Running head: EQUALITY IN AUSTRALIA 1

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Obtain Special Support from the Australian

Government

April Clifford

English Comp

FHSU
EQUALITY IN AUSTRALIA 2

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Obtain Special Support from the Australian

Government

The gap existing between Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal and non-indigenous

social, mental, education, health, and emotional wellbeing remain a primary concern. However,

as some people argue that the Australian government is doing a lot to support the Torres Strait

Islander and the Aboriginal, others still consider that the two communities are undergoing

challenges. The Australian government, particularly the Department of Health published that it

support the Torres Strait Islander and the Aboriginal. This paper explores the current status of the

Torres Strait Islanders and the Aboriginals in terms of access to public resources. The study

argues the statement that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders people obtain special support

from the Australian government.

It is true to support that the Australian government provides support to the Indigenous

people. The government of Australia works in partnership with the Torres Strait Islanders and

the Aboriginals to enhance their health outcomes. The partnership works towards the Priority

Reform commitment to close the gap existing within these two underprivileged communities and

the non-indigenous ones (Australian Government, 2019). The Australian government also

partners with the two communities to deliver culturally accepted and high-quality health services

to the Torres Strait Islander and the Aboriginal (Australian Government, 2019).

The Australian government funds programs such as the Aboriginal Community

Controlled Health Services that promotes culturally accepted care to the two communities

(Australian Government, 2019). The program funds services such as childhood and pregnancy

support to make sure children from Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal communities get a good

start (Australian Government, 2019). Other supported programs include better ear and eye
EQUALITY IN AUSTRALIA 3

services, improved chronic disease management, and reduced smoking. The funding is directed

to implement efforts to enhance health outcomes among the Torres Strait Islander and the

Aboriginal (Australian Government, 2019). Some of the efforts implemented include cessation

of smoking and the establishment of programs to manage chronic diseases among the two

communities (Australian Government, 2019).

Additionally, the Australian government enhanced collaborations through the formation

of the Indigenous Document Doctors Association (AIDA) (Kimpton, 2013). According to

Kimpton (2013), the government aimed to promote the partnership as well as indigenous

leadership that is connected to federal policy establishments of better health. AIDA is noted to

promote the workforce among the Torres Strait and Islanders Aboriginal people as a way to

ensure the delivery of high-quality and sustainable healthcare. Additionally, AIDA and other

collaborations are reported to increase the medical workforce among the Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islanders (Kimpton, 2013). In this way, the indigenous people will be able to be self-

dependence.

In 2017, the Australian Government published a plan for improving the outcomes for the

people with disability among the Torres Strait Islanders and the Aboriginals. The government of

Australia primarily targets to ensure people living with disability among the Torres Strait

Islanders and Aboriginals have improved access to well-planned shelter. Additionally, the

Australian Government is committed to ensuring the disabled people among these communities

are free from discrimination and racism (Australian Government, 2020). Other supported

services for disabled people include access to education, gaining economic security, and access

to improved health services.

EQUALITY IN AUSTRALIA 4

Cultural safety and other partnerships are considered effective tools for the Australian

government to promote better health among the indigenous people (Li, 2017). Li (2017) noted

that the Australian government recognizes that cultural safety promotes health care accessibility.

Accordingly, the Australian government (2019) maintained a focus to support the indigenous

communities.

However, research has not proved the chances of reduced gaps between the Torres Strait

Islander and Aboriginal and non-indigenous concerns in terms of health, emotional, and social

wellbeing among others. Dudgeon et al. (2020) published that there is an increasing challenge as

there is reduced commitment to supporting and involving culturally safe practices among the

Torres Strait Islander, the Aboriginal, and the indigenous communities. Therefore, it means that

the government’s plan to improve cultural safety among the indigenous people is not effective.

Regardless of the commitment of the Australian government to improve cultural safety,

there are still increasing gaps between the beliefs of indigenous and non-indigenous communities

(Li, 2017). According to Li (2017), the lack of cultural safety in Australia has made the

indigenous people develop different beliefs, faith, and interpretation of values. Additionally, the

indigenous people develop a different perception of health access leading to the formation of

identities that promote less willingness to use healthcare facilities (Li, 2017). This trend shows

the federal administration in Australia is still less dedicated to changing the lives of the Torres

Strait Islanders and the Aboriginal people.

Additionally, Calma, Dugeon, and Bray (2017) noted an increasing gap in the mental

health and emotional wellbeing among the two underprivileged communities and the non-

indigenous ones. According to Dudgeon et al. (2020), many Torres Strait Islanders and

Aboriginals suffer from mental conditions compared to non-indigenous ones. The well-being of
EQUALITY IN AUSTRALIA 5

the indigenous people is poor in when compared to that of their non-indigenous peers. In

research done by Waterworth et al. (2015), there is a large inequality gap across Australia since

colonization. The Torres Strait Islander and the Aboriginal experience socioeconomic

disadvantages that expose the indigenous people to social and environmental well-being risk

factors. The residential places for these communities do not offer good health since there is

limited access to primary healthcare, treatment facilities, an effective sewerage system, and safe

drinking water.

