Lives Of Aboriginal People Research Articles

Aboriginal World Views as Challenges and Possibilities in Social Work Education

As Aboriginal peoples gain more access to schools of social work, the academy needs to respond to their educational needs. This involves incorporating Aboriginal world views into social work education. This paper focuses on one definition of world views according to Aboriginal epistemology. It also critiques both the role of social work in the lives of Aboriginal peoples and the goals of social work education. It raises key components that need to be addressed in the academy and provides ways in which this can be achieved. In addition, the paper stresses the importance of this content being taught to all social work students.

Accessibility of Primary, Specialist, and Allied Health Services for Aboriginal People Living in Rural and Remote Communities: Protocol for a Mixed-Methods Study.

BackgroundPrimary, specialist, and allied health services can assist in providing equitable access in rural and remote areas, where higher proportions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (Aboriginal Australians) reside, to overcome the high rates of chronic diseases experienced by this population group. Little is currently known about the location and frequency of services and the extent to which providers believe delivery is occurring in a sustained and coordinated manner.ObjectiveThe objective of this study will be to determine the availability, accessibility, and level of coordination of a range of community-based health care services to Aboriginal people and identify potential barriers in accessing health care services from the perspectives of the health service providers.MethodsThis mixed-methods study will take place in 3 deidentified communities in New South Wales selected for their high population of Aboriginal people and geographical representation of location type (coastal, rural, and border). The study is designed and will be conducted in collaboration with the communities, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHSs), and other local health services. Data collection will involve face-to-face and telephone interviews with participants who are health and community professionals and stakeholders. Participants will be recruited through snowball sampling and will answer structured, quantitative questions about the availability and accessibility of primary health care, specialist medical and allied health services and qualitative questions about accessing services. Quantitative data analysis will determine the frequency and accessibility of specific services across each community. Thematic and content analysis will identify issues relating to availability, accessibility, and coordination arising from the qualitative data. We will then combine the quantitative and qualitative data using a health ecosystems approach.ResultsWe identified 28 stakeholder participants across the ACCHSs for recruitment through snowball sampling (coastal, n=4; rural, n=12; and border, n=12) for data collection. The project was funded in 2017, and enrolment was completed in 2017. Data analysis is currently under way, and the first results are expected to be submitted for publication in 2019.ConclusionsThe study will give an indication of the scope and level of coordination of primary, specialist, and allied health services in rural communities with high Aboriginal populations from the perspectives of service providers from those communities. Identification of factors affecting the availability, accessibility, and coordination of services can assist ways of developing and implementing culturally sensitive service delivery. These findings could inform recommendations for the provision of health services for Aboriginal people in rural and remote settings. The study will also contribute to the broader literature of rural and remote health service provision.International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/11471

REVIEW: Intervention in Aboriginal communities examined

‘And there’ll be NO dancing’: Perspectives on policies impacting Indigenous Australia since 2007, edited by Elisabeth Baehr and Barbara Schmidt-Haberkamp. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2017. 354 pp. ISBN 9781443898638
 ‘THE PAST is now with us; it never went away.’
 The 2007 Intervention into the lives of Aboriginal people living in the Northern Territory was a low point in the relationship between the Australian government and Indigenous people. As one of the Aboriginal authors in No Dancing, Warraimay historian Victoria Grieves puts it, the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER), as the Intervention was officially known, ‘leaves no doubt about the relationship of Aboriginal people to the settler colonial state’ (p. 89).

Innervating Colonialism: Exploring the Retraction of Indigenous Rights Through Two Sentencing Provisions

