Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Health

Multicultural Australia. A reality or a myth?

Australia is a country of polarity and diversity which purports a political ideology of all-inclusive multiculturalism. Yet at the core of the nation lays a foundation of institutional systems built on implicit and explicit conditioning which have their roots in the social construct of ethnocentric racism. The racialisation and othering of those who are not white has emanated from Australian Governments and through media commentary into every aspect of life for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples since colonisation. Creating disadvantage, ill-health, intergenerational trauma and a lack of social equity for Indigenous Australians. An example of this racialisation and othering occurred during the public debate surrounding Adam Goodes stance against racism. A situation which could have been better understood and avoided if viewed through the lens of white habitus, cultural responsiveness and anti-racist practice.  

Historically, the Social Work profession is not exempt from creating catastrophic racist damage for Indigenous Australians. Issuing an apology to Indigenous Australians in 2004 for the profession’s role in creating inter-generational trauma, it was 2010 before the profession’s Code of Ethics was re-worded to include the ethical principles of social justice, human rights, respect for diversity, and provision of culturally competent, safe and sensitive practice which encompasses a commitment to valuing Indigenous Australians’ knowledge, experience, skills and relationships (International Federation of Social Workers 2018; Australian Association of Social Workers 2010; Green Bennett & Betteridge 2016). The Social Work profession, therefore, have a critical role to play in assisting with the de-colonisation of institutionalised racism.  

Since invasion by the British in 1788 ethnocentric implicit and explicit racism, originally based on social Darwinism, has permeated life for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Racist behaviours have been foundational to the nation’s identity (Sherwood, Osmond & Phillips 2020). Aboriginals were seen by British colonisers to be a dying primitive race who were inferior to the British in culture, biology and morality (Hollinsworth 2006; Sherwood, Osmond & Phillips 2020; Bennett & Green 2019). Racist conditioning occurred by way of social Darwinism being taught to ‘successive generations of non-indigenous (and indeed indigenous) Australians’ resulting in institutionalised racism becoming both explicit and implicit within the Australian psyche (Hollinsworth 2006, pp. 83-84). This type of conditioning and its’ ongoing perpetuation can be understood and also eradicated when viewed from the concepts of Bourdieus’ habitus theory and also Whiteness theory, which when combined create the theory of White habitus (Walter, Taylor & Habibis 2011). Habitus, as seen by Bourdieu involved how people were socially conditioned via habits, dispositions and skills which determine their understanding of a situation and how they respond to it based on the cultural norms they have been exposed to (Emirbayer & Williams 2005; Walter, Taylor & Habibis 2011).

Whiteness theory focusses on and calls for the critical reflection of how white people do not normally see themselves as a race which holds power and dominance over other races (Walter, Taylor & Habibis 2011; Vanidestine & Aparicio 2019). When utilising White habitus, focus is moved away from othering and brought back to self, whilst also revealing how power relations and discourses are racially formed (Walter, Taylor & Habibis 2011; Young 2008). Explicit racism utilised by various Australian governments to maintain white ‘racial homogeneity’, originally involved extensive discursive efforts and repressive legislation to eradicate the country of the existing Aboriginals and their cultures (Sherwood, Osmond & Phillips 2020, p.98; Bennett & Green 2019). For example, in Queensland, legislation was implemented in 1897 via the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act which served to codify beliefs that Aboriginals were a dying race, whilst asserting Australia as a white space in which Aboriginals did not belong (Sherwood, Osmond & Phillips 2020). Legislation such as this Act governed every aspect of Aboriginal life; their health, education, employment, housing, the justice system and welfare (Hollinsworth 2006; Briskman 2014; Bennett & Green 2019).

Australia’s institutionalised racism still exists, as was apparent in 2007 when the Howard Government implemented the Northern Territory Intervention, contravening international law in the process (Springer 2007). The Australian Bureau of Statistics (2016) states 2.8 per cent of the Australian population identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders and in 2015 to 2016, according to the Australian Human Rights Commission (2017), 54 per cent of the complaints received concerning racism under The Racial Discrimination Act were received by Indigenous Australians. Racist practices, policies and media discourses have had and continue to have a major detrimental impact on Indigenous Australians’ health and wellbeing (Hollinsworth 2006; Briskman 2014). As the 2020 Closing the Gap Report indicates, current life expectancy for Aboriginal Australians involves the intersectionality of social determinants in which they are disadvantaged such as income, housing, education and employment, all of which are ‘estimated to be responsible for at least 34 per cent of the health gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians’ (Briskman 2014; Australian Government 2020 n.p.).

