Aboriginality+(tm)


 * Indigenous Health and Well-being **

Name: Karoline Nováková Student Number: n8947228 Tutor: Jey Rodgers

**The artefacts**

The artefacts selected for this Wiki are three pictures that shows indigenous people performing. The first two pictures show Indigenous Australians dancing and playing music on a stage in Queens Street Mall. They did this at a free event that lasted a couple of hours a Wednesday afternoon a few weeks ago. The audience were by passers, mainly families with kids and tourists, by the look of it. The last photo is from the QUT International Student Friendship Ceremony 2013. Just before the ceremony ended some people who identified as indigenous entered the stage and performed traditional dances while playing the didgeridoo. More to, one man was letting the audience know what is happening by acting as a voice over. In the video they are making a fire by using wood and kinetics only, as they did traditionally.



**The Public Health Issue** The topic for my assessment two was "Indigenous Health" and therefore also the stepping-stone for this assignment. I have been particularly interested in the wellbeing of indigenous people and their status in the Australian society. The artefacts clearly relates to this topic. First and foremost you can see that a big percentage of them are overweight, and this is also big issue for indigenous people in general. This group was traditionally hunter and gatherers, and from a historical point of view it is not long ago that Indigenous people lost a big part of their way of living, their culture and thereby their identity. This of course still effects the majority. Their culture is now a showpiece for tourists and other curious bystanders.



**Literature review** The health and wellbeing of indigenous Australians have long been an important issue. This group experience the worst health outcomes of any cultural group in Australia and different policies are trying to do something about this. "Closing The Gap" is one of those initiatives. Launched in 2008 it is an on-going commitment by all Australian governments to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians, and in particular provide a better future for Indigenous children (Australian Government Department of Social Services 2013). The way the Australian government(s) is trying to close the gap is also evident when looking at public expenditures. In 2010-11 3.7 per cent or $4.6 billion of Australia's total health expenditure was spent on indigenous peoples. This means that for every dollar of health spent on non-Indigenous people a $1.47 were spent on Indigenous Australians (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2013a). But even though there has been done a lot to try and fix the health problems, there are a lot of indicators showing that it's not really paying off. A research conducted by Martin Cooke et al. (2007) about the development in health and well being of Indigenous people, including those of Australia, from 1990-2000 found that their situation had not improved. For example the life expectancy had stagnated at 59.6 years from 1991 to 2001 (Cooke, Mitrou, Lawrence, Guimond & Beavon 2007:5). But this can in fact be questioned. Now the methodology on how to estimate life expectancy has changed significantly and the results from 2005-2007 look much brighter. Numbers from these years shows that the life expectancy for indigenous peoples is 67.2 for males and 72.9 for females.



But this is still 11.5 years lower for males and 9.7 years lower for females compared to non-indigenous. So the methodology being used is really important. Also the markers being used when surveys are being made about well being can create a big difference. Health is easier to measure, as you can measure the number of people getting sick, smoking, being obese etc. However, the culture of indigenous Australians are much more community and family-oriented than other Australians, which means that they don't see a doctor, dentist etc. as often as do other citizens (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2013) which again can give wrong results in research and surveys. Of course there have been improvements in indigenous health, but the gap between indigenous and other Australians is not closing as the health and well being for the last group is improving as well. When you look at diseases, Indigenous peoples experience two and a half times the burden than that of non-indigenous. And they are behind on every health issue there is. Reasons can be found in the groups' health-risk behaviours. A recent Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report (2013b) shows that nearly half of the indigenous population here in Queensland still smokes. Beside smoking this group is also less educated, 17% were unemployed in 2008, their use of substances such as drugs and alcohol are high, and the infant mortality is 7 per 1.000 live births compared to 4 for non-indigenous.



Many argue that the solution to better health and well being for indigenous people is to get jobs. But in his article //Culture and Wellbeing: The Case of Indigenous Australians// from 2010 Alfred M. Dockery argues that this might not be the case as achievement of employment may require sacrificing elements of culture, which may in turn have a negative impact upon wellbeing. He finds that cultural attachment has a positive effect on indigenous wellbeing and that the persons more in contact with their culture statistically fare better. Strong cultural attachment is associated with better health and a lower likelihood of engaging in risky alcohol consumption. Therefore restoration of indigenous attachment to their culture must be an integral part of the solution to the health problems.



The artifacts shows the way indigenous people and culture can be seen from outsiders. They show to the audience a shadow or an idea of what they used to be, but using Dockery's findings one could say that it shows that indigenous people are still in contact with their roots which is good for their health and well-being. Even so, they remind me of the groups' status in the Australian society today. When I walk down Queens Street Mall, I often see indigenous people sitting in the street and playing didgeridoo to earn a few bucks. A lot of people take photos of them, without even giving them money. Especially for tourists indigenous Australians are a curiosity and figures of display. But unfortunately I even more often see drunk and disorderly indigenous people in the street of Brisbane and elsewhere. What I have come to learn by doing this assignment is the attitude of many non-indigenous Australians towards this group. I have met several saying that their health problems are their own fault as they are responsible for their own life like everyone else, and that the government is spending too much money, using too many resources and that they are favoring this group. I was really surprised by this and I find it sad. With attitudes like this, the gap between this group and the rest of Australia will never close. The way I think about indigenous Australians have not changed over the course of this assignment. Through the four months I now have stayed in Australia I however have learned a lot about this group. I study anthropology, so for me other cultures, such as this one, are very interesting and I am perhaps more sympathetic towards this group as a result. One thing that my stay here and what I have learned about this group and the attitudes towards have made me think about is that they resemble the group of Greenlanders currently living in Denmark. It has made me think that when I get back to Denmark I must encourage my peers to change their similar attitudes towards this group.
 * Analysis of the artifacts and my own learning reflections **


 * Reference list**

Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2012a. Life Expectancy. Seen on 03.11.13. http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/lookup/4704.0Chapter218Oct+2010

Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2012b. Mortality: Infant and Child Mortality. Seen on 03.11.13 http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4704.0Chapter840Oct%202010

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2013a. Spending on Indigenous Health Reaches $4.6 Billion. Seen on 03.11.2013. http://www.aihw.gov.au/media-release-detail/?id=60129542830

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2013b. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework 2012 report: Queensland. Seen on 03.11.13. http://www.aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=60129542817&tab=2

Cooke, Martin, Francis Mitrou, David Lawrence, Eric Guimond & Dan Beavon. 2007. Indigenous well-being in four countries: An application of the UNDP'S Human Development Index to Indigenous Peoples in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. //BMC International Health and Human Rights, 7:9//. doi:10.1186/1472-698X-7-9

Department of Social Services. 2013. Closing the Gap - The Indigenous Reform Agenda. Seen on 03.11.12 http://www.dss.gov.au/our-responsibilities/indigenous-australians/programs-services/closing-the-gap

Dockery, Alfred M. 2010. Culture and Wellbeing: The Case of Indigenous Australians. //Social Indicators Research 99:2, 315-332.// doi: 10.1007/s11205-010-9582-y


 * Reflection**