate to the modern colonist nation (Haebich 2001). Victims of the forced separation suffered severe psychological consequences (Petchkovsky et al. 2004), which to this day, haunt and affect the lives of many Indigenous Australians (Koolmatrie & Williams 2000). Furthermore, remnants of the past are still seen present time, through the discriminating treatment of Indigenous Australians, adversely impacting on their health, mentally and physically (Khalafzai 2009, pp.10-11). The forced removal of Aboriginal children...
Words: 2088 - Pages: 9
...challenged. Despite official history’s dependency on validating its claims through documented evidence, it must be acknowledged that it is not objective and remains vulnerable to distortion of those with political power or hegemony. Similarly, the subjective nature of memory allows for official history to be vulnerable to the bias of personal experience and differing perspectives. Furthermore, although official history and subjective memory both provide adequate insights into the past, it is through the consideration and combination of the two that compelling and unexpected insights into the past are generated. Paul Keating’s ‘The Redfern Address’ offers a reasonable challenge to the dominant historical narrative surrounding the European colonisation of Australia and their acts of social injustice in regards to Indigenous Australians. Similarly, Shaun Tan’s ‘Memorial’ explores Australia’s wartime history through the medium of a community’s personal experiences, perspectives and memories converging to form history, and illuminates the way in which history is dictated by those with political power. Through the dialectic interplay of history and meaning, compelling and unanticipated comprehensions of the past are generated and are negotiated to form the rich fabric of historical awareness. To begin, Paul Keating’s ‘The Redfern Address’ polemically challenges the colonialist ideology traditionally associated with the history of the European settlement by illuminating the memories and...
Words: 1665 - Pages: 7
...decision by the High Courts and was an was the start of other of cases native title claims to be made against the States and territories. This was evident with the Wik case that followed in the years after Mabo. In order to determine the effect that the Mabo case has had on Australian Law and subsequent cases we need to look into the details of the case, what judgement was made, and how that judgement came about. Then the details of the judgement can be used to look at other decisions like Wik, and how the legislations and proceeding acts have been introduced. Discussed also will be the potential effect that the Mabo case had, not only with land rights and native title issues, but also to help with the reconciliation of the displaced aboriginal people upon British settlement. As you will read later there was a lot of potential for the governments of the day to use these decisions, but there was great reluctance to protect themselves and other members Australia. We can begin by having a look in further details of firstly the Mabo vs. The State of Queensland case, then the Wik vs. The State of Queensland case. You will note that although the cases have many similarities, there were also some very obvious differences. It was these differences which made the government introduce the Native Title Act 1993, then the Native Title Amendment Act 1998. In order to understand the Mabo case, you need to know that it involved the people from the Murray and Torres Strait Islands claiming...
Words: 1955 - Pages: 8
...To what extent has Indigenous tourism either empowered or exploited Indigenous communities in Australia or internationally. In your discussion refer to at least two case studies of Indigenous tourism. Both past and present, Indigenous culture is becoming increasingly recognised as a significant aspect of the Australian tourism product and experience (Johnston 2006). Therefore, in order to manage the long-term sustainability of Indigenous tourism and involvement of host communities in the tourism industry, the socio-cultural impacts of tourism on Indigenous communities need to be addressed and monitored (Hodgson, Firth & Presbury 2005). Research conducted by various authors have identified positive impacts commonly associated with Indigenous tourism on host communities including conservation of traditional customs and cultural heritage (Tomaselli 2012), sense of community pride, cross-cultural understanding, maintaining community stability and the broadening of horizons (Hodgson, Firth & Presbury 2005). As a result, host communities may recognise the significance and economic value of their cultural heritage. Thus, tourism may come to play a vital role in promoting cross-cultural exchange, education and preservation of Indigenous communities. Conversely, much of the literature regarding this topic suggests that the negative sociocultural impacts outweigh the benefits seen as a result of Indigenous tourism which include disruption to daily life and traditional lifestyles...
Words: 1678 - Pages: 7
...The prevailing conservative government did not want Australia’s history of ‘peaceful settlement’ to be tarnished with the ‘black armband’ view (Howard, 1996). From an Aboriginal perspective, they label this as the ‘white blindfold’ view of ‘Invasion day’ and talk of the genocide that occurred thereafter. The biggest form of racism is the continued denial on an individual basis by the average Australian of what really happened in the process of colonisation. Prominent sovereignty campaigner Michael Anderson states...
Words: 1683 - Pages: 7
...statistical information, discuss the inequality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous mortality rates in Australia Whilst the overall health of Australians is amongst the top third of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2010) here is a clear disparity between Indigenous and non-indigenous health when one considers that even in this day and age of modern medicine, Indigenous Australians are expected to live twelve years less than their non-indigenous counterparts for males, and ten years less for females (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2010) Despite significant improvements over the past decade Aboriginal infant mortality is still approximately three times that of non-Aborigines. For ATSI, the reduced overall impact of the communicable diseases has been balanced by a worsening of the "lifestyle" diseases, particularly cardiovascular disease and diabetes which are the biggest single killers of Indigenous peoples and an area where the Indigenous and non-Indigenous health equality gap is most apparent. (Australian Bureau of Statistics,2013) Where in 2012, death in coronary heart disease was number one; Indigenous:non-Indigenous rate ratios was 2:1,and second leading disease was diabetes was 7:0. The third leading cause of death was suicide for Indigenous males and chronic lower respiratory diseases for Indigenous females.(AGDHA,2013) These ratio’s are evident of huge inequality between indigenous...
