Indigenous Australians: A Psychological Analysis

Throughout this analysis we will take a critical look at the aboriginal identity, the suffering these people go through mentally and physically, and their relationship with the government (Anzovino & Boutilier 2015). The

Research from the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) found it is critical for non-Aboriginal staff to be aware of how to engage and support all cultures, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, as services are more effective for Aboriginal

Finally, As Ring and Elston (1999: 231) argued, “the current situation [in funding for Indigenous health], where the Commonwealth is spending perhaps a fifth of what it should be spending on a needs basis, is a major impediment to effective reconciliation”. Altman and Hunter (2003) also questioned the effectiveness of the Howard Government’s emphasis on ‘practical’ reconciliation. They concluded that, “while practical reconciliation forms the rhetorical basis for Indigenous policy development since 1996, there is no evidence that the Howard governments have delivered better outcomes for Indigenous Australians than their predecessors” (Altman and Hunter 2003: v; see also Hunter and Schwab 2003: 94-96; Ross 2001: 155; Wyatt 2001: 181-182; Gunstone 2007). Therefore as the above evidence suggests, eleven years after the announcement of this “practical reconciliation” policy, Indigenous socio economic disadvantage

Week ones study was focused on the Aboriginal Acknowledgement of Country and the Indigenous terms of reference. These are two very important topics as they focus on the interaction between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians, fostering a relationship a relationship of trust, respect and understanding. A proper understanding of the Aboriginal Terms of Reference is an integral tool for an aspiring teacher such as myself. They encompass the cultural knowledge, understanding and experiences that are at the center of the Indigenous culture (Oxenham, 1999).

There are a lot of challenges that Indigenous Australians still face, but one that keeps being mentioned in society is the poor lifestyles of Indigenous Australians. Life-expectancy is a major problem in Aboriginal society, compared to non-Indigenous Australians there is a difference of 10 years. Not only that, Indigenous and Torres Strait Islanders have the worst life-expectancy in the whole world. To the current day, Aboriginal people have poor health and nutrition, low education levels and poverty. This shows that even though civil rights for Indigenous people and Torres Strait Islanders is improving there are still some aspects of their lifestyle that can enhance.

Three factors that will be spoken about include the Historical and contemporary factors, the role of race and racism and Indigenous Australian and Torres Strait Islander’s perspective on health and wellbeing. Within each of these factors is more proof

She goes on to shine light on how the health care system fails to provide adequate treatment for American Indians. She gives information on how the government should create a trustful relationship with Native Americans, and provide the best quality care, which she later states that undoubtedly they do not. She backs this up with a study from the U.S. commission on Civil Rights showing that in relative to the U.S. population, Native Americans recieve low funding for services. She argues that since the government has failed, there needs to be a “rights-based approach that recognizes and attempts to address the root cause of mental health problems” in order to solve the issue among Native Americans. It is implied that the root cause is historical trauma.

The suicide rate ratio of Indigenous Australians is 1.5 that of non-Indigenous. 96.4% of deaths were younger than fifty years of age compared to 70.4% for non-Indigenous people.1 Social determinants of health such as lack of education and unemployment affect the emotional and social wellbeing that is the foundation for Indigenous physical and mental health. 2 Indigenous Australians have worse health conditions from poorer health and more likely to die at an earlier age than non-Indigenous Australians. Discriminatory behaviour erodes Indigenous self-esteem and value within their community and contributes to bad mental health. 3 Suicide is a largely preventable public health problem.

The obligation of involving all affected Aboriginal peoples in the discussions is critical as they are the ones that will be impacted directly from new policies, allow them to understand the policy and have the choice to amend it if needed. This approach will also avoid policies being seen as punitive and discriminatory, but rather directed at empowerment. At an individual level, social workers need to understand and respect the Aboriginal peoples and culture, and be mindful of their past experiences. They can assist in ensuring that Aboriginal peoples receive access to appropriate health care and education, both for adults and children to minimise the feelings of alienation and lack of ownership of the issues. Social workers need to treat each client with respect and dignity despite their difficulties and have respect for cultural differences and boundaries.

We need programs to start allowing Aboriginal people to connect or reconnect with traditional Aboriginal culture is imperative to break the cycle and allow them to begin another journey (Walsh et el, 2012). For many Aboriginal people change was rooted in a spiritual reconnection to their cultural teachings. The incorporation of traditional to their cultural teachings and ceremonies, as well as to Elder access in the programs, it was proved to a healing new journey. For many, there was a spiritual void that they were searching to fill. If we can

Title: Part A Reflective Journals Student Name: Hannah Warren Student ID Number: 17759577 Email Address: Hannah.warren@student.curtin.edu.au School/Department: Unit: Indigenous Cultures and Health INDH1000 Tutor Name: Due Date: Monday 30th March, 2015 by 11.55pm Declaration: I declare that this assignment is my own work and has not been submitted in any form for another unit, degree or diploma at any university or other institute of tertiary education.

One Australian minority group that has been effected drastically is that of Indigenous Australians. Indigenous Australians are the traditional custodians of the land and have living in Australia for over 40,000 years. Since the arrival of white settlers in the late 18th century, their culture has been subject to a high degree scrutiny. Using the Australian ethnocentrism scale, it has been concluded that white Australians held negative attitudes towards Indigenous Australians (Beswick, Hills 1972). A popular negative attitude that can be viewed in today’s society is that

Aboriginal identity, mental health and suicide rates were outlined throughout this analysis along with the disgusting lack of government aid. As stated above, the aboriginals from the Kattawapiskak River have a strong sense of identity. The persons on these reserves are proud of their traditions and practice resilience in their faith and values, however, the physical and emotional pain these people are put through will soon break their spirits. They can only ask for help from the government so many times before it will be too

Since colonisation in 1788 Europeans believed the Aboriginal peoples to be a primitive race with no societal structures in place because their system did not resemble one that was recognizable or fit within it did not resemble a system that was recognizable by white settlers. National identity is believed to be a general concept that referred to a broad set of codes with a shared understanding within a nation, and the sense of belonging that is reinforced through myths, symbols, media activities, and everyday practices (Carter, 2006, p. 7; Van Krieken et al., 2017, pp. 234-244). Australia is now regarded as a diverse country with an identity that has evolved over time and will continue to do so. For Indigenous Australians to conform to this national identity, they had to assimilate and give up their values, beliefs, and cultural rights to become more like white Australia.

Three readings from this week, combined with the readings from last week of overarching themes, got me thinking about how I have been considering Indigenous student experiences. In fact, I have not given too much thought on the issue until I encountered it as one of the topics in a course last term. I found myself relating to Indigenous student experiences, in terms of learning needs, to a certain extent as a recent immigrant student from South Korea. That led me to enrol in this course, and I find this opportunity to be a good learning experience as each reading material presents me new insights about Indigenous student experiences. From the information presented in Pidgeon’s (2008) dissertation, I was quite frustrated how difficult