Integration of Aboriginal People into Australian Society - Coursework Example

The Integration of Aboriginal People and Torres Strait Islanders into Mainstream Australian Society (Name) (Course) (Institution) (Instructor’s name) Date Introduction In the past, Australia has been accused by the world of leaving behind its aboriginal community and Torres Strait islanders behind as the country becomes one of the world’s most developed nations. However, the government has made active steps in bringing the Aborigines aboard as the country moves forward. The Redfern speech, by Prime Minister Paul Keating in on 10 December 1992 acknowledged mistreatments of the aborigines by past government regimes and vowed and committed his government to giving special attention to the aboriginal people. Keating noted that the colonial government was responsible for the indigenous people mistreatments and loss of land through the Terra Nullius policy, which technically labelled Australia as unoccupied land which was not the case (Watson, 2002). The previous governments have occupied aboriginal ancestral land without compensation, annihilated their culture, and forced mass transfer of populations, poor infrastructure among aboriginal neighbourhoods, poor healthcare services in aboriginal areas and unequal distribution and sharing of natural and national resources. This issue was revisited again through a speech to commonwealth parliament by Prime Minister Kevin Ruud on Feb 12th 2008. In his speech, the premier apologised to the aboriginal people on behalf of the non-Aboriginal Australians, colonial masters and the past governments. In part he said, We apologize especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country. …For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry (Ruud 2008). He admitted that the problems afflicting indigenous Australians were brought by the non-indigenous people. In his view, he saw the need of the non-indigenous people appreciating the fact that they have not been mindful of the indigenous people and should thus starting doing so. This would in the end be aimed at creating harmony in the society. “The starting point, for a more prosperous and harmonious society, might be to recognize that the problem starts with us non-Aboriginal Australians” (Watson, 2002, p, 24). Ever since the Redfern speech and the parliamentary apology, succeeding governments have enacted a number of social policies aimed at bringing the Aboriginal people at par with the non-Aboriginal Australian society. This paper assesses the success of the closing the gap initiative which provides the framework on a number of policies in education, health and housing in all government levels in Australia and their impact on the Australia society at large and specifically on the aboriginal people. Closing the gap in education Past governments have commissioned a number of studies on the educational situation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Some of the recommendations from these reports are yet to be fully implemented and hence the current scenario (Behrendt et al). While Sackett, Kuncel, Arneson, Cooper, and Waters (2009) indicate that social economic status has no direct influence on students’ performance in college admissions tests, Glewwe and Jacoby (2000) say that social-economic status directly influences the ability of a household to invest in higher education. For the economically challenged households, failure to finance education either through self-finance or borrowing against future human capital leads persistent poverty across generations. Glewwe and Jacoby (2000) go ahead and say that where borrowing for education investment is constrained, policy makers should target creating subsidies and loans for individuals from economically challenged backgrounds. The Commonwealth government acknowledges the increasing importance of higher education as portrayed by the establishment of the national target of 40 per cent achievement of bachelor degree education or above for Australians aged 25 to 34 by year 2025 (Edwards 2009). So what are the steps that have been made to ensure that target is attained? To start with, the government enacted some major reforms in the higher education sector in 2008 such as indexation of base funding and the introduction of the demand-driven system (ibid). Kirby (2012) on the other hand argues that such moves are not necessary if reforms in education are not enacted from the lowest level upwards. The author adds that the foundations of education are of core importance and hence should be prioritized. Mclnerney (2008) compared four ethnics groups in Australia among them Aboriginals to understand how their attitude, sense of self-worth and motivation affected their school attendance and performance. From the study’s findings, Asian and Anglo students perform better in school than Aboriginal and Lebanese students. The negative sense of self-worth was a negative predictor for poor performance in mathematics for Aboriginals, Anglo and Lebanese students. The study also revealed that Aboriginal students were more likely to miss classes which partly explain poor performance. Furthermore, the aboriginal students are more prone to negative pressures from parents and peers. In fact, there was little evidence of peer support networks for Aboriginal students which were noted to have a positive impact in the performance and class attendance for Asian students. This therefore points to a dire need for a change in social policies in Australia to address issues facing Aboriginal people especially in matters education. Kirby (2012) insists that development of education should start from the grassroots upwards. The author opines that the quality of education offered in elementary schools in Australia has deteriorated over the years despite numerous reforms by various governments. The study by Mclerney (2008) also indicates that peer motivation especially for Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders and other minority groups should be cultivated to enable a change in attitude towards education and improve performance at lower levels for students to gain entry into universities. Otherwise, improving higher education alone with engaging the supply lines of university of enrolment will not achieve the desired objectives. Closing the gap in health The Aboriginal community in Australia experience the lowest quality of healthcare in Australia compared to other community groups. This has been