This essay reflects on the contention that the global phenomenon of neoliberalism explains the contemporary retreat from Indigenous rights recognition in Australia in the context of two legislative provisions concerning the use of Aboriginal law in sentencing that was introduced in the mid-2000s by two different governments. Each sentencing provision purported to address claims of judicial tolerance of violence against Aboriginal women and children, specifically judicial misperceptions of Aboriginal law regarding this. But the provisions reflect polarised policies regarding recognition of Aboriginal law: one was introduced by a territory government that explicitly pursued a policy of respectful engagement with indigenous knowledges and the advancement of Indigenous self-determination; the other was introduced by a federal government as part of a larger imposition in that territory of a policy of overt intervention and control into the lives of Aboriginal peoples. The federal provision effectively rendered the territory provision nugatory. What the essay finds is that while neoliberalism facilitated the retraction of Indigenous rights, it does not fully explain that retraction. The retraction is better understood as part of a longer trend of colonialism that has never been disrupted, and that has enlisted to its ends various contemporary discourses. In this case, one can identify feminist logics and advocacy (hoping to support the interests of Indigenous women) are enlisted to serve colonialism's purposes; more nuanced and anti-essentialist feminist positionings may also be twisted to this end. A further finding of this essay is that even the legislative provision that attempted to respect Aboriginal rights and recognise Aboriginal law could not achieve what its drafters intended, because the framework into which it was inserted had not been decolonised. The story of these two provisions offers some support to the contention that Australia has never desisted in colonialism, and that colonialism will draw upon (and twist where necessary) other discourses to facilitate its ends of continually dispossessing and delegitimising first nation peoples here.

Reading the Entangled Life of Goggey, an Aboriginal Man on the Fringes of Early Colonial Sydney

Abstract.When so many lives of Aboriginal people slipped through the cracks of the colonial archives in the early decades of Sydney, the fact that one Dharawal man, Goggey, can be traced in fragments offers exciting opportunities. In the process of reading Goggey’s life from 1802 to 1826 in letters, newspapers, accounts, and journals—enigmatic and often thorny sources that touch on matters of violence and cannibalism—one can see the difficulties and the possibilities of anthropologically infused ethnohistory and socio-biography emerge. During a period of enormous change in the colony, close attention to this Dharawal man’s life also demonstrates the need for caution in applying “models” for cross-cultural relations in colonial contexts. However stimulating “middle ground” or “native ground” ideas may be, cross-cultural interaction in early colonial New South Wales was a negotiated, dynamic affair in which trial and error were as constant as the rapidly evolving, entangled historical context.

Cultural connections and cultural ceilings: exploring the experiences of Aboriginal Australian sport coaches

Sport researchers have begun to appreciate the perspectives and experiences of Aboriginal athletes in various global communities, yet little is known about Aboriginal sport coaches. Considering sport can play a positive social, psychological, and physical role in the lives of Aboriginal people, it is problematic that there is a dearth of academic literature exploring the narratives of Aboriginal coaches. This is one of the first studies to specifically explore Aboriginal Australian peoples’ experiences in sport coaching roles. Using a socio-ecological framework to frame our discussions, we share the insights of 28 Aboriginal Australian sport coaches from a variety of team and individual sports as they describe an array of factors that facilitated and impeded their sport coaching journeys. By shedding light on these narratives this paper performs two main tasks. First, taking a qualitative approach, it gives agency and voice to Aboriginal people, long-neglected in academic sports scholarship. Second, it provides insights for coaches, athletes, academics, policy-makers, and sporting organisations interested in enhancing opportunities and developing pathways for Aboriginal people in sport coaching roles.

Making a Difference: Fifty Years of Indigenous Programs at Monash University, 1964–2014

Making a Difference: Fifty Years of Indigenous Programs at Monash University, 1964–2014

‘Parallel Emergencies’ in Italy and Australia: Marginalised and Racialised Romani and Aboriginal ‘Camp Dwellers’

ABSTRACTThis paper focuses on Romani and Aboriginal peoples who live at the margins of Italian and Australian societies, often in city ‘camps’ that show signs of institutional abandonment, neglect and extreme decay. To address this socio-economic disadvantage and improve the quality of life, the governments of these two countries have implemented what we have defined ‘parallel emergencies’, extraordinary policy measures of intervention, surveillance and control. This paper argues that these policies that aim to improve the everyday lives of Romani and Aboriginal peoples, however, often re-produce a ‘tradition’ of institutionalised racism that can be traced back to the post-Unification period in Italy and the Federation period in Australia. By drawing on the work of Giorgio Agamben, we highlight the approach adopted by Italian and Australian institutions in terms of ‘inclusive exclusion’. On the one hand, the government makes significant investment in schooling and employment projects; on the other, it keeps promoting the use of emergency measures, which leaves slender scope for Romani and Aboriginal voices.

