non-Aboriginal Australians Research Articles

The weight of expectation: Cathy Freeman, Legacy, Reconciliation and the Sydney Olympics – A Canadian Perspective

This paper compares French- and English-language Canadian television coverage of Australian Aboriginal athlete Cathy Freeman during the 2000 Olympics using a narrative framework. The specific focus of the analysis is the representation of Freeman's political identity as an agent and symbol of Aboriginal reconciliation – the struggle for apology, reparatio, and social justice in the light of the history and legacy of colonial oppression and exclusion. Freeman has used her sporting success to signify visibly and with some controversy her identification with political Aboriginality and reconciliation, and she went into the 2000 games bearing an unusual weight of expectation, intensified by being chosen to light the Olympic cauldron, that a victory in the 400 metres would mark symbolically reconciliation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. The analysis generally conforms the hypothesis that the normative dimension of these expectations would be accentuated more in the French- than English-language coverage, and this resulted in a more consistently affirmative portrayal of Freeman and her performance. The English-language coverage emphasized the ambivalent nature of her role. The corollary of this was that the English-language coverage paid greater attention to the substance of Aboriginal grievances and struggle. Nonetheless, neither network saw Freeman's identity in openly critical terms: in Freeman's Olympic narrative sport and politics were allowed to mix in a relatively unproblematic way.

Developmental and environmental factors supporting the health and well-being of Aboriginal adolescents.

Little progress has been made in the past 30 years in closing the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians in terms of their educational outcomes, rates of incarceration, risks for chronic illnesses and reduced life-expectancy. The Western Australian Aboriginal Child Health Survey is the first population based survey of its kind developed specifically to inform policy and planning to improve the developmental health of Aboriginal children and youth. A random representative sample of 5,289 Aboriginal children aged 0-17 years, including 1,480 adolescents aged 12-17 years was surveyed through household based interviews with carers and adolescents, questionnaire data from schools and consensual record linkage to health service and education system data. The findings describe the prevalence and relative impact of developmental and environmental factors associated with the health and mental outcomes of Aboriginal adolescents. The major portion of the overall burden of disorder is now evident in the more urbanised living settings of Aboriginal families. Some health risk behaviours such as poor dietary intake, smoking, unprotected sex and insufficient physical exercise are more common in Aboriginal adolescents. However, others such as alcohol and marijuana use and suicidal behaviour occur at similar levels to those seen in non-Aboriginal youth.

The Invention of Tradition

This article demonstrates that narratives of discovery and exploration of the colonial and postcolonial South by imperial Northern nations to be partial and limited constructions of spatio-temporal patterns of legal relations governing living in the South. The central focus of this paper is the legal and social relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians, and the importance of situating these understandings alongside more common threads that pertain to the South. However, in order to bring such a perspective into play, it is necessary to unsettle a pre-eminent cultural 'tradition' - a tradition embodied in the symbolism of the map.

Anger and Guilt About Ingroup Advantage Explain the Willingness for Political Action

Three studies examined non-Aboriginal Australians' guilt and anger about their ingroup's advantage over structurally disadvantaged Aborigines. Study 1 showed that participants who perceived their ingroup as relatively advantaged perceived this inequality as unfair and felt guilt and anger about it. Anger, and to a lesser degree guilt, predicted the willingness to engage in political action regarding ingroup advantage. Study 2 showed both guilt and anger to be relatively self-focused because both were associated with appraising the ingroup's (rather than the government's) discrimination as responsible for ingroup advantage. Study 3 examined on participants especially willing to engage in political action to bring about systemic compensation to Aborigines. Anger about ingroup advantage was a potent predictor. Although guilt was associated with the abstract goal of systemic compensation, guilt did not explain willingness for political action. Results underline the importance of examining specific group-based emotions in intergroup relations.

The Enigma of Hypertensive ESRD: Observations on Incidence and Trends in 18 European, Canadian, and Asian-Pacific Populations, 1998 to 2002

