The Bringing Them Home Report was a significant event for the civil rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Discuss. The Bringing Them Home Report had a significant impact on the civil rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Before the report was written Aboriginals people had to struggle for their rights and did not have the same rights as non-indigenous Australians. The Bringing Them Home Report predominantly refers to the ‘stolen generation’, this is when people from families were removed and placed in institutions, churches and missions, moreover, they were also trained to become domestic servants, however, things started to amend when the report was published. ‘The Bringing Them Home Report’ was essentially a national inquiry that investigated the forced removal of Indigenous children from their families and this …show more content…
There are a lot of challenges that Indigenous Australians still face, but one that keeps being mentioned in society is the poor lifestyles of Indigenous Australians. Life-expectancy is a major problem in Aboriginal society, compared to non-Indigenous Australians there is a difference of 10 years. Not only that, Indigenous and Torres Strait Islanders have the worst life-expectancy in the whole world. To the current day, Aboriginal people have poor health and nutrition, low education levels and poverty. This shows that even though civil rights for Indigenous people and Torres Strait Islanders is improving there are still some aspects of their lifestyle that can enhance. These things that easily be improved simply by the government helping, just by investing more in healthcare, shelter and wellbeing the life-expectancy rates of Aboriginal people can increase. Overall, even though the Indigenous civil rights in Australia is improving, several challenges still
Finally, As Ring and Elston (1999: 231) argued, “the current situation [in funding for Indigenous health], where the Commonwealth is spending perhaps a fifth of what it should be spending on a needs basis, is a major impediment to effective reconciliation”. Altman and Hunter (2003) also questioned the effectiveness of the Howard Government’s emphasis on ‘practical’ reconciliation. They concluded that, “while practical reconciliation forms the rhetorical basis for Indigenous policy development since 1996, there is no evidence that the Howard governments have delivered better outcomes for Indigenous Australians than their predecessors” (Altman and Hunter 2003: v; see also Hunter and Schwab 2003: 94-96; Ross 2001: 155; Wyatt 2001: 181-182; Gunstone 2007). Therefore as the above evidence suggests, eleven years after the announcement of this “practical reconciliation” policy, Indigenous socio economic disadvantage
The legacy of the role of social work and welfare services within the implementation of government policies in the past can still compromise relationships within communities, social workers are responsible for ensuring our practice is culturally responsive, safe and sensitive to stop this perpetuation of distrust in support services. As social workers it is important to commit to reconciliation, to addressing divisions and inequities between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and other Australian’s and improving these relationships. The strength and resilience of these communities are impacted by multiple problems including historical and ongoing dispossession, marginalisation and racism, along with past policies of forced removal and cultural assimilation all negatively contributing to many of the social issues we find affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today (Australian Association of Social Workers, 2017). As social workers it is a large role of ours to familiarise and understand the organisations, services and agencies who are planning and/or delivering Indigenous-specific services and to work alongside these groups,
The Stolen Generations and the National Sorry Day speech hold immense historical significance for the First Nations peoples of Australia. These events shed light on the profound injustices committed against Indigenous Australians. However, the acknowledgement of these injustices has not achieved significant civil and land rights advancements for indigenous people. Firstly during the late 1800s until the 1970s, Australian government policies resulted in the forced removal of Indigenous children from their families.