Realist Review of Programs, Policies, and Interventions to Enhance the Social, Emotional, and Spiritual Well-Being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Young People Living in Out-of-Home Care

The child protection system in Australia includes out-of-home care (OoHC) for children and young people at risk of harm and neglect. In Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people are 9 times more likely to be placed in care than non-Aboriginal young people (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2015). Australia’s history of colonization and subsequent policies have caused trauma to individuals, families, and communities and resulted in poor physical and mental health and mistrust of services. This review was undertaken to identify programs and policies currently in place that aim to improve the mental health and well-being of this vulnerable population. It provides an analysis of both the strengths of the current system as well as what has been inadequately addressed based on literature in the area.By incorporating an Aboriginal perspective, this review focuses on social, emotional, and spiritual well-being (SESWB) and the aspects of a child’s life and community that promote this. A realist review of the academic and grey literature was conducted in 2014. It included an extensive search of government and non-government (NGO) publications. The review identified nine programs or policies that are designed to improve the SESWB of Aboriginal young people in OoHC in local and international settings. These are the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle, cultural support plans, Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs), family group decision-making, therapeutic care, and Panyappi Mentoring Program. Given that culturally competent service provision is important to SESWB, the review concludes that an increase in monitoring and evaluation is necessary to determine the effectiveness of programs and ensure their implementation and sustainability when warranted. Policy and research work is needed to adapt and devise programs promoting the SESWB of Aboriginal young people (at both the individual and system levels), determine their effectiveness, and ensure they are sustained when warranted.

The ‘very stillness of things’: object biographies of sailcloth and fishing net from the Point Pearce Aboriginal Mission (Burgiyana) colonial archive, South Australia

ABSTRACTThis article details the discovery of early twentieth-century sailcloth and fishing-net samples pertaining to the lives of Aboriginal peoples on Point Pearce Aboriginal Mission (Burgiyana). Biographies for the samples are explored, from which it is argued that these objects may have many viewpoints assigned to them. The sailcloth and fishing-net samples allow the telling of complex stories from the past and present. These stories include the resilience, adaptability and strength of Narungga culture when exposed to colonial contextual risk. Indeed, these objects reveal the efforts of missions and government agencies to control the lives of Aboriginal peoples (through the lenses of ‘racism’, paternalism and self-interest), as well as agency and the involvement of Aboriginal peoples in capitalist economies. Objects as subjects can also reveal ongoing struggles for traditional and commercial fishing rights – with the aforementioned being informed by the traditional knowledge and lived experiences of Narungga peoples.

Examining differing notions of a ‘real’ education within Aboriginal communities

On a recent visit to an on-reserve school in western Canada several students and teachers told the lead author of this paper, who is Aboriginal, that it was ‘not a real school’. Noting that this is not the first time both authors have heard this sentiment expressed by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginals alike, they unpack this conversational fragment to show how it is implicated in some of the most difficult challenges educators and policy makers face in enhancing the lives of Aboriginal peoples and communities in contemporary times. Guided by a hermeneutic sensibility and Indigenous conceptions of time, the authors present three interpretive possibilities of what it might mean for an on-reserve school to be deemed less than real. As part of this process they trace the historically rooted assumptions and conditions that inform these differing perspectives. The authors then draw on the insights of several indigenous scholars to ‘reread’ key themes that emerged from this analysis with the hope that it might offer more productive and relational possibilities for thinking about and discussing educational futures for Aboriginal communities and peoples.

Developing a Sustainable Model of Oral Health Care for Disadvantaged Aboriginal People Living in Rural and Remote Communities in NSW, Using Collective Impact Methodology

A sustainable model of oral health care for disadvantaged Aboriginal people living in rural and remote communities in New South Wales was developed using collective impact methodology. Collective impact is a structured process which draws together organizations to develop a shared agenda and design solutions which are jointly resourced, measured and reported upon.