Statistics released in 2018 indicated the mortality rate for Indigenous Australians is approximately 1.7 times greater than for non-Indigenous Australians and the initiatives implemented by the Federal Government to close the mortality gap between the two groups is not on target to reach its’ objectives by 2031 (Australian Government 2020). Disadvantage created by institutionalised racism since colonisation concerning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders is apparent in every area of Australian life and is often exacerbated by changing political policies and media discourses.

The Australian conservative media still perpetuate racist thinking, which would not exist if cultural responsiveness, white habitus and anti-racist practice was occurring across the board. The media provoked controversial public debate, involving the proud, highly accomplished Indigenous Australian Football League (AFL) player; Adnyamathanha man, Australian of the Year in 2014, Adam Goodes, divided the nation when between 2013 and 2015 he publicly stood against racism and freely expressed his indigeneity. Several examples of institutionalised racism from non-Indigenous media commentators Adam Bolt, Sam Newman and Alan Jones occurred, and as Waleed Aly pointed out facts were altered to support their racist views (Begone Abbott 2015; The Weekly 2015; Whoknowsuknow 2015). Various media outlets touted Goodes as a ‘sook’, ‘whinger’, ‘cry baby’ and it was stated he was ‘playing the race card’ (Guatum 2019, p. 17). When, in the AFL Indigenous Round, which recognises and celebrates Indigenous culture, Goodes performed a celebratory war cry dance, the situation escalated to the extreme where every time he played football he was loudly booed by the crowd in what de Souza (2018, p. 460) described as a ‘sonic barometer that measures who is accepted and who is rejected.’ Acting within a model of cultural responsiveness requires critical self-reflection, recognition of the impact social structures have on individuals, asks questions, allows for critical examination of the structures which create oppression and permits the challenging of those structure (Green, Bennett & Batteridge 2016).

A culturally responsive approach therefore would have de-escalated the situation by commentators asking questions in order to perceive the situation from Goodes perspective, whilst critically reflecting on their own behaviour, thereby showing respect and affirming the multicultural diversity which exists in Australia. Instead, inflammatory, derogatory, racist and ignorant statements were made which impacted on Goodes’ health (BBC HARDtalk 2020). A culturally safe response would have also encompassed being aware not only of Aboriginal history but of Goodes’ personal history because when he was racially vilified by a young girl and then subjected to the persistent media coverage and booing from crowds it all not only shocked him but triggered racist traumatic memories of childhood experiences (Green, Bennett & Betteridge 2016; BBC HARDtalk 2020). Whilst Eddie MacGuire, in his role as media commentator and Collingwood Football Club president, initially supported Goodes, both MacGuire and former Victorian Premier, Jeff Kennett publicly criticised Goodes’s dance as being deliberately provocative and defended the crowd’s booing as being an acceptable response (de Souza 2018). The persistent booing and various criticisms which surrounded Goodes created a toxic workplace which pushed Goodes into a deep depression, resulting in him walking away from the sport he loved in 2015, for the sake of his mental health (BBC HARDtalk 2020).

In 2016 Australians spoke 300 languages and whilst the country purports to embrace multiculturalism, ongoing debate has occurred for decades amongst the media, politicians and academics concerning the concept and implementation of a multicultural society (Australian Bureau of Statistices 2016; Koleth 2010). Fear-based conservatives like John Howard and Pauline Hansen have been concerned that a true multi-cultural Australia will undermine the existing social structures and they have wanted to continue ‘preserving constructions of Australian nationhood and culture’ (Koleth 2010, n.p.). Yet, science has proven race is not a biological fact, but a social construct designed to have power over others who are different to the white majority (California Newsreel 2003), which is why anti-racist practice is useful in relation to dismantling institutional racism. Stemming from Critical Race Theory there is agreement that racism is a widespread oppressive social construct (Ladhani & Sitter 2020; Constance-Huggins 2019).

