Australia is a vast land with a diverse environment and communities isolated by great distances. Its peoples have a diversity of culture, educational and economic circumstances, health needs, services, and social structure. Therefore the welfare issues experienced and the impact these have to lifestyle within Australia’s different populations would also differ in relation to these factors. This is certainly true for Rural Australia.
The biggest factor impacting Rural Australia has been the changes to the economic viability of primary production, one of the largest sources of income for Australia (Australian Government, 2008), affected by globalization, deregulation, privatisation and reduction/withdrawal of services, rising production costs, and ever present unpredictable environmental conditions (Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission Secretariat, 2000).
This can be generalised in this basic explanation: Most primary production takes place in Rural Australia. When the producers (for instance farmers/graziers/miners) aren’t making sufficient income from their businesses to provide a profit they reduce spending. Falling profits can be caused by numerous factors for instance: a poor season’s harvest, reduced prices at market for their products, increased costs in production or in transport, among other reasons. There are various avenues open to producers in this circumstances but the most common is to restructure their business by reducing the staff they employ and lowering expenditure by reducing purchases of new equipment, goods or services. This reduction of spending flows on to supplying business in the region that relies on this custom for their profits. These other businesses then have to change the way th...
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... (1999). Rural and Isolated School Students and their Higher Education Choices. Higher Education Council, National Board of Employment, Education and Training, Commissioned Report No. 63. Melbourne: Commonwealth of Australia.
Parliament of Australia: Senate Committee Report (2004). Chapter 14, Rural and Regional Communities. Retrieved May 8, 2010 from http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/clac_ctte/completed_inquiries/2002-04/poverty/report/c14.htm
Weeks, W & Quinn, M. (2000). Change and impact of restructure on Australian families: An introduction to key themes. Issues facing Australian families: Human services respond. Longman.
Wilkinson, R., Kawachi, I., & Kennedy, B., 1998, Mortality, the social environment, crime and violence. In: Bartley, M., Blane, D., & Davey Smith, G. (eds). The Sociology of Health Inequalities. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
The most confronting aspect of the documentary was the failure of the Australian Government’s to address poverty within the Mt. Druitt community. It was fairly evident that Mt Druitt’s community is “let down”, especially when Billy, a resident, was accused of failing to pay rent. This certainly struck me, as without a house to
The social determinants of health play an important role regarding the lifestyle and health status of populations, therefore influence on their health (Dahlgren & Whitehead, 1991). In this case, analysing South Australia there are clear indications that the residents from Playford are living in poor conditions which determine their poor health outcomes than the Adelaide Hills which people are placed in a better health
Aboriginal health is majorly determined by several social factors that are related to their cultural beliefs. Health professionals regularly find it difficult to provide health care to aboriginal people due to the cultural disparity that exists between the conventional and aboriginal cultures, predominantly with regard to systems of health belief (Carson, Dunbar, & Chenhall, 2007). The discrepancy between the aboriginal culture and typical Western customs seems to amplify the difficulties experienced in every cross-cultural setting of health service delivery (Selin & Shapiro, 2003). Most of the social determinants of the aboriginal health are due to their strict belief in superstition and divine intervention.
Indigenous Australian’s health has been a focal point and topic of interest for many members of the government and policy markers. The reasoning for why this topic has been of popular interest for the government and policy makers is due to the startling and atrocious lack of health that Indigenous Australian’s suffer. Indigenous Australian’s are disadvantaged in the Australian healthcare system and have the poorest health out of all Australians. “Between 2004 and 2008, 66% of Indigenous deaths occurred before the age of 65 compared with 20% of non-Indigenous deaths.” (Red Dust, p.1) Indigenous Australian’s experience this major disadvantage and neglect in the Australian society due to the poor health care system and policies that haven’t been able to solve the issue. This essay will explore the significant and negative impact on the Indigenous communities and how policy decisions have impacted and continue to impact the Indigenous communities. This essay will also outline why there have been significant policy shifts over time, the current issues in delivering services to Indigenous Australian’s and why these issues have emerged.