Despite improved treatment of hypertension and decreasing rates of stroke and coronary heart disease, the reported incidence of hypertensive end-stage renal disease (ESRD) increased during the 1990s. However, bias, particularly from variations in acceptance into ESRD treatment (ascertainment) and diagnosis (classification), has been a major source of error when comparing ESRD incidences or estimating trends. Age-standardized rates were calculated in persons aged 30 to 44, 45 to 64, and 65 to 74 years for 15 countries or regions (separately for the Europid and non-Europid populations of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand), and temporal trends were estimated by means of Poisson regression. For 10 countries or regions, population-based estimates of mean systolic blood pressures and prevalences of hypertension were extracted from published sources. Hypertensive ESRD, comprising ESRD attributed to essential hypertension or renal artery occlusion, was least common in Finland, non-Aboriginal Australians, and non-Polynesian New Zealanders; intermediate in most European and Canadian populations; and most common in Aboriginal Australians and New Zealand Maori and Pacific Island people. Rates correlated with the incidence of all other nondiabetic ESRD, but not with diabetic ESRD or community rates of hypertension. Between 1998 and 2002, hypertensive ESRD did not increase in Northwestern Europe or non-Aboriginal Canadians, although it did so in Australia. Despite the likelihood of classification bias, the probability remains of significant variation in incidence of hypertensive ESRD within the group of Europid populations. These between-population differences are not explained by community rates of hypertension or ascertainment bias.

Reduced nephron number and glomerulomegaly in Australian Aborigines: A group at high risk for renal disease and hypertension

Aborigines in remote areas of Australia have much higher rates of renal disease, as well as hypertension and cardiovascular disease, than non-Aboriginal Australians. We compared kidney findings in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in one remote region. Glomerular number and mean glomerular volume were estimated with the disector/fractionator combination in the right kidney of 19 Aborigines and 24 non-Aboriginal people undergoing forensic autopsy for sudden or unexpected death in the Top End of the Northern Territory. Aborigines had 30% fewer glomeruli than non-Aborigines--202,000 fewer glomeruli per kidney, or an estimated 404,000 fewer per person (P=0.036). Their mean glomerular volume was 27% larger (P=0.016). Glomerular number was significantly correlated with adult height, inferring a relationship with birthweight, which, on average, is much lower in Aboriginal than non-Aboriginal people. Aboriginal people with a history of hypertension had 30% fewer glomeruli than those without--250,000 fewer per kidney (P=0.03), or 500,000 fewer per person, and their mean glomerular volume was about 25% larger. The lower nephron number in Aboriginal people is compatible with their susceptibility to renal failure. The additional nephron deficit associated with hypertension is compatible with other reports. Lower nephron numbers are probably due in part to reduced nephron endowment, which is related to a suboptimal intrauterine environment. Compensatory glomerular hypertrophy in people with fewer nephrons, while minimizing loss of total filtering surface area, might be exacerbating nephron loss. Optimization of fetal growth should ultimately reduce the florid epidemic of renal disease, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.

When the imaginary Australian is not uncanny: Nation, psyche and belonging in recent Australian cultural criticism and history

Postcolonialism does not exists outside the shadow of colonialism and even as Australia remains under the shadow of colonialism, it is postcolonial because it does things that could not have been done if Australia were still just colonial. Postcolonialism in Australia means more Aboriginal presence, but for non-Aboriginal Australians, less Aboriginal contact and so the emphasis on one to one relationships is important, especially in a postcolonial context that conceptualises and officialises contact primarily in pedagogical terms.

'& So We are "Slave owners"!': Employers and the NSW Aborigines Protection Board Trust Funds

The issue of the 'Stolen Wages' - earnings withheld from Aboriginal workers throughout the twentieth century - has made prominent headlines in the last few years. The questions surrounding these disappearing monies will undoubtedly continue to be vexed, given the history of state control over Aboriginal labour, and the concomitant practice of governments withholding the wages of Aboriginal workers in trust funds. The following discussion of the trust fund system as it operated in New South Wales under the Aborigines Protection Board's regime (1883-1940), is intended to illuminate the context and the complexities of the issue and its significance for racial interrelations then, and indeed now. By interrogating the role of white employers in particular, this article makes a contribution to a deeper comprehension of the white experience and involvement in this history of wage withholding, an understanding critical in achieving the support of non-Aboriginal Australians in the Aboriginal workers' cause today.

Outcomes of Cardiac Surgery in Aboriginal Australians: What are the Problems and What?s to be Done?

Cardiac disease is an unremitting catastrophe for Aboriginal Australians, both in terms of excess morbidity and premature mortality. 1. Walsh W.F Cardiovascular health in Indigenous Australians: a call for action. Med. J. Aust. 2001; 175: 351-352 PubMed Google Scholar The enormous burden of ischaemic heart disease is actually increasing and rates of rheumatic heart disease remain among the highest reported anywhere. 2. Carapetis J.R Currie B.J Preventing rheumatic heart disease in Australia. Med. J. Aust. 1998; 168: 428-429 PubMed Google Scholar This is in stark contrast to trends in non-Aboriginal Australians and minority Indigenous peoples of Canada, the US and New Zealand where morbidity and mortality differentials between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations are converging. 3. Paradies Y Cunningham J Placing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mortality in an international context. Aust. NZ J. Public Health. 2002; 26: 11-16 Crossref PubMed Scopus (44) Google Scholar , 4. Ring I Brown N The health status of indigenous peoples and others. Br. Med. J. 2003; 327: 404-405 Crossref PubMed Scopus (97) Google Scholar Aboriginal Australians have poor outcomes at every point along the way, ranging from failure of basic preventative measures and primary care at the community level through to cardiac surgery and post-surgery rehabilitation.

