Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Health: Question 1
Discuss the impact of colonialism on Aboriginal peoples health. Use
relevant examples and statistical data to support your response.
Colonialism had a detrimental impact on the health of Aboriginal peoples as the
imposition of the European way of life largely interrupted the Aboriginal huntergatherer lifestyle. Prior to colonialism and European contact, Aboriginal
populations were very healthy, they were active, they were physical according
to the Deputy Chairperson of the Mornington Island Health Council, Sarah Isaacs.
Aboriginal peoples, such as the Lardil, led healthy lifestyles eating a balanced
and nutritious diet which varied geographically.
The establishment of fixed settlements and the loss of traditional lands during
colonialism marginalised Aboriginal peoples, consequently resulting in poor
nutrition as natural resources were lost to pollution or destruction from European
agriculture. Direct conflict and occupation of Aboriginal land by settlers and
colonisers heightened Aboriginal mortality as the Aboriginal peoples ability to
live healthy lives was compromised. The cycle of dispossession and
demoralisation onset by colonialism continued to result in poor health outcomes
for Aboriginal people.
In addition, a number of the native flora and fauna species utilised as food
sources by Aboriginal people began to dwindle during colonialism. Consequently,
the natural food habits and living patterns of the Aboriginal peoples changed.
This was the case for the Lardil people living on Mornington Island where many of
the local Aboriginal people began to abuse alcohol, as their core practice of
hunting dugongs and dolphins was hindered. Much of the knowledge Aboriginal
people had accumulated about bush foods and medicine was lost, resulting in
the lower life expectancy of Aboriginal people today; according to the Australian
Bureau of Statistics, Aboriginal men on average live 11.5 years less than other
Australian men. Colonialism was consequential in relation to diet, as less
nutritious foods became part of the Aboriginal peoples diet. Many of these foods
contained sugars and fats which led to other health problems; addictive
substances like sugar and tobacco were detrimental for Aboriginal people, and
the consequences still exist today as the Australian Bureau of statistics reports
that 50% of the Indigenous population are daily smokers, contributing to a higher
prevalence of lung and throat cancers amongst Aboriginal peoples.
Colonialism brought about the introduction of diseases and epidemics, such as
small pox, tuberculosis, influenza and measles, which Aboriginal people had no
immunity against. Consequently, the populations of the Lardil on Mornington
Island declined due to the poor health associated with colonialism.
Lifestyle-related diseases Aboriginal people had not experienced before also
became more prevalent, including diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular
disease as well as low birth weights for Aboriginal infants. These negative health
Health: Question 2
What social and political changes are necessary to improve Aboriginal
and other Indigenous peoples health standards? In your response refer
to both an Australian Indigenous community and an International
community.
There are many social and political changes which are necessary for the
improvement of the health standards of Aboriginal people and other Indigenous
peoples such as the Maori of Auckland, New Zealand.
A critical social change for the improvement of Aboriginal health is the regaining
of land and the strengthening of support networks for Aboriginal people to
continue cultural maintenance practices.
The Mornington Shire Council has been attempting to establish a Site
Management Plan in communion with local Aboriginal rangers to protect sacred
places which are threatened by environmental issues such as erosion, as well as
the proposed transport of minerals from the Gulf; these events have prevented
the Lardil from accessing story places which are of significant importance to
their spirituality and cultural maintenance, and therefore, their overall health and
wellbeing.
As there hasnt been a single effort by the Queensland Department of
Environment and Heritage to protect these sites in order to promote cultural
maintenance, the regaining of Aboriginal land and improved Aboriginal health
standards on a holistic level, an effective social and political change would be for
the Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage to collaborate with the
Mornington Shire Council in creating and applying the Site Management Plan the
community has been requesting. This political change is paramount to achieving
higher standards of health for Aboriginal people, especially the Lardil, as Lardil
residents have articulated the significance of the emotional and mental health
benefits of cultural maintenance: Our bodies must keep doing the dances and
living in the bush, and making the artefacts that keep our skills alive. These
things are what we need to keep the head and the body together, as said by
Lardil community member Larry Lanley.
rural and urban areas to work effectively across cultures, which the current
mainstream system struggles to do. This would resolve issues such as the
unreliability of fly in doctor services experienced on Mornington Island, as the
availability of more Aboriginal Health Workers would allow for greater
permanency of health professionals.
Currently, the Close the Gap policy has established Tackling Indigenous Smoking
Teams in 57 regions nationwide. This includes the implementation of 344 full
time health workers who work in Aboriginal communities at a grass roots level to
develop local programs that empower and support community members to quit
(smoking). Programs such as this should serve as a model for the creation of
other programs which could provide primary and secondary health care
addressing all of the major determinants of Aboriginal mortality in Australia. The
skills of Aboriginal Health workers shouldnt be restricted to combatting smoking
alone, but should be deployed across health issues such as coronary heart
disease and diabetes. Diabetes and coronary heart disease are extremely
prevalent in remote Aboriginal communities that are socioeconomically
disadvantaged including Mornington Island where 7.8% of Lardil adults selfreported having diabetes (CNWQML and Healthy Futures Australia). If the
medical services active on Mornington Island incorporated the visitation of a
Tackling Indigenous Diabetes Team a solid foundation would be created for the
improvement of health standards amongst the Lardil.
In continuation, a political change which is a prerequisite to improving Aboriginal
health standards is the implementation of culturally safe assessments and
appropriate interventions, such as community development interventions.