Families in Transition: The Impact of Family Relationships and Work on Mobility Patterns of Aboriginal People Living in Urban Centres across Canada

The present analysis makes use of data taken from the public use micro data file (PUMF) from the 2012 Aboriginal Peoples Survey (APS) to examine the effects of various socioeconomic factors such as age, sex, education level, family composition (expressed by the number of children in the household), and total personal income on the mobility patterns of Aboriginal people living off-reserve across Canada. Two separate path analyses were conducted to evaluate critically the decomposition effects that these variables have on mobility. The results of the path analysis show that age is inversely related to mobility, meaning younger people move more frequently. However, contrary to other studies, this research analysis shows that age becomes less significant when we consider that people with higher levels of education are indeed more mobile than others, although the strength of this effect is actually mediated through personal income and family composition.

The Adoption of Frances T: Blood, Belonging, and Aboriginal Transracial Adoption in Twentieth-Century Canada

This article offers a case study of a transracial adoption involving a mixed-heritage child and a legally Indian adoptive couple. The legal adoption of “Frances T” in 1937, considered to be “in the best interests of the child” by social welfare professionals, took on gendered and racialized meaning in the discourse of the Indian Affairs bureaucrats who subsequently attempted to overturn it. The article uses the case to examine Canadian settler-colonial beliefs about blood and belonging. It also explores the complications that emerged as legally defined Indian people came into contact with provincial child welfare legislation. With the goal of eliminating Indigenous legal and kinship forms, the Indian Act colonized adoption so it could be used as a method of assimilation rather than as a traditional form of Indigenous alliance creation and childcare. The case highlights the themes of Indigenous kinship and sovereignty, legislated Indian identity, and the growing involvement of social workers in the lives of Aboriginal people in the mid- to late-twentieth century.

PL02.1 Falling between the gaps: an overview of issues for aboriginal and torres strait islander women who want to be sexually healthy

<h3></h3> The family life of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is predominantly structured around complex kinship systems, which locate each person within a clan structure, with clear lines of rights and obligations to others within the family, the clan &nbsp;and ultimately the linguistic group. Children are highly valued by their families and clans. Until the recent past the education and socialisation of young children took place within the rhythms of family life with an emphasis on observation, imitation and interaction with extended family and their country. These ideals of family life have been radically disrupted for some families, particularly those that have suffered separation of children from their families, the destruction of extended family networks and the decades’ worth of living in oppressive circumstances, evidenced by poor health, early deaths, poor housing, poor educational outcomes, high unemployment and high numbers of Aboriginal people in custody. Despite these hardships, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander family remains the primary and preferred site for developing and protecting culture and identity. In this context, sexual and reproductive health should be highly valued by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and health service settings that set priorities, specify outcomes, design appropriate services, allocate resources and evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the services delivered. In the absence of a coordinated national sexual health or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s health strategy; the most vulnerable and marginalised community in Australian society is falling through the gaps in sexual and reproductive health, rather than closing the gap. This presentation will present issues for First Nations women in Australia and reflect on what we need to do to improve sexual health and wellbeing.

Economic rationalisation of health behaviours: The dangers of attempting policy discussions in a vacuum

When analysing the health behaviours of any group of people, understanding the constraints and possibilities for individual agency as shaped by the broader societal context is critical. In recent decades, our understanding of the ways in which physical and social environments influence health and health behaviours has expanded greatly. The authors of a recent analysis of Australian Aboriginal health data using an economic ‘rational choice model,’ published in this journal, claim to make a useful contribution to policy discussions relating to Aboriginal health, but neglect context. By doing so, they neglect the very factors that determine the success or failure of policy change. Notwithstanding the technical sophistication of the analyses, by ignoring most relevant determinants of health, the conclusions misrepresent the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and therefore risk perpetuating harm, rather than improving health.

More Important than Guns or Grog: The Role of Television for the Health and Wellbeing of Australian Aboriginal Prisoners

This article examines the provision of television in the South Australian prison system and its importance to the identity, health, wellbeing and ontological security of Aboriginal prisoners. Existing research has explored the use of broadcast and print media by prisoners in the United Kingdom, United States and Europe and has established that television has an impact on incarcerated audiences far beyond its role as an ‘electronic babysitter’ or a means of filling time. It is also recognised that television plays a significant role in the lives of Aboriginal people (Michaels 1986). However, little is known about television in relation to incarcerated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. This article draws on data concerning in-cell television (‘TV’) among Aboriginal men in prison,1 which found that, when asked to identify the most important factors in the prison environment, 87 per cent of participants identified access to in-cell television as the single most important factor contributing to their congruency with prison accommodation. The article further indicates that access to in-cell television has the potential to reduce incidents of suicide and self-harm and should be adopted as a ‘best-practice’ principle for Aboriginal prisoners in Australian correctional environments.

