Page 1 The World Health Organisation (World Health Organisation, 2008) states that the indigenous peoples of Australia are one of the most disadvantaged indigenous groups in the developed world. The health of the Indigenous population of Australia is an increasingly pressing issue. Current research and statistics reveals great inequality in many areas of health care and health status between the Aboriginal people and the general population of Australia. Couzos and Murray (2008, p. 29) report that the Indigenous population has “the worst health status of any identifiable group in Australia, and the poorest access to health systems.” This paper will examine the underlying historical contexts and contributing factors that have lead to the current disparity between the health of the Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians. Furthermore, the high prevalence of chronic health issues such as diabetes will be analysed and community health initiatives that are needed or currently being enacted will be identified.

Many reasons for the current appalling state of health and wellbeing of the Australian Aboriginal people can be explained by examining their recent history to the devastating impacts of colonisation, genocidal policy, loss of land and years of oppression. These several hundred years of cultural destruction, dispossession and social and political upheaval have resulted in generations of trauma and grief (Burke, 2006, para. 4). As reported by Forsyth (2007, p. 35-36), government policies enacted towards the indigenous population in the early 20th Century were concerned primarily with protection and segregation, as the prevailing attitude of the time was that the Indigenous people were largely inferior and were unable to care for themselves. Forsyth continues to explain of the injustice created by the New South Wales parliament with the Aborigines Protection Act of 1909, in which “every aspect of their lives was governed, regulated and controlled” (Forsyth, 2007, p. 36). Furthermore the Indigenous people of this era were not able to imbibe alcohol, own property, vote or cohabit with non-Indigenous people, and the state of their health was largely ignored due to the belief that they were a dying race. (Couzos et.

Page 2 al. 2008, p. 3). Due to this essentially complete lack of health care, Forsyth describes the Aboriginal people of the era living on the outskirts of larger towns as suffering from high rates of blindness, infectious diseases, bone diseases and sexually transmitted infections (Forsyth, 2007, p. 36). The severity of these health issues was made worse by fear and distrust of the Aboriginal people towards hospitals and white people (Forsyth, 2007, p. 37). As the 20th Century progressed it became obvious that the Aboriginal...

-155 -172 -2001 -36 -44 -8 /health-facts/summary /index.html /publications/inpsych/changing/ /social_determinants/thecommission/finalreport/en 0.8 1 10 147 163 167 18 19 19001980s 1909 1960s 1966 1970s 1971 1990s2000s 2 2.6 2000 2001 2003 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 20th 24 25 28 29 3 33 35 36 37 4 49 5 522 525 6 653 7 70 73 79 8 80 abl aborigin access across act action activ affect age aggrav aim al alcohol allman almost also among analys anderson anoth appal approach area around aspect assimil associ attitud australia australian avail avoid awar b balanc bartless base becam began begun belief bernstein better blind bone brought burk burn c call campaign carbohydr care carri catto caus centuri chang choic chronic circa classifi clear client close close-knit cohabit collect colonis commiss common commonwealth communiti community-empower complet complex complic compon concern concious conclus condit consid contemporari context continu contribut control coordin couzo creat cribb ctp cultur current d damag debuyst deliv deliver demonstr denigr depend describ destruct determin devast develop diabet die diet disadvantag discrimin diseas disloc dispar dispossess distrust done dragon drink drug due dysfunct earli earlier easi eat econom educ effect effort elimin emot empow empower enact encourag endors environment equal equiti era essenti establish estim et everi evid evidence-bas examin exampl excel exercis expand expans expect explain expos extinct factor famili fat fear feder final first focus follow food forc form forsyth four framework fund furthermor futur gap gene general generat genocid glaister glucos go goal good govern gp great grief group half health healthi high higher highlight histor histori hospit hospitalis hous howev human hundr hunt hyperinsulinaemia hypertens hypertriglyceridaemia identifi ignor ill ill-health illicit imbib impact impair import improv in-human inact inadequ includ incom increas indic indigen inequ infect infecti inferior influenti infobas infrastructur initi injustic insel insulin integr interact island issu j jone journal k key kidney king knit know knowledg krom lack land larg larger lead level life lifestyl like likelihood link literaci littl live local locat long longer loss low lower m macra made main mainstream major make manag mani massachusett mcmahon melbourn mellitus mental metabol midford minimum mismanag mortal most movement much murray n nation natur need new niddm non non-indigen non-insulin-depend number numeraci nurs nutrit nutriti o obes obtain obvious occur octob often one one-quart ongo opportun oppress organ organis outskirt overal overcrowd oxford p page paper para paradigm parliament part particip peopl period person philadelphia physic polici polit poor poorest popul potter practic predictor press prevail preval previous primari primarili prioriti problem process profession program progress project promot proper properti proport protect protectionist protein provid psycholog publish qualiti quarter r race racist rate re re-establish reason recent redfern reduc refer reflect regul regular relat relev remain remot repair report represent research resolv resourc result retriev reveal ride risk ross school second see segreg segregationist self servic sever sexual shown signific singl skill social societi socioeconom solut soon south specif spread springer standard state station statist status still store stori strait strateg strategi strengthen stress stroke studi stumper success sudden suffer sugari summari survey suscept system takeaway taken target tell term thomson though thought three throughout thus time tobacco today togeth toler torr toward town tradit transmit trauma treatment trend type unabl unbalanc under undertaken unemploy unifi univers unjust unrepres upheav urban urquhart use visit vote wale way wellb western white wide wider work worker world wors worst www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/health-facts/summary www.psychology.org.au www.psychology.org.au/publications/inpsych/changing/ www.who.int www.who.int/social_determinants/thecommission/finalreport/en y year york younger zeng