Coronary heart disease in Aboriginal communities: Towards a model for self-management

ABSTRACTCoronary heart disease (CHD) is one of the main causes of death and disability in the Aboriginal population, and is the major cause of the twenty-year gap in life expectancy of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. This paper explores Aboriginal health in relation to CHD, and suggests self-management as a culturally acceptable therapeutic and sustainable ideology from which positive outcomes may be achieved.

KARRA:KARRAWIRRAPARRI-RIVER RED GUM-EUCALYPTUS CAMALDULENSIS

tor) was twofold. First, I hoped that an examination of the River Red Gum from a number of points of view might help people connect with the tree itself, and more broadly with this place non-Aboriginal Australians so uneasily inhabit. Second, given the tree's central place in Australia's inland waterways, I wanted the art to help people consider the urgent problems facing this ecosystem, such as increased salinity, diminished water flow and environmental degradation. This subject had particular relevance for South Australians, as our state is so dependent on the Murray-Darling River system. For example, in February 1999 the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation published a media release on Salt: Australia's Greatest Battle, declaring that we stand to lose a large

Albuminuria in a remote South Australian Aboriginal community: results of a community-based screening program for renal disease

The poverty, poor environmental living conditions and poor health standards experienced by Aboriginal Australians in some communities in rural and remote Australia have been described recently as 'fourth world'. For more than a century Aboriginal people have suffered the effects of dispossession of their land; destruction of their traditional culture and values; and exposure to infectious diseases, alcohol and the Western diet that is high in fat and sugar. Collectively these factors have contributed to the prevalence of chronic disease that afflicts Aboriginal people. In particular, renal disease has emerged during the last decade as a major contemporary health problem for Aboriginal Australians. According to the latest age- and sex-adjusted figures, Aboriginal people now have approximately nine-fold the risk of non-Aboriginal Australians of developing end-stage renal disease. In parts of Australia's Northern Territory, where Aboriginal people represent over 20% of the Territory's population, the rates of end-stage renal disease have been described as 'epidemic', reaching 2700 per million in the Tiwi Islands. In response to a request from the Umoona Tjutagku Health Service in mid 1997, the Renal Unit at Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, South Australia, formed a partnership with the health service to conduct a renal-disease screening program for adult members of the Umoona Community at Coober Pedy, a town 850 kilometres north of Adelaide. The partnership was later expanded to include screening for children (conducted by the Renal Unit at the Women's and Children's Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia). The community named the program 'The Umoona Kidney Project'. The Umoona community had recently experienced the dislocation of a number of its older people who suffered from advanced renal disease and were undergoing dialysis in a variety of centres in South Australia and the Northern Territory. As a result, the community had suffered social trauma. Consistent with the community's overall holistic approach to healthcare, the community wanted the renal program to provide a focus for community awareness of and knowledge about chronic disease, as well as to complement existing health programs. The study objectives were to identify the prevalence of risk factors for renal disease, notably albuminuria, in adults from a remote Aboriginal community, and to examine the association of albuminuria with other risk factors; to empower Aboriginal health workers to self-manage a sustainable, community-controlled renal health program; and to assess the reliability and cultural acceptability of point-of-care technology for detecting renal disease. The study was a three-year cross-sectional voluntary adult screening program (The Umoona Kidney Project). The study was performed as a partnership between the Flinders Medical Centre Renal Unit and the Umoona Tjutagku Health Service, and it involved nephrologists, medical scientists, Aboriginal health workers and clinical nurses. Umoona Tjutagku Health Service, 850 km north of Adelaide. 158 adult members of the Umoona community: 58 males (37%; mean age = 43.8 years, range 23-78) and 100 females (63%; mean age = 39.6 years, range 18-72). First morning urine albumin : creatinine ratio measured by the Bayer DCA 2000 point-of-care analyser machine (Bayer Australia, Melbourne, Australia); lying and standing blood pressure; random blood glucose; body mass index; urinalysis. The study found that of screened adults, 29/149 (19%, 95% C.I. 13%-27%) had persistent microalbuminuria and 13/149 (9%, 95% C.I. 4%-14%) had persistent macroalbuminuria; 62/148 participants (42%, 95% C.I. 34%-50%) had overt hypertension; 35/145 participants (24%, 95% C.I. 17%-32%) had diabetes; 3 participants were newly diagnosed as having non-insulin dependent diabetes; 96/148 participants (65%, 95% C.I. 57%-73%) were either overweight or obese. Strong correlation was observed between the progression of albuminuria and age, all blood pressure categories, blood glucose, body mass index and an increasing number of risk factors. The Umoona Kidney Project identified a significant community burden of previously unknown incipient and established renal disease that required addressing via clinical- and community-based interventions. The DCA 2000 was a reliable instrument for detecting albuminuria on-site in the remote clinical location and was well accepted by Aboriginal health workers and community participants.