Anti-racist practice respects individual agency, whilst challenging and resisting injustices as it involves a commitment to creating ongoing equal opportunities for all that aligns with ‘equity of outcome’ (Berman & Paradies 2009, p.218). Given the multitude of culturally diverse individuals existing in Australia today, Australian society, as an evolving entity, needs to move beyond colonial based institutionalised racism due to the damage it has and continues to create.  By utilising white habitus, cultural responsiveness and anti-racism to eliminate the racialisation of people and the othering that white Australians in powerful public positions currently use, all Australians can move into a future which is more dignified, respectful and equitable. As Social Work now holds the previously mentioned principles, values and ethics at its’ core, all Social Workers have a duty, responsibility and obligation to assist in educating, challenging and changing institutionalised racism in this country because whilst multiculturalism is something Australians claim to embody, statistically and historically speaking multiculturalism and embracing cultural diversity, is a concept, not a reality.

Copyright C. O’Connor, November 2021.

References

Australian Association of Social Workers, 2010, Code of Ethics, viewed 4 November 2020, https://www.aasw.asn.au/document/item/1201

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016, Cultural Diversity in Australia:2016 Census Data Summary: What is Cultural Diversity?, viewed 4 November 2020, https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/2071.0~2016~Main%20Features~Cultural%20Diversity%20Data%20Summary~30#:~:text=WHAT%20IS%20CULTURAL%20DIVERSITY%3F,descent%2C%20and%20their%20religious%20affiliation.

Australian Government 2020, Closing The Gap Report, viewed 31 October 2020 https://ctgreport.niaa.gov.au/

Australian Human Rights Commission, 2017, Fact sheet: Racism, It stops with me: Community services announcements 2017, viewed 4 November 2020, https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/race-discrimination/publications/fact-sheet- racism-it-stops-me-community-service

BBC HARDtalk 2020, Adam Goodes, Former Australian rules footballer – BBC HARDtalk, viewed 4 November 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9M6IiAvl4U

Begone Abbott 2015, Racist Liars Rewriting History to Boo Adam Goodes, viewed 3 November 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo9S2k1RaxM

Bennett, B & Green, S 2019, Our voices: Aboriginal social work, Second edition., Red Globe Press, London.

Berman, G & Paradies, Y 2010, ‘Racism, disadvantage and multiculturalism: towards effective anti-racist praxis’, Ethnic and Racial Studies, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 214–232, doi: 10.1080/01419870802302272.

Briskman, L 2014, Social work with indigenous communities: a human rights approach, 2nd ed., The Federation Press, Annandale, NSW. 

California Newsreel 2003, Episode One – The Difference Between Us; Video 1 of playlist “Race – The Power of an Illusion”, viewed 4 November 2020, https://usc.kanopy.com/video/race-power-illusion-0

Constance-Huggins, M 2019, ‘Critical Race Theory in Social Work Education’, Critical Social Work, vol. 13, no. 2, doi:10.22329/csw.v13i2.5861.

de Souza, P 2018, ‘What does racial (in)justice sound like? On listening, acoustic violence and the booing of Adam Goodes’, Continuum (Mount Lawley, W.A.), vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 459–473, doi: 10.1080/10304312.2018.1488524.

Emirbayer, M & Williams, E 2005, ‘Bourdieu and Social Work’ Social Service Review, vol. 79, no. 4, pp. 689–724, doi:10.1086/491604. 

Gautam, A 2019, ‘The monstrous other: Adam Goodes and the colonial legacy of “terra nullius”’ Social Alternatives, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 16–20. ISSN: 0155-0306

Green, S, Bennett B & Betteridge S 2016, ‘Cultural Responsiveness and Social Work – a Discussion’ Social Alternatives, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 66–72, viewed 4 November 2020, http://search.proquest.com/docview/1918326828/.

Hollinsworth, D 2006, ‘Race and Racism in Australia’, 3rd ed., Thomson Social Science Press, South Melbourne. 

