I would want to start by paying my respects to the nation's elders, both past and present, and acknowledge them as the land's Traditional Owners and Custodians. I extend this regard to the present-day Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Systemic Racism Systemic racism is the term used to describe how racism is ingrained in societal institutions, laws, and customs, resulting in unfair treatment and consequences on people depending on their race or ethnicity. Aiming to eliminate misconceptions and advance anti-racist beliefs and actions, this may entail education campaigns, community organising, grassroots activity, and legislative changes (Bonilla-Silva, 2021). For instance, compared to their white counterparts, Black people may be …show more content…
The removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from their ancestral lands by violence was a result of British colonisation, upending their social structures, economies, and traditions. The assimilation policies of the Australian governments, which included removing Indigenous children from their families (the Stolen Generations), imposing European cultural practices, and restricting the use of traditional languages and customs. In comparison to non-Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Doomadgee still face considerable gaps in health, education, employment, housing, and socioeconomic position (Efimoff & Starzyk, 2023). The reasons for these differences are due to past wrongdoings, current prejudice, and the effects of colonialism, which have restricted Indigenous Australians' access to opportunities, resources, and services. Compared to non-Indigenous Australians, Indigenous people experience greater rates of imprisonment, arrest, and casualties in
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.
Over the years Australia has had many different problems with racism and racism affecting peoples’ lives. Many racial groups have been affected, most significantly the Aboriginals. The end of world war two in 1945 marked a huge change in types of racism. Australia went from the ‘superior’ white Australians dominating over immigrants and aboriginals. To a relatively multicultural and accepting society that is present today.
There have been many unanswered questions in Australia about Aboriginal history. One of these is which government policy towards indigenous people has had the largest impact on Indigenous Australians? Through research the Assimilation Policy had the largest impact upon Indigenous Australians and the three supporting arguments to prove this are the Aborigines losing their rights to freedom, Aboriginal children being removed from their families, and finally the loss of aboriginality.
Indigenous People. In evaluating the Legal System’s response to Indigenous People and it’s achieving of justice, an outline of the history of Indigenous Australians - before and during settlement - as well as their status in Australian society today must be made. The dispossession of their land and culture has deprived Indigenous People of economic revenue that the land would have provided if not colonised, as well as their ... ... middle of paper ... ...
In 1965, an Integration policy was introduced, meaning cultures embracing each other. Although many attempts have been made, including ‘Sorry Day’ and a ‘National Apology’ by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, the scars run deep and it is sad to know that there are generations whose roots will never be identified. As well today, self-determination is practised, which means that in any matter pertaining to Aboriginals, then, they have a
Aboriginal family life has been disrupted and forcibly changed over the last two hundred years, as a result of the many segregation and assimilation policies introduced by Australian governments. Often a combination of the two was employed. The policy of segregation has impacted upon Aboriginal family life, for through this policy, Aboriginals were restricted and prohibited to practice their traditional culture, hence, resulting in the loss of their Indigenous identity and limiting the cultural knowledge for future Aboriginal generations. The segregation policy also achieved in disfiguring the roles of family members, primarily the male's role within the family. The policy of assimilation, in comparison to the segregation policies, has also affected Aboriginal family life, because through the removal of children from their Aboriginal homes they to as a result were deprived of their Indigenous identity and cultural links. However, the policy of assimilation has had far greater an impact upon Aboriginal family life, for it has not only separated families and communities, but denied the parenting and nurturing of a generation of Aboriginal peoples and has also attributed to breakdowns in relationships between the non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal parent.
The Stolen Generations was a time period roughly between 1910 and 1970, in which countless Indigenous Australian children were forcibly removed from their families and homes under the implementation of government policies. Thus, many have been separated from their origins, and have sought to understand their identity, despite their estranged relationship with their Aboriginal history. The struggle to understand one’s Aboriginal identity has been one of the most prominent results of Australia’s colonial history, especially as the Australian government at the time, primarily deemed Aboriginality to be defined
Ever since the foundations of modern Australia were laid; there has been a disparity between the health status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and rest of the Australian community (Australian human rights commission, n.d.). This essay will discuss how this gap can be traced back to the discriminatory policies enacted by governments towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander’s throughout history. Their existing impacts will be examined by considering the social determinants of health. These are the contemporary psycho-social factors which indirectly influence health (Kingsley, Aldous, Townsend, Phillips & Henderson-Wilson, 2009). It will be evaluated how the historic maltreatment of Aboriginal people leads to their existing predicament concerning health.
“Today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human History. We reflect on their past mistreatment. We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations—this blemished chapter in our nation’s history. The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia’s history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future. We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians” (apology by Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, 16th November 2009, Parliament House, Canberra.)
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.
Within Australia, beginning from approximately the time of European settlement to late 1969, the Aboriginal population of Australia experienced the detrimental effects of the stolen generation. A majority of the abducted children were ’half-castes’, in which they had one white parent and the other of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. Following the government policies, the European police and government continued the assimilation of Aboriginal children into ‘white’ society. Oblivious to the destruction and devastation they were causing, the British had believed that they were doing this for “their [Aborigines] own good”, that they were “protecting” them as their families and culture were deemed unfit to raise them. These beliefs caused ...
Both Rachel Perkins and Stan Grant highlight the ongoing challenges faced by Indigenous Australians. They both explore issues like identity, discrimination, justice and the pursuit of equality. Racism and the Australian Dream by Stan Grant is a speech that was delivered in 2016 and details the struggles he and many other Aboriginal Australians have faced ever since colonisation. He also includes personal experiences throughout the speech. Redfern Now: Stand Up follows the story of an Aboriginal Australian boy named Joel who earns a scholarship to a prestigious school.
Australia is an amazing country with sandy beaches, great weather and a great cricket team. But if I could change one thing about Australia, it would be so there is no more racism. Roughly 28% of Australian people are born overseas, which makes a multicultural society very important in Australian Culture but this causes racism.
We have reached the point of intergenerational family dysfunction in many Indigenous communities, with problems of domestic violence, alcohol and drug abuse, inadequate housing, poor health and school attendance, and a lack of job skills and employment opportunities impacting on the next generation of Indigenous Australians. Additionally, there has been a loss of cultural knowledge in many Indigenous communities, which has disrupted traditional values and norms of appropriate social behaviour from being transferred from one generation to the
The ‘Stolen Generation’ describes the Indigenous children that were forcibly taken from their families for the purpose of assimilation. ‘Stolen Generation’ refers to the children taken, resulting in a lack of a ‘new generation’, with the generation of Indigenous population being taken. These removals were occurring from the late 19th century; however the majority of these removals occurred between the mid-20th century. The removals were conducted by all three levels of government, along with a number of religious organisations, such as the Catholic Church. (National Sorry Day Committee, 2014).