revealed by a number of studies commissioned by the government. The findings of these studies can be summarised as follows: a) There rate of low birth weight in Indigenous babies is double national rates b) Mortality rates among Indigenous 12 – 24 year olds is three times national average c) 12 per cent of the total burden of disease and injury from emanates from smoking d) 7 per cent of all deaths and 6 per cent of the total burden of disease from alcohol abuse e) Have lower rates of access to acute care investigations and procedures; f) lower likelihood of being treated for and surviving cancer; and g) Discharge against advice for 25 – 44 year olds up to 30 times more than other Australians. Such glaring facts made the all states and territory governments to commit themselves to actively improving healthcare among the indigenous population formulated as the following actions: (a) to close the gap in life expectancy within a generation; (b) to halve the gap in mortality rates for Indigenous children under five within a decade (c) to ensure all Indigenous four years olds in remote communities have access to early childhood education within five years (d) to halve the gap in reading, writing and numeracy achievements for Indigenous children within a decade (e) to halve the gap for Indigenous students in year 12 attainment or equivalent attainment rates by 2020; and (f) to halve the gap in employment outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within a decade.. Mental health There are numerous factors that impact on one’s mental health. For the Indigenous youths in Australia, the determinants of their mental health include their social economic status, cultural factors, education level, unemployment, social support systems and historical determinants (DSF, 2003). In regards to social support systems, indigenous youths with supportive relations with their families are more likely to feel loved and valued, which as a consequence, has a protective impact on their health (McRae, et al, 2005). In regards to historical determinants, indigenous youths who attend residential schools show improved mental health (AUSINET, 2008). Generally, anxiety disorders is linked to minimized achievement academically, social relationship challenges and social ability impairments as indicated by Ialongo, et al., (1995). Academically, anxiety can lead to students having problems remaining on task, problems relating and interacting with others, difficulties forming reliable social networks and may at worse, lead a student to avoid classes when they associate them with anxiety (Woodward & Ferguson, 2001). According to Woodward & Ferguson, (2001), anxious children more often than not, have problems responding suitably to normal development milestones and they are more likely to underachieve academically. Owing to persistent absenteeism in school and damaged relationships attributed to anxiety, anxious youths are more likely to end up having poor vocational adjustment challenges, poor self-perceptions and psychological disorders which persists into adulthood (Kendall & Ollendick, 2004). In addition, youths susceptible to severe anxiety are more likely to indulge in substances; they are more prone to depression, suicide tendencies. In regards to the relationship between anxiety disorder and suicide tendencies, this is more critical for indigenous young people, who have demonstrated higher rates of suicide compared to young people from non-indigenous backgrounds (Woodward & Ferguson, 2001). According to the survey, more than 25% of children aged between four to eleven years, from indigenous origin are susceptible to increased risks of having mental health problems. More gravely, more than 20% of youths between the ages of 12 and 17 years are prone to mental health challenges in comparison with 13% of their counterpart non-indigenous young people. As noted by Ginsburg, (2004), more than 18% of youths in Australia are dealing with one or multiple anxiety issues, which indicates that indigenous youths may have equal or more anxiety compared to non-indigenous youths particularly when taking into account the numerous issues and situations in the lives of indigenous youths that provokes stress and anxiety. There is insufficient empirical data on the prevalence rates of ill mental health among the indigenous people. However, there is sufficient data showing that the rampant mental health issues among the Indigenous youths is closely attributed to certain issues that require changing such as the separation of young children from their families and community and the on-going socio-economic disadvantages (McRae, et al, 2005). In addition, the mental health care and services seldom resolve the underlying psychological and emotional issues experienced by Indigenous youths. Mental health experts have minimal understanding of the Indigenous culture, which often leads to misdiagnosis and provision of culturally-inappropriate treatments (AUSINET, 2008). The inability of the indigenous youths to access information and resources on how to improve and enhance their overall wellbeing and their inaccessibility to sufficient mental health care services are among the major reasons for their poor mental health outcome (Woodward & Ferguson, 2001). Despite the recognition of the strong correlation between anxiety disorder and the low rates of achievement academically among indigenous youths within education and health policies, the intervention measures and strategies have emphasized more on the physical aspect of the problems, failing to deal with the underlying emotional and psychological aspects (DETYA, 2000). To ensure policies are effective in alleviating anxiety among indigenous youths and to ensure positive academic and health outcomes among this group, policies need to take into account all the aspects of wellbeing, that is, the spiritual, physical, cultural, social, emotional and mental aspects. The current situation The success of the Closing the Gap initiative cannot be quantified. The strides made in achieving the goals cannot be quantified. However, there are positive signs that the government is moving in the right direction. On matters health, life expectancy in overall Australia has been on positive note with life expectancy improving by 5.6 years in the last 20 years. None of that improvement can be accredited to improvement in Aboriginal life expectancy (NACCHO 2013). Child mortality range among Aboriginals which stood at of 220.7 deaths per 100 