McDonald, P 1984, Can The Family Survive? - Change in Australia, Discussion Paper no. 11, Australian Institute of Family Studies, accessed 10 April 2012 http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute/pubs/dp11.html
While much of recent discussions of housing affordability in England have been dominated by the rapidly increasing house prices in London, there is an arguably more acute housing affordability crisis in rural England. ‘Rural England’, characterized by Gallent as areas with fewer than 1000 inhabitants per 20 hectares (Gallent et al. 2003), has long had an undersupply of housing, particularly affordable housing, at the same time as a rising demand. This crisis is one in need of urgent repair as it continues to harm the rural communities in which it exists. Rural England faces a myriad of issues, including lack of skilled labour and lack of convenience in accessing necessities such as healthcare and food and retail stores. The rural housing affordability crisis in rural England is interlinked with the other issues it faces. The crisis is a complex and far-reaching issue with many past and present drivers and an irrefutable link to the planning system. This essay will first outline the scope and key drivers of this crisis and will then analyse and gauge the effectiveness of planning in addressing the issue.
In conclusion the colonisation of Australia and the adoption of discriminatory policies eroded Aboriginal culture and tradition affecting their sense of well-being and thus deteriorated their health. Today these policies are reflected in the social determinants of health as socio-economic disadvantages. They continue to impact contemporary Aboriginal people. In order to improve Aboriginal health outcomes; the impacts of these policies need to be overturned. This can be done by assisting them with improving their socio-economic status in the light of their needs and traditions.
Thank you for taking time to read my letter. As a nursing student of University of Technology Sydney, I studied contemporary indigenous subject this semester. In this letter I want to illustrate 3 main social determinants of health that impact indigenous Australian health which I found and analysed during my recently study. And also offer some suggestion that could help the government improve aboriginal Australian mental health conditions in the future.
There is a definite lack of recent data on poverty in Australia, therefore we have to look back as far as reports from the 1970’s, in order to find any relevant information on poverty in Australia. In 1975 there was a report made on the extent of poverty in Australia by Professor Henderson. It has since been known as the Henderson Report. The Henderson Report found that 8.5 per cent of Australians were living under the poverty line. It also found that: “Most of the poor suffer from one or more of the following disabilities: old age, lack of a male bread-winner, a large number of dependant children, recent migration to Australia, or prolonged illness. The incidence of poverty was much higher in these categories than among those without any of these disabilities.”(Henderson 1975) At the time of this report average weekly earnings in Australia were $165 per week, the poverty line for a single person was set at $49.60 for a single person, and $93.20 for a couple with 2 children. (Jackson, McIver 1998)
One of the biggest issues effecting Indigenous Australians is inequality, this negative one-sided view has led to many young Aboriginals leading a life of social disparity.
Rosier, K. 2011, ‘Food insecurity in Australia: What is it, who experiences it and how can
This summary states that the current system is failing to identify individuals at risk early enough to help them avoid being in need of support for a long period of time. There are “currently 20 income support payment types and 55 supplementary payments” (“A New System for Better Employment and Social Outcomes) all of which makes the system very confusing with the different types. The system is complicated with the payments and means testing adding to the complexity; this involves more resources to maintain the testing to check if a person is in need of a payment. Restructuring the social support system will address changes that have occurred in Australia’s economy over the years since it was first established. Changes include increasing skill levels in the work force, an aging population, higher participation among women and older Australians, and increases in part-time and casual workforces (“A New System for Better Employment and Social Outcomes”). One of the solutions for a simpler system is to create five primary payments in which pensions are categorized into fewer sections for the different circumstances the government pays out. Another change would be with housing. The Australian government should focus on the homeless population to ensure that their people are not
Topic 3: "Outline the social determinants of health in Australia and provide a critical analysis of these determinants. Discuss the current health status comparisons between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians and interventions to remedy these inequalities.”
Living in a remote area has always been thought to have negative influences on the individual. There are 35 % of the total population in Australia living in rural area(Phillips, 2009).Rural areas in Australia and all over the world are not geographically isolated and disadvantaged only but also culturally and economically deprived which has great consequences on the health status of the population. The main two factors that have a major effect on rural health are socioeconomic status and cultural issues(Beard, Tomaska, Earnest, Summerhayes, & Morgan, 2009).
Poor living conditions are a major health determinant throughout the indigenous population. Most Indigenous Australians are known to live in rural parts of Australia which are commonly not close to major cities and services. People living in these areas generally have poorer health than others living in the cities and other parts of Australia. These individuals do not have as much access to health services and good quality housing. In 2006 roughly 14% of indigenous households in Australia were overcrowded unlike 5% of other households (AIHW, 2009a). Overcrowded and poor quality houses are commonly associated with poor physical and mental health between the people living in them. The indigenous are n...