Belonging: Australians, Place And Aboriginal Ownership

Belonging: Australians, Place And Aboriginal Ownership Peter Read Cambridge University Press, 2000, ISBN O 521 77409 8, Reviewed by Sue J Stanton An interesting book which explores the feelings of non-Aboriginal Australians as they search for real sense of belonging in a stolen land. The opening chapter 'Deep in the Sandstone Gorges' introduces the reader to the author's own feelings of attachment and belonging to the sandstone country and surrounds of the north Sydney district. He is careful for the reader to note the different and many ceremonies of significance, which anchor him and different generations of family and acquaintances to these places. He tells us he belongs there - he makes a strong statement, almost a challenge, in regard to his right to belong. Read has ably represented Aborigines in some past writings, and makes some effort with his inclusion of the Aboriginal voice in this work so as to give the book some balance. The first section of the chapter 'Men's Business' gives possibly the best example, and the largest portion of Aboriginal sense of belonging, albeit, experienced by a non-Aboriginal person. 'Singing the Native-Born', in adhering to the overall theme of the book, has as the overriding topic in many places, and in various genres, the constant need for non-Aborigines especially, to justify their belonging. The native-born appear to take great comfort from their notions of attachment to the land through hard work that Aborigines do not seem to be involved in, or never have been involved in, in any capacity. The white man on the land, who works through fire and flood because it's in his heart and in his blood, tells us he has more right to belong. The native-born seeks the support of a cross-section of non-Aboriginal Australians, through prose, song, and general attitude, to reinforce belonging. The native-born feel if they write enough, sing enough, and make constant expression about belonging, in whatever form, it will eventually legitimate belonging for them, and will erase the truth. Read's research in regard to others' sense of belonging is limited with its carefully selected group of non-Aborigines relating personal experiences and explorations of feelings, and their individual sense of belonging. The added voices of the newly arrived Australians helps legitimate the belonging. These Australians are fortunate in that they are able to distance themselves somewhat from Australian colonial practices and attitudes, past and present. They do not stand accused and feel they owe no apology for they are displaced themselves, and seek to belong to this place too. They, along with the native-born, bring with them multifarious traditions, languages, politics, and gods, which they wish to transpose onto this land and its indigenous people. Sadly, these newcomers feel they must participate in the never-ending self-justificatory discourse of the coloniser, and they too, confuse a sense of belonging with right of possession. Read takes comfort from their support. It seems these Australians have a sense that their identities as native-born or newly-arrived are somehow shallow in comparison with not only the long-time resident Aborigines, but also with their own ancestors. They worry, and fear, that unless Aborigines acknowledge the importance of their difference, their contributions to all aspects of social life, their feelings. …

Sorry Business

Sorry Business

Anthropologists and Aboriginal Reconciliation: The Efficacy of Symbolic Reconciliatory Gestures

The context of this article is the quest for justice and reparations for Australia's indigenous citizens. In 1991 the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation was established through a unanimous vote in both houses of the Australian federal parliament. Comprised of twenty-five members (twelve of whom are Aboriginal and two Torres Strait Islanders) the Council identified eight key goals for a process centered on fostering the recognition of indigenous cultures by non-Aboriginal Australians, and on promoting fair and proper standards for indigenous Australians in health, housing, employment and education, and other fields.

Reconciliation happens every Day: Conversations about working alliances between black and white Australia

A series of conversations between the authors is presented in order to explore the nature of a working alliance between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. The authors aim to contribute to the ongoing dialogue between Aboriginal and psychological communities by demonstrating and exploring one working alliance. The resulting paper is grounded firmly in practice. The authors focus on everyday interaction to demonstrate that despite the enormous gap between black and white Australia at political, economic, and broad cultural levels there are many positive working relationships between individuals and between organisations. Some of the values that underpin a successful working relationship are found to be fairness and justice, equality, honesty, trust, tolerance, perseverance, and a sense of humour.