International Federation of Social Workers 2018, ‘Global Social Work Statement of Ethical Principles’, viewed 31 October 2020, https://www.ifsw.org/global-social-work-statement-of-ethical-principles/

Koleth, E 2010, ‘Multiculturalism: a review of Australian policy statement and recent debates in Australia and overseas’, Parliament of Australia 2010, Research Paper no. 6 2010-2011, viewed 4 November 2020, https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1011/11rp06

Ladhani S & Sitter K 2020, ‘The Revival of Anti-Racism’, Critical Social Work, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 55-65, doi:10.22329/csw.v21i1.6227.

Shepherd, M 2020, ‘Adam Goodes’, Encyclopaedia Britannica, viewed 4 November 2020, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adam-Goodes

Sherwood, C, Osmond, G & Phillips M 2020, ‘Aboriginality, Racial Discourse and Football Media in 20th-century Queensland’, Journal of Australian Studies, vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 97–113, doi: 10.1080/14443058.2019.1668821.

Springer, R 2007, ‘A Nightmare of the Neocolonial Kind: Politics of Suffering in Howards’ Northern Territory Intervention, Borderlands e-journal, vol. 6, no. 2, Nuclear Territory News, viewed 4 November 2020, http://www.borderlands.net.au/vol6no2_2007/stringer_intervention.htm

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Vanidestine, T & Aparicio, E 2019, ‘How Social Welfare and Health Professionals Understand “Race,” Racism, and Whiteness: A Social Justice Approach to Grounded Theory’ Social Work in Public Health, vol. 34, no. 5, pp. 430–443, doi:10.1080/19371918.2019.1616645.

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Race and Racism in Australia.

Race as a social construct came into being alongside capitalism.  When European colonists arrived in Australian with their ethnocentric ideology, racist foundations became the building blocks upon which inequity and institutions were built. As a result, the trauma and inequality created for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders by colonialism has, and continues to, impact detrimentally on their health and well-being despite Governments expending large sums of money on programs and services to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous outcomes in relation to health. The colonialist mentality of racism in Australia towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is maintained by three main forms of racism; institutionalised, interpersonal and internalised. Institutionalised racism, particularly within the health system, is creating a plethora of inequity issues which are resulting in high mortality rates amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

The publication of The Origin of Species, written by biologist and philosopher Charles Darwin in 1859, led to eugenics, phrenology, ethnocentricity and Social Darwinism, and subsequently race and racism began.  Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection proposed that differences between human beings, such as skin colour, equated to different races of human beings existing and therefore those who did not have the same attributes as Europeans were classified as being of a different species, or race (Hollinsworth 2006, p.32). His theory added scientific credence to, and fueled the fire of, the political, social and medical discourses being espoused by Herbert Spencer, an English sociologist, biologist and prominent liberal political theorist (Hollinsworth 2006, p.32). Darwin’s theory led to Social Darwinism being established within European society (Hollinsworth 2006, p.32). Race and racism was therefore founded on the politics of eugenics and the medical and political discourses which spread globally during the end of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century (Bastos, Harnois & Paradies 2016, p.209). Eugenics is the science of controlling breeding within populations so there is an increasing manifestation of the required genetic characteristics (Galton 1904, p.1). Indigenous Australians were seen by European colonists to be situated at the very bottom of a hierarchical ladder which Europeans existed at the summit of (Germov & Poole 2007, p. 284). This mentality was known as ethnocentricity which is when a belief exists that your own culture or ethnic group is superior to another (Bizumic & Duckitt 2012, p.887). It was also seen by Europeans that Indigenous people were inferior biologically due to the pseudo-scientific theory of phrenology which equated skull size and shape as being able to determine a person’s character (Germov & Poole 2007, p. 284).  With eugenics, phrenology and ethnocentricity firmly implanted in the minds of the colonists who invaded Australia, it takes little sociological imagination to understand why European colonists behaved as they did towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