000 in 2007 is targeted to fall to around 146.9 deaths per 100 000 by 2018. Any measureable success towards this is yet to be reported. In terms of housing, the success at the moment can only be measured in terms of resources being dedicated to housing for aboriginal communities. For instance the Northern Territory government committed $5.5 billion to be used over 10 years to build new and refurbish aboriginal houses. It is estimated that 4200 new houses will be built and 4876 houses refurbished a process that will provide job opportunities for the people. In essence, that will spur socioeconomic advancement among aboriginals. Conclusion The closing the gap initiative is one of the most publicized social policy in Australia. The policy seeks to improve health, improve education, address drug and alcohol abuse and improve housing for the aboriginal people. The policy has well-articulated benchmarks to be assessed over the period of the policy. As a relatively new policy, its success or failure cannot be evaluated at the moment. However, from a purely theoretical perspective, the policy can achieve a lot and improve the life of Aboriginal Communities and Torres Strait Islanders who have remained relatively unaffected by Australia’s march to greatness. If the implementation process is right, then the chances of achieving all the set goals of the policy are very high. References AUSINET. (2008). Mental health promotion and illness prevention: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People. Ausinetter, 30 (1), 22-27. Behrendt, L., Larkin, S., Griew, R. & Kelly, P., (2012). Review of higher education access and outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People final report. Department of industry, innovation, science, research and tertiary education. Accessed online on 20th July 2013 from, http://www.innovation.gov.au/HigherEducation/IndigenousHigherEducation/ReviewOfIndigenousHigherEducation/FinalReport/whatarewetryingtoachieve.html Behrendt, L. (2003). Achieving social justice: indigenous rights and Australia's future. Annandale, N.S.W: Federation Press. Closing the Gap (2013). Closing the gap: prime minister’s report. Accessed online on 20th July 2013 from, http://www.naccho.org.au/aboriginal-health/close-the-gap-campaign/#sthash.a3oNVlhT.dpuf D. H. A. (1995). Ways forward: national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health policy: Mental health problems of Aboriginal children, young people and families. Canberra: Department of Health and Ageing. Accessed online on 20th July 2013 from, http://www.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/mental-pubs-w-wayforw-toc~mental-pubs-w-wayforw-lit~mental-pubs-w-wayforw-lit-chi D. P. C. (2007). Supporting young people’s success: Forging the links: Learning from the School Retention Action Plan. Adelaide: Department of the Premier and Cabinet. D. S. F. (2003). How young people are faring: Key indicators 2003. Dusseldorp Skills Forum. Accessed online on 20th July 2013 from, http://www.dsf.org.au/papers/108.htm DETYA. (2000). School Attendance of Indigenous Student: Quantitative analyses. Melbourne: Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs. Edwards, D. (2009). Forecasting university enrolment and completion numbers for Victoria. Submitted to the HE Expert Panel, Skills Victoria, Department of Innovation, Industry & Regional Development. Victoria Australian Council of educational Research. Ginsburg, G. S. (2004). Anxiety prevention programs for youth: practical and theoretical considerations. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 11, 430–434. Glewwe, P. & Jacoby, H. (2000). Economic growth and the demand for education: is there a wealth effect? Paper prepared for presentation at conference on New Research on Education in Developing Countries Center for Research on Economic Development and Policy Reform Stanford University. Accessed online on 20th July 2013 from http://www-siepr.stanford.edu/conferences/education_dev-countries/Jacoby.pdf Ialongo, N., Edlesohn, G., Werthamer-Larsson, I., Crockett, I. & Kellam, S. (1995). The significance of self-reported anxious symptoms in first grade children: prediction to anxious symptoms and adaptive functioning in fifth grade. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 36, 427–437. Kendall, P. C. & Ollendick, T. H. (2004). Setting the research and practice agenda for anxiety in children and adolescence: a topic comes of age. Cognitive and Behavioural Practice, 11, 65–74. Kirby, M., (Dec 4th 2012). We need look only to Australia's past to give public education a future. The Sydney Morning Herald. Accessed online on 20th July 2013 from, http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/we-need-look-only-to-australias-past-to-give-public-education-a-future-20121203-2ar56.html Mclnerney, D. (2008). Personal investment, culture and learning: Insights into school achievement across Anglo, Aboriginal, Asian and Lebanese students in Australia. International journal of psychology, 43 (5), 870–879. McRae, D., Ainsworth, G., Hughes, P., Price, K., Rowland, M., Warhurst, J., Woods, D., & Zbar, V. (2005). What works: The work program: Improving outcome for Indigenous students: The guidebook (2nd ed.). Canberra: National Curriculum Services and the Australian Curriculum Studies Association. National aboriginal community controlled health organization (2013). The Close the Gap campaign. Accessed online on 20th July 2013 from, http://www.naccho.org.au/aboriginal-health/close-the-gap-campaign/ Ruud, K. (2008). Kevin Rudd, Parliamentary Apology. Accessed online on 20th July 2013 from, http://www.aph.gov.au/House/index.htm Sackett, P., Kuncel, N., Arneson, J., Cooper, S. & and Waters, S. (2009). Does socioeconomic status explain the relationship between admissions tests and post-secondary academic performance? Psychological Bulletin, 135, 1: 1–22. Woodward, L. J., & Ferguson, D. M. (2001). Life course outcomes of young people with anxiety disorders in adolescence. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 40, 1086-1093. Watson, D. (2002). Recollections of a bleeding heart: a portrait of Paul Keating PM, Perth: Knopf. Zubrick, S., Silburn, S., Lawrence, D., Mitrou, F., Dalby, R., Blair, E., Griffin, J., Milroy, H., de Maio, J., Cox, A., & Li, J. (2005). The Western Australian Aboriginal child health survey: The social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal children and young people. Telethon Institute for Child Health Research. Read More