Words: 3120 - Pages: 13
...2008) states that the indigenous peoples of Australia are one of the most disadvantaged indigenous groups in the developed world. The health of the Indigenous population of Australia is an increasingly pressing issue. Current research and statistics reveals great inequality in many areas of health care and health status between the Aboriginal people and the general population of Australia. Couzos and Murray (2008, p. 29) report that the Indigenous population has “the worst health status of any identifiable group in Australia, and the poorest access to health systems.” This paper will examine the underlying historical contexts and contributing factors that have lead to the current disparity between the health of the Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians. Furthermore, the high prevalence of chronic health issues such as diabetes will be analysed and community health initiatives that are needed or currently being enacted will be identified. Many reasons for the current appalling state of health and wellbeing of the Australian Aboriginal people can be explained by examining their recent history to the devastating impacts of colonisation, genocidal policy, loss of land and years of oppression. These several hundred years of cultural destruction, dispossession and social and political upheaval have resulted in generations of trauma and grief (Burke, 2006, para. 4). As reported by Forsyth (2007, p. 35-36), government policies enacted towards the indigenous population...
Words: 2117 - Pages: 9
...There is a long history of educational inadequacy where Aboriginal Australians are concerned. With a comprehensive understanding of the difficulty Indigenous children face in terms of acquiring an education in our education system, it is now possible to recognize particular techniques which may be used in an attempt to counteract or minimise troubles caused by feelings of discrimination amongst Indigenous children. We believe a problem with Aboriginal schooling retention rates is that the students don’t feel captivated or that the content being taught applies to them, and therefore they don’t care for education. We believe our education strategy needs to focus on correcting this by teaching the truth and history about colonisation and developing awareness and appreciation of Indigenous culture. By incorporating Indigenous teachings into the curriculum, we will engage students and improve school completion rates. A good education determines many factors in an Indigenous child’s health, literacy, employment and productivity. It is widely believed that Aboriginal children learn best and most efficiently when educated by a culturally aware teacher, preferably an Indigenous teacher. Aboriginal teachers bring a bigger range of cultural perspectives into schools and develop relations with the Indigenous communities around the school, a valuable asset when working with school children’s needs or problems. For many Aboriginal children living in remote towns english is a second or third...
Words: 1875 - Pages: 8
...ESSAY WRITING A MODEL ESSAY TOPIC Good health is the right of all Australians. How does the state of Aboriginal health care relate to that of non-Indigenous Australians? Why is this so and how can this situation be addressed so that there is parity across all segments of Australian society? Discuss. “Good health is not just the physical wellbeing of an individual, but the social, emotional, and cultural wellbeing of the whole community in which each individual is able to achieve their full potential as a human being thereby bringing about the total wellbeing of their community”. (Anderson, 2000, para. 6) If we take Anderson's view as the definition of good health, then the fact that an Indigenous baby raised in an Aboriginal community can expect to live 20 years less than other babies strongly indicates that the relative health status of Australia's Indigenous population is indeed much poorer than that of the rest of the Australian population (Merston, 1999, p.32). This is largely due to inadequate living conditions, lifestyle, lack of education and employment, and historical conditions. To improve the health status of Australia's Indigenous population, the government not only needs to allocate more funds to health services and the improvement of overall living conditions, but also to investigate ways in which health services can be offered to better reflect the cultural needs of this group. Indigenous Australians suffer a higher amount of illness and die at a...
Words: 2192 - Pages: 9
...Assignment question: Explore the nurse’s role in addressing the impact of the social determinants of health on accessibility to health care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. INTRODUCTION 150 words Nurses have an extensive role in caring for the health and wellbeing of people and ensuring they have accessibility to health care. This paper will explore and provide evidence into how the social determinants of health, especially racism or racial discrimination impacts on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders or Indigenous Australian people’s access to health care. Exploring the impact of social determinants of health on Indigenous Australians and the numerous poorer health outcomes experienced by this population group will...
Words: 1457 - Pages: 6
...There was little, if anything written about Indigenous History and the impact that colonisation and invasion had on their lives. The Colonisers in 1788 brought diseases, and took all their land while destroying sacred sites, which they had lived on for centuries. Aboriginal people were forced to carry around certificates stating who they were and leave their sacred customs behind. They were known as Flora and Fauna and had no rights. Until after WW2 they were not classed as citizens, meaning they were not allowed to vote. After WW2 Indigenous people who had served in war were treated terribly, being denied entry into local RSL branches and some had their wages stolen. For decades, Indigenous veterans have asked for better acknowledgement of their service to Australia as they have assisted in all conflicts since federation. In 2017, for the first time, Indigenous veterans led the national ANZAC Day...
Words: 1371 - Pages: 6