When the invasion of Australia by the British occurred in 1770 they brought with them fixed mindsets of capitalism and Social Darwinism and the colonisation of Australia began. Colonialism relates to a system being implemented whereby an individual or group of individuals seek to dominate others (Horvath 1972, p.46). Sociological theorist Pierre Bourdieu referred to colonialism as a forceful system of oppression based on racist beliefs which seeks to reorganise social kinships and at the same time establish a crossbred society (Go 2013, p. 49).Colonialism is also a powerful and aggressive action taken by people to possess land and exploit it, along with the Indigenous people who occupy that land, with no regard to the original inhabitants, their culture or their existing laws (Horvath 1972, p. 46). Karl Marx believed this type of domination occurs out of an economic basis and is a symptom of capitalism (Horvath 1972, p.46). Horvath states colonisation creates and perpetuates social injustice (Horvath 1972, p.46). Colonists were of the fear-based view that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were savages who were dangerous, yet childlike (Hollinsworth 2006, p.33).As such, great measures to establish and maintain superior paternalistic power and control over Indigenous Australians began because of unconsciously based scientific racist beliefs (Hollinsworth 2006, p. 34). This fear-based power and control continued to have a stronghold in Australia into the later part of last century (Hollinsworth 2006, p. 34). Because of Darwin’s theory of natural selection, Indigenous Australians were seen to be a separate race of people who colonists believed were destined to die out anyway (Hollinsworth 2006, p. 35).It was often the situation that anyone who protested the horrendous treatment Indigenous people received whilst colonisation was occurring, were met with rebuttal (Hollinsworth 2006, p. 35).It was also seen to be worthy of celebration by colonists, not lamentation, that the extinction of an inferior race was occurring, with their help (Hollinsworth 2006, p. 35).  The attempted assimilation which occurred of trying to change the genetics of Indigenous Australians was a direct result of eugenics. It was these underlying beliefs colonisers held which established Australia’s institutions and created the systemic racism which still exists within those institutions today.

Institutionalised racism lays at the core of all of Australia’s systems and is closely linked with capitalism. Race and racism in Australia can be understood as being maintained institutionally when looked at through the sociological lens of Foucault’s theory that governmental control occurs via the power maintained in institutional systems, which then becomes internalised normality within society (Germov & Poole 2007, p. 287).From a Marxists perspective Governments would not want to change the existing institutionalised racism because to do so would alter the balance of power which would no longer serve the interests of capitalism (Germov & Poole 2007, p. 287).  Racism is defined as a discriminatory dispersal of chances, assistance or capital implemented by the dominant culture over minority groups of different race or ethnicity (Paradies, 2018, 0.42 – 1.44). Institutionalised racism has been defined as having its basis in historical social scenarios which continues due to frameworks that preserve prior discriminations (Jones 2001, p.1212). Institutionalised racism is often seen to be legalised and lays within the policies and practices of institutions, whilst also being apparent when procrastination occurs, instead of action, in relation to needs not being met (Jones 2001, p.1212). Evidence shows that racism, whilst not a set target in the Close the Gap Report 2008 (Parliament of Australia undated, p. n/a), has been recognised by the Federal Government in the Close the Gap Report Review 2018 (Australian Human Rights Commission 2018, p.3) and in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2013-2023 (Australian Government Department of Health 2013, p.8). Due to institutionalised racism, which has become the societal norm, many Australians do not see their unconsciously conditioned biases perpetuate not only the racism the country’s systems were built on, but also that they serve to maintain the inequality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians which began over two hundred years ago.

Interpersonal racism, along with institutionalised racism and deficit discourses within politics and the media are having an adverse effect on the mental and physical health of Indigenous Australians. Interpersonal racism can be conscious or unconscious and appears in society by way of stereotyping, lack of service, ignoring, lack of respect and devaluation (Jones 2001, p.1213).Institutionalised racism, combined with interpersonal racism lead to internalised racism, which involves taking on the limiting beliefs about oneself which have been projected by the dominant culture onto the minority group (Jones 2001, p. 1213).Internalised racism can also lead to a lack of self-worth, lack of belief in peers and in one’s self (Jones 2001, p. 1213).  The general dominant political and media discourse in Australia is increasing the inequality many minority groups encounter from the dominant culture (Hollinsworth 2006, p. 246). Since 1996, when the Howard Government came into power, there has been a steadily growing manufactured erosion of social justice and equal rights occurring in Australia via an official discourse being implemented through laws based on fear and envy (Hollinsworth 2006, p 246). This stance will only lead to increasing inequality, endangering existing social structures and possibly result in an increase in violence occurring (Hollinsworth 2006, p. 246). Combined with these deficit discourses created by non-indigenous media and politicians in Australia towards Indigenous Australians, racism has been found to be detrimental to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders health as they all impact adversely psychologically, emotionally and in relation to their overall social wellbeing.