Attitudes toward Aboriginal Australians in city and country settings

The reasons behind the attitudes of non-Aboriginal Australians toward Aboriginal Australians have not been examined empirically. Neither has the relationship between such attitudes and false beliefs about Aboriginal people and entitlements, and “political correctness”. Two random surveys were conducted in 1997 in a city location (Perth, Western Australia) and a country mining town (Kalgoorlie, Western Australia). Three major findings emerged. First, modern prejudice (a subtle form of prejudice with a veneer of egalitarianism) was more prevalent than old-fashioned prejudice (a blunt, segregationist form of prejudice) in both locations, although Kalgoorlie residents scored significantly higher than Perth residents on modern prejudice. Second, political correctness was predicted by prejudice, which related (directly or not) with age, education, political orientation, and false beliefs. Third, attitudes toward Aboriginal people served both a value-expressive function (to do with values and beliefs) and an experiential-schematic function (to do with personal experience). However, the latter function was more prevalent in Kalgoorlie compared to Perth. Overall, the results support previous findings regarding the declining prevalence of old-fashioned prejudice, but indicate that prejudice is still commonplace. Additionally, the findings — especially those concerning false beliefs — suggest that the public should be given more information about Aboriginal history and issues, and that other strategies be put into place to address the problem of prejudice within Australian society.

Focus on psychiatry in Australia

Humankind has been present on the Australian continent for at least 40 000, some say 60 000 years, remarkably adapted to the environment and having a cultural tradition appreciated by few Caucasians. White people have been here for only 200 years; and psychiatry for about half of that. We know nothing about the mental health of pre-contact indigenous peoples; but we now know a little about the ways in which mental disorders are explained and treated by traditional methods. In two centuries, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islands communities, which are very diverse, have been steadily reduced to become only 1.5% of the population. From settlement in 1788 until the 1950s, most non-aboriginal Australians were of Anglo-Saxon or Celtic origin. Since the Second World War, the pattern of immigration has greatly enriched Australian life, first through large numbers of people from the Mediterranean littoral, Western Europe and the Balkans, and more recently from south-east Asia. Ethnic diversity is now evident in most peoples' daily lives – whom you see in the street, whom you work alongside, who your friends are, what you eat and who you have as patients. So the present Australian population of 18 million has undergone a marked change in demography and lifestyle within only two generations. Like the people, psychiatry is also changing rapidly. Where are the changes taking place? What is it like to be a psychiatrist here at present? Where has there been success and where has there been failure? Where is there lots of action?

Resource allocation within Australian indigenous communities: a program for implementing vertical equity.

Given the significant disparities in health and health related disadvantage between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians, the application of some notion of equity has a role to play in the formulation of policy with respect to Aboriginal health. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander has been abbreviated to Aboriginal. There has been considerable debate in Australia as to what the principles of equity should be. This paper discusses the relevance of the principle of vertical equity (the unequal, but equitable, treatment of unequals) to Aboriginal health funding. In particular, the paper advocates pursuing procedural justice as the basis for vertical equity where the focus is on the fairness of how things are done rather than on the distribution of outcomes per se (i.e. distributive justice). Particular attention is paid to how the principle of vertical equity might be handled at a practical level. Details of the approach used in a number of Australian indigenous communities are discussed. It is concluded that there are strong arguments for pursuing procedural justice under vertical equity particularly when there are cultural differences in the way health is defined and when there is importance attached to indigenous involvement in the health care decision making process.

Poverty and mental health in Aboriginal Australia

When the Australian Governor General, Sir William Deane, referred in a speech in 1996 to the “appalling problems relating to Aboriginal health” he was not exaggerating. The Australia Bureau of Statistics report on The Health and Welfare of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (McLennan & Madden, 1997) outlines the following statistics. The life expectancy for Aboriginal Australians is 15 to 20 years lower than for non-Aboriginal Australians, and is lower than for most countries of the world with the exception of central Africa and India. Aboriginal babies are two to three times more likely to be of lower birth weight and two to four times more likely to die at birth than non-Aboriginal babies. Hospitalisation rates are two to three times higher for Aboriginal than non-Aboriginal Australians. Death rates from infectious diseases are 15 times higher among Aboriginal Australians than non-Aboriginal Australians. Rates for heart disease, diabetes, injury and respiratory diseases are also all higher among Aboriginals – and so the list goes on. It is fair to say that Aboriginal people have higher rates for almost every type of illness for which statistics are currently recorded.