Chronic condition management and self-management in Aboriginal communities in South Australia: outcomes of a longitudinal study

This paper describes the longitudinal component of a larger mixed methods study into the processes and outcomes of chronic condition management and self-management strategies implemented in three Aboriginal communities in South Australia. The study was designed to document the connection between the application of structured systems of care for Aboriginal people and their longer-term health status. The study concentrated on three diverse Aboriginal communities in South Australia; the Port Lincoln Aboriginal Health Service, the Riverland community, and Nunkuwarrin Yunti Aboriginal Health Service in the Adelaide metropolitan area. Repeated-measure clinical data were collected for individual participants using a range of clinical indicators for diabetes (type 1 and 2) and related chronic conditions. Clinical data were analysed using random effects modelling techniques with changes in key clinical indicators being modelled at both the individual and group levels. Where care planning has been in place longer than in other sites overall improvements were noted in BMI, cholesterol (high density and low density lipids) and HbA1c. These results indicate that for Aboriginal patients with complex chronic conditions, participation in and adherence to structured care planning and self-management strategies can contribute to improved overall health status and health outcomes. The outcomes reported here represent an initial and important step in quantifying the health benefits that can accrue for Aboriginal people living with complex chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and respiratory disease. The study highlights the benefits of developing long-term working relationships with Aboriginal communities as a basis for conducting effective collaborative health research programs. WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE TOPIC? Chronic condition management and self-management programs have been available to Aboriginal people in a range of forms for some time. We know that some groups of patients are keen to engage with care planning and self-management protocols and we have anecdotal evidence of this engagement leading to improved quality of life and health outcomes for Aboriginal people. WHAT DOES THIS PAPER ADD? This paper provides early evidence of sustained improvement over time for a cohort of Aboriginal people who are learning to deal with a range of chronic illnesses through accessing structured systems of support and care. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTITIONERS? This longitudinal evidence of improved outcomes for Aboriginal people is encouraging and should lead on to more definitive studies of outcomes accruing for people engaged in structured systems of care. Not only does this finding have implications for the overall management of chronic illness in Aboriginal communities, but it points the way to how health services might best invest their resources and efforts to improve the health status of people with chronic conditions and, in the process, close the gap between the life expectancy of Aboriginal people and that of other community groups in Australia.

Held by the teeth: biting bags from Milingimbi

Museum collections and archives from Arnhem Land hold many objects that are linked to individuals and communities either through their making or their collection. Unlike some other material culture items, works made from fibre have received little critical attention from researchers. This article seeks to advance an understanding of biting bags, small looped string bags, made by Aboriginal people from an island in Arnhem Land, Milingimbi. Milingimbi is the home of Aboriginal people whom, for centuries, have hosted visitors and researchers. Many of these visitors have made collections of material culture and taken photographs. These collections now form the core research material for discovering the lives of Aboriginal people and their objects. An examination of the objects and an interrogation of documentation will recount events about people, things and their social and cultural customs.

What Now? Future Federal Responsibilities Towards Aboriginal People Living in Cities

For decades, successive federal governments insisted that the federal fiduciary responsibility to Registered Indians ended at reserve boundaries, while not recognizing any responsibilities for Non-Status Indians, Metis, and Inuit. The recent growth of urban Aboriginal populations has changed this situation dramatically. Many federal programs for urban Aboriginal people are not delivered in a status-blind fashion, while other services are still entangled in or complicated by the provisions of the Indian Act. This paper explores the policy history underlying the current situation while identifying four issues for further discussion: (1) political self-determination in the cities; (2) problems arising from the cities' junior position in the Canadian federation; (3) the challenge of dealing with the diversity of circumstances and preferences of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal urban dwellers; and (4) the legacy of differential programs based upon differentiations among sections of the Aboriginal population that no longer have constitutional salience. Long-term solutions, such as replacing the Indian Act, creating a cities charter and creating addenda to treaties or section 35 are discussed.