Perceptions of race and racism within Australian have been shown, through a variety of micro and macro level methods, to reveal health care barriers exist for Indigenous Australians which do not exist for non-Indigenous Australians. Systemic racism not only has detrimental outcomes such as depression, suicide, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder for Indigenous Australians, but it also creates significant economic impacts on society (Paradies 2016, p.1). In 2016 it was estimated that racial discrimination cost the Australian economy approximately 37.9 billion dollars per annum (Paradies 2016, p.1). A study conducted during 2012 and 2013 revealed thirty percent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people suffer from extreme psychological and emotional occurrences of depression or anxiety (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2015, p. 71). This figure is extraordinarily high when one considers that Indigenous Australians make up only three percent of the national population (Bastos, Harnois & Paradies 2016, p.211). Further, it was revealed in 2012 that Indigenous Australians experience higher rates of suicide than non-Indigenous Australians with deaths being predominantly higher for males between the ages of twenty-five and twenty-nine (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2012, p. n/a). The statistics of deaths based on a scale of one hundred thousand per population for this age group show that non-Indigenous male deaths by suicide peak at twenty percent and Indigenous males peak at ninety percent (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2012, p. n/a). In 2014 a General Social Survey was conducted to determine the degree racial discrimination intersects with other areas of discrimination such as, gender, sexuality, class and age within Australia, in creating access barriers to health care (Bastos, Harnois & Paradies 2016, p.209). The results concluded perceived racism was a major factor creating a barrier in accessing health care, particularly mental health (Bastos, Harnois & Paradies 2016, p.216). There is ample available research which indicates that the social construct of race is responsible for the ongoing high mortality rates occurring within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Racism in its various forms is not only creating barriers to accessing health care but creating ongoing psychological and emotional distress for a large percentage of Indigenous Australians.

According to sociologists, Australia has moved into a time of post-modernity and post-colonialism, but the evidence clearly shows the social construct of race and the racism which stems from it continues to be maintained by way of institutionalised racism. Post-colonialism came into being late in the twentieth century (Eagleton 2011, p. 222).It is defined as a time when physical violence is no longer being perpetrated to take land (Hollinsworth 2006, p.246). This may be the situation; however, it appears that a new form of racism has taken the place of the past brutal dispossession, assimilation and genocide. Known as new racism, this form revolves around the structure and appearance of racism in relation to pecuniary and socio-traditional variances which exist between the overriding and minority cultures within a country (Germov & Poole 2007, p. 287).Post-colonialism studies look at the relationships between oppressors and oppressed existing in countries that have been colonised (Germov & Poole 2007, p. 287).Indigenous identity, which post-colonialism also concerns itself with, has been revealed via various institutional policies to have been manipulated to implement and validate dominant policies (Germov & Poole 2007, p. 288).Colonialism was rooted in racism and whilst many perceive both exist historically and are no longer apparent, both still exist within capitalism as the Western thinking of those in power continues to be based on the taking of other people’s land who are not in positions to stop them (Jureidini & Poole 2003, p.246). It is in the continuation of institutionalised racism and subsequent racist policies and practices, by those in power within the Westernised political system, that inequity continues to grow and create an ever-widening gap between capitalist politicians and those who they deem to be inferior.

Race and racism are social constructs designed by the political upper class in Europe in the late 1800s based on ethnocentricity. Institutionalised racism has created discrimination, exploitation, distress and inter-generational trauma which is still impacting on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Whilst State and Federal Governments have spent voluminous sums of money on programs and services to bring about more equality between non-Indigenous and Indigenous Australians in relation to health, they have failed. Up until 2013 they did not recognise that systemic racism within Australian institutions is responsible for the lack of equity, agency, health issues, self-governance and self-determination Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have been and still are experiencing.

Copyright: C. O’Connor, November 2018.

Reference List

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