In another research in 2019, Markwick, Ansari, Clinch, and McNeil (2019), published

that indigenous Victorian adults are four times more probable to encounter racism compared to

their non-indigenous peers. Racism is still highly directed against Torres Strait Islanders and the

Aboriginals. The worse situation is that even the people living with disability among the Torres

Strait Islanders and Aboriginals are exposed to racism (Temple et al., 2020). According to

Trounson, Gibbs, McDonald, and Peters (2019), Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal

individuals are twice more probable to experience disability compared to non-indigenous people.

Temple et al. (2020) also published that a higher number of disabling disorders and particular

disabilities among the two communities were related to increased racism. Racism contribute and

discrimination contribute to stress and avoidance making the indigenous communities less

willing to access public resources in Australia.

Despite the strong support for the indigenous societies from the Australian

administration, there is still an indication of less commitment to help the indigenous

communities. Although the Australian government supports disabled indigenous people,

evidence has shown that the number of disabled people discriminated against among the

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders is still increasing. Discrimination and racism have even
EQUALITY IN AUSTRALIA 6

contributed to the development of some of the disabling conditions. This means that even with

improvements in education and health access, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are still

exposed to behavioral and environmental risk factors that affect their health.

Evidence from this paper shows that government plans are weak and not committed to

filling the gaps existing between the indigenous and the non-native Australians. Just as published

in Howse & Dwyer (2016), the Australian government works to improve the lives of the

indigenous people but the situation is still invisible due to a lack of commitment. Despite the

promotion of cultural safety, the indigenous people still develop different beliefs hindering them

from accessing public access to health. Considering all settings, the government of Australia is

working to improve the lifestyle of the indigenous people but the achievement is far less from

being equal to the other Australian residents. Accordingly, it means that the Australian

government is still treating the Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginal differently from how it

does for indigenous Australians.

This paper recommends the establishment and execution of more serious policies and

programs to fill the gap between the indigenous persons and the non-indigenous ones.

Significantly, the Australian government should be committed to enforcing policies to control

discrimination and racism against the Torres Strait Islanders and the Aboriginal. Programs such

as AIDA and others that focus on promoting improved health care among the Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islanders should be fully funded and supported by the government
EQUALITY IN AUSTRALIA 7

References

Australian Government. (2019). How we support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.

Department of Health. Retrieved from

https://www.health.gov.au/health-topics/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-health/how-

we-support-health

Australian Government. (2020). Australian Government plan to improve outcomes for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disability. Retrieved from

https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/10_2017/dss0001_atsi_disability_pl

an_accessible_v1.pdf

Calma, T., Dudgeon, P., & Bray, A. (2017). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social and

emotional wellbeing and mental health. Australian Psychologist, 52(4), 255-260.

Dudgeon, P., Carey, T. A., Hammond, S., Hirvonen, T., Kyrios, M., Roufeil, L., & Smith, P.

(2020). The Australian Psychological Society’s Apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander people. The Cambridge handbook of psychology and human rights, 1818-1866.

Howse, G., & Dwyer, J. (2016). Legally invisible: stewardship for Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander health. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 40(S1), S14-S20.

Kimpton, T. (2013). Partnership and leadership: the key to improving health outcomes for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. The Medical Journal of Australia,

199(1), pp.11-12.

Li, J. L. (2017). Cultural barriers lead to inequitable healthcare access for aboriginal Australians

and Torres Strait Islanders. Chinese nursing research, 4(4), 207-210.

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Markwick, A., Ansari, Z., Clinch, D., & McNeil, J. (2019). Experiences of racism among

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults living in the Australian state of Victoria: a

cross-sectional population-based study. BMC Public Health, 19(1), 1-14.

Temple, J. B., Wong, H., Ferdinand, A., Avery, S., Paradies, Y., & Kelaher, M. (2020). Exposure

to interpersonal racism and avoidance behaviors reported by Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander people with a disability. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 55(4), 376-395.

Trounson, J. S., Gibbs, J., Kostrz, K., McDonald, R., & Peters, A. (2020). A systematic

literature review of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagement with disability

services. Disability & Society, 1-25.

Waterworth, P., Pescud, M., Braham, R., Dimmock, J., and Rosenberg, M. (2015). Factors

Influencing the Health Behavior of Indigenous Australians: Perspectives from Support

People. PLOS ONE. Retrieved from

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0142323