While Sackett, Kuncel, Arneson, Cooper, and Waters (2009) indicate that social economic status has no direct influence on students’ performance in college admissions tests, Glewwe and Jacoby (2000) say that social-economic status directly influences the ability of a household to invest in higher education. For the economically challenged households, failure to finance education either through self-finance or borrowing against future human capital leads persistent poverty across generations. Glewwe and Jacoby (2000) go ahead and say that where borrowing for education investment is constrained, policy makers should target creating subsidies and loans for individuals from economically challenged backgrounds.

The Commonwealth government acknowledges the increasing importance of higher education as portrayed by the establishment of the national target of 40 per cent achievement of bachelor degree education or above for Australians aged 25 to 34 by year 2025 (Edwards 2009). So what are the steps that have been made to ensure that target is attained? To start with, the government enacted some major reforms in the higher education sector in 2008 such as indexation of base funding and the introduction of the demand-driven system (ibid).

Kirby (2012) on the other hand argues that such moves are not necessary if reforms in education are not enacted from the lowest level upwards. The author adds that the foundations of education are of core importance and hence should be prioritized. Mclnerney (2008) compared four ethnics groups in Australia among them Aboriginals to understand how their attitude, sense of self-worth and motivation affected their school attendance and performance. From the study’s findings, Asian and Anglo students perform better in school than Aboriginal and Lebanese students.

The negative sense of self-worth was a negative predictor for poor performance in mathematics for Aboriginals, Anglo and Lebanese students. The study also revealed that Aboriginal students were more likely to miss classes which partly explain poor performance. Furthermore, the aboriginal students are more prone to negative pressures from parents and peers. In fact, there was little evidence of peer support networks for Aboriginal students which were noted to have a positive impact in the performance and class attendance for Asian students.

This therefore points to a dire need for a change in social policies in Australia to address issues facing Aboriginal people especially in matters education. Kirby (2012) insists that development of education should start from the grassroots upwards. The author opines that the quality of education offered in elementary schools in Australia has deteriorated over the years despite numerous reforms by various governments. The study by Mclerney (2008) also indicates that peer motivation especially for Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders and other minority groups should be cultivated to enable a change in attitude towards education and improve performance at lower levels for students to gain entry into universities.

Otherwise, improving higher education alone with engaging the supply lines of university of enrolment will not achieve the desired objectives. Closing the gap in health The Aboriginal community in Australia experience the lowest quality of healthcare in Australia compared to other community groups. This has been revealed by a number of studies commissioned by the government. The findings of these studies can be summarised as follows: a) There rate of low birth weight in Indigenous babies is double national rates b) Mortality rates among Indigenous 12 – 24 year olds is three times national average c) 12 per cent of the total burden of disease and injury from emanates from smoking d) 7 per cent of all deaths and 6 per cent of the total burden of disease from alcohol abuse e) Have lower rates of access to acute care investigations and procedures; f) lower likelihood of being treated for and surviving cancer; and g) Discharge against advice for 25 – 44 year olds up to 30 times more than other Australians.

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