Interventions which promote the empowerment of Aboriginal communities must
be included as part of an overarching strategy to reduce health inequities
amongst the Aboriginal populace; Aboriginal people need to be given the power
to make decisions which relate to their own health by the government. Currently,
the infant mortality rate for Aboriginal children is 8 infants per 1000 births. Social
changes which could effectively address this poor health standard include
implementing sensitive screenings of communities to identify their needs and
introduce treatments before minor health problems escalate; this would include a
community-based and client-centred approach, as opposed to the current health
centre-focused model. Subsequently, issues such as the absence of full-time
qualified child health workers in Aboriginal communities or Aboriginal Community
Controlled Health Centres would be resolved, resulting in better health standards
for Aboriginal people from an earlier age. For this to be achieved, constructive
dialogue between government agencies, public health professionals and most
importantly, Indigenous communities, needs to occur, which it currently doesnt
on the scale that it should. Aboriginal people in Australia will not be able to
liberate themselves from the circumstances of disadvantage they find
themselves in, and the poor health standards they are restricted to, until a
political structure is built to protect and enrich their self-determination.
Likewise, Aboriginal health issues should no longer be addressed at a superficial
level, as deep running contextual issues such as poverty, poor housing, low
of New Zealands doctors, highlighting the need for university pathways for
Auckland Maori students to be re-evaluated, in order for Maori health standards
to be advanced internally.
Traditional rongoa healers should also be given a role within mainstream health
services, including hospitals, as for many Maori the major deficiency in the
modern health system is the spiritual dimeson; this could be achieved through
increased dialogue between the Ministry of Health and the National body of
Traditional Maori Healers. Service quality within mainstream hospitals could be
improved for Maori patients as traditional healing is largely individualised, and if
traditional healing is governmentally supported outside of the mainstream health
system, then geographical and financial barriers preventing the Auckland Maori
from accessing primary health care would also be addressed, improving the high
prevalence of cardiovascular disease, coronary artery disease, and diabetes,
which is the largest cause of mortality for older Maori.
In continuation, an additional social change required is the greater investment in
and development of health programs that place whanau (extended family) and
wellbeing at the centre of health work. This, in conjunction with the adoption of
the Te Reo Maori language in community health facilities, would provide a
culturally appropriate health service to the Maori people. For instance,
maintaining traditional language and using it to converse in community settings
such as the maraes, allows Maori patients to openly discuss their personal lives,
and in turn receive greater medical support. This social change of adopting Maori
language and focusing on family as an integral part of Maori health would assist
in addressing the high rate of hospitalisation for Maori infants due to respiratory
infections, onset by poor housing conditions; 20% of Maori live in overcrowded
housing conditions, and one in five Maori hospital admissions are for the
treatment of infectious diseases from household overcrowding like pneumonia,
meningococcal and tuberculosis (University of Otago Wellington).
By distributing health information materials written in Maori language outside of
medical institutions, but within maraes and Maori community hubs, negative
health trends related to low socioeconomic status could be curved in a culturally
relevant way.
An example of whanau focused health programs implemented in Auckland are
the Turanganui-a-kiwa Community Injury Prevention Project which saw the use of
seatbelts by Maori children increase from 10% to 74%, the SIDS Prevention
Program, the Tipu Ora Child Care Program and the Te Awaroa Lifestyles Program.
Enhancing the administration of these programs is a critical social change
necessary for the advancement of Auckland Maori health standards, as the
current mainstream health system neglects the significance of cultural protocols
such as meeting with patients alongside family members.
Significantly, the low socioeconomic status of the Maori also needs to be
addressed more seriously, as it is a key determinant of Maori health standards;
16.2% of Maori adults are unemployed (Ministry of Business, Employment and
Innovation) disallowing for expenditure on health related products and services.
Aboriginal people in contact with the criminal justice system, as Aboriginal family
life was destroyed and Aboriginal people lost their identities, leading to criminal
behaviours; many Wiradjuri children were institutionalised during colonialism and
up until the 1970s, placed in institutions such as Cootamundra Girls Training
Home, resulting in over representation within the criminal justice system due to
the behaviours triggered by emotional trauma and loss of heritage. In 1995,
approximately one in ten Aboriginal people over the age of twenty four had been
removed from their families as children, and this age group experienced
extremely high arrest rates, as 80% of Aboriginal prisoners in NSW were directly
affected by the removal policies existing from colonialism (The Australian).
Similarly, half of the Aboriginal deaths in custody investigated by the 1987 Royal
Commission involved Aboriginal people who had been removed from their family
as a child, or arrested for a criminal offence before the age of fifteen, indicating
the impacts of colonialism and the fundamental breakdown of Aboriginal social
structure in the overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in contact with the
criminal justice system as offenders and victims.
These cyclical problems incited by colonialism and worsened by the implications
of social disadvantage have contributed to an alarming over representation of
Aboriginal juveniles in detention since the 1960s as Indigenous youth are
incarcerated at a rate 28 times higher than non-Indigenous juveniles (L. Brown
Indigenous youth in the criminal justice system). Due to the ramifications of
colonialism in regard to Aboriginal peoples poor education outcomes and lack of
understanding of the western court system, Aboriginal people have been
entrapped and not accommodated by the courts, as bail requirements are mostly
unattainable for Aboriginal offenders in rural locations contributing to the
overrepresentation of Wiradjuri peoples in the criminal justice system.
Thus, colonialism since the 1960s and even prior has had clear and distinctive
impacts on the over representation of Aboriginal people in the criminal justice
system, exemplified by the Wiradjuri people in Central West New South Wales.
such as from AIM, but by the government, as According to the Bureau of Justice
Statistics, at least 70% of the violent victimisations experienced by American
Indians are committed by persons of a different race.
It is irrefutably clear that there are a range of various political and social changes
that are necessary to address the overrepresentation of Aboriginal peoples and
other Indigenous peoples in the criminal justice system.