Even to this day it can be seen that Aboriginal people have blood relations to each other even though being on different sides of the country. The frontier wars ultimately equivalated to thousands of aboriginal peoples being ruthless murdered as they were heavily not only out manned but out powered through the use of modern weaponry. (Indigenoushpf, 2023) states that merely 63% of indigenous Australians a few years out of school completed grade 12 compared to 90% of Non-Indigenous that completed grade 12. Another troubling statistics is that (Creative spirits, 2023) Aboriginal people are attributed to a massive gap in life expectancy compared to Non-indigenous Australians, 7.8 years. Possibly the most worrying statistic of all, whether it can be attributed to poor culture, under education or low economic regions;
Residential Schools: The Aboriginal Cultural Genocide Culminating Research Essay Grade 10 History Annika Nerling 07/23/2015 Canada is known for being one of the most multicultural and diversely supportive countries in the world; but many Aboriginal people would argue that Canada was not always as “caring and free” as it is today. From 1870 until 1996, Canada’s government supported the use of residential schools throughout the country (MacDonald, 426). Residential schools were boarding schools that Aboriginal children were forced to go to by the Canadian government, so that they would assimilate the Aboriginal children into the same religion and culture as the European settlers in Canada. During their time in residential schools,
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been subjected to a range of government policies and practices, since colonisation of Australia which began in the late 1700s. In 1997, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission (HREOC) had submitted the Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families (the ‘Bringing them Home’, report) to the Australian Federal Government. The ‘Bringing them Home’ report made 54 recommendations about Australian policies and practices towards equal treatment of Australian Indigenous peoples. One such recommendation, (9b.), requested “That all under-graduates and trainees in relevant professions receive, as part of their core curriculum,
According to Ben Westcott, “on basic standards of living -- from health, to education, to employment -- Australia's Indigenous population is being left far behind” (“How Australia is Failing Its Indigenous Population”). The Indigenous population in Australia is suffering from structural violence due to a lack of basic essential needs and resources from their government. Health is one of the components which differentiate the Indigenous population compared to the general population. According to the statistics present in the article, the Indigenous population have a lower life expectancy by 10 years as well as higher infant and maternal mortality rates. Illness and deficient amount of resources are what cause these statistics and not enough efforts are being made to help their standards be met.
Topic: What impact did residential schools have on Aboriginal Canadians? Answer: Negative impact on Aboriginal Canadians What Happened: Aboriginals were stripped of their culture and land Separated from family Were put under terrible circumstances in residential schools (health was put at risk) Residential Schools Who: Christian missionaries and Canadian government What: Residential Schools were church run schools funded by the government.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have close relationships with their communities and families. Having this strong support system is important for their wellbeing and sense of belonging. Aboriginal family members have duties within their families reflective of the cultural responsibilities and values. They have family and community duties not common in other cultures. Aboriginal children are seen as the responsibility of the whole extended family not just of the Mum and Dad.
Their life in those missions had affected them greatly that members of the Stolen Generation had turned towards alcohol and drug abuse. Many Aboriginal women had offsprings and they were most likely taken away to be put in the systems since of their mother’s inability to take care of them properly due to the fact that they did not witness any type of parental caring behaviour during most of their early life (Read 2006, p.25). A quote from an anonymous (??) mentioned in the Bringing Them Home: Report, explains how much damage was made to the many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’s sense of identity and
With the acknowledgement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the Commonwealth constitution, Australia may not be perceived as a country racist towards the indigenous in regard to the constitution, and indigenous families and may feel a greater sense of acceptance and belonging within their community and
This sudden change still has an enormous effect on today’s Indigenous population. How is it fair that the oldest population of people die a decade younger than non-Indigenous Australians? The perpetuation of racism which is manifested in our society has left many Indigenous Australians in a disadvantaged position. Including through, limited access to education with adult literacy rates of just 30 percent and literacy rates of children under 15 more than 48 percent lower than non-Indigenous Australians, consequently means lower educational achievement rates and higher unemployment rates of 17.2 percent compared to 5.5 percent for non-Indigenous Australians (Australian Bureau of Statistics , 2013 ). These facts must be recognised to ensure real equality and a fair-go for Indigenous people.
Canada is known for its amazing healthcare and it is considered one of the best in the world. In Canada, healthcare is ‘universal’ to its citizens under the Heath Care Act. However, not everyone has equal access to healthcare, Aboriginals being some of them. Aboriginals have trouble getting the access they need because of socio-economic status, geography, lack of infrastructure and staff, language or cultural barriers an more. Aboriginals on reserve face many barriers when it comes to access to healthcare, they include cost, language, distance, climate, education and more.
1. What was the justification used to take Aboriginal children away from their families and what actually happened to these children? These children were taken away from their families because they had 'white blood' in them, which meant they were taken away so that the entire aboriginal race would be removed and after generations the children of Australia would be 'white'. 2.
Disadvantage and marginalisation of indigenous Australian 's began with the dispossession of land, displacement of their people, and separation of families. Indigenous Australian 's have difficulty in gaining access, to the same degree, to what white Australian 's have ready access such as housing, employment and general services. Indigenous Australian 's are one of the most disadvantaged groups in this country in social and economic areas such as employment, housing, income, and health. The burden of poor health among aborigines is of particular concern. The health disadvantage of indigenous people begins in infancy and continues throughout their life.