Essay

Did the Apology to the Stolen Generations in 2007 solve the issues of
disparity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Australia? What else
needs to be done to improve inclusivity and equality for Aboriginal &
Torres Strait Islanders?

The Apology to the Stolen Generations on February 13th 2008 allowed “…the nation to turn a
new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and in so moving forward
with confidence in the future"(Australian Government, 2015). The Apology was a significant
symbolic step in healing the wrongs of history committed against Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islanders since settlement, described by Adam Goodes as how “… the governments that run
our country, have raped, killed and stolen from my people for their own benefit. The total
injustices that have been played out since colonisation are absolutely shameful…” (The
Sydney Morning Herald, 2014). Despite the extraordinary outpouring of support for the
Stolen Generations and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders since, has the Apology actually
changed, in real life, the issues of disparity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders? The
shameful answer is no. While the Apology was a symbolic recognition of the past, nothing has
been achieved, accomplished or modified for Indigenous people since 2008. Racism is still a
pervasive and enduring issue that often shrouds every aspect of this debate. In 2014,
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians still experience unequal access to housing,
have lower rates of housing ownership, significantly lower life expectancies, lower
educational outcomes and are more likely to be incarcerated than their non-Indigenous
fellow Australians. To improve inclusivity and equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islanders will involve a paradigm shift in Australian society and culture. Racism (overt or
hidden) must no longer dictate Australians’ often misguided beliefs and negative stereotypes
of Indigenous Australians. There should be recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
peoples in the Constitution. State and Federal Governments should further fund and
implement successful programs that redress the woeful statistics of disparity for Indigenous
Australians, in both urban and remote locations.
Closing the gap on indigenous health and life expectancy is essential to improve inclusivity
and equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. The organisers of the ‘Close the Gap’
campaign are demanding that State and Federal governments implement and monitor a
National Action Plan that is developed and implemented with Indigenous consultation and
participation. Indigenous Australians have a much higher rate of and are more likely to die
from coronary heart disease, diabetes and have a much higher chance of dying from an
accident than non-Indigenous Australians (Darlington.et.al, 2012). The health conditions that
Indigenous people suffer excessively from are blood pressure, respiratory infections,
trachoma, stress and substance abuse (Darlington.et.al, 2012). On average the life expectancy
for a non-Indigenous Australian man is 80 years old, while Indigenous men have an
expectancy of merely 67 years old (Darlington.et.al, 2012). The main causes of the low life
expectancy for Indigenous people are poverty, poor health and nutrition, poor housing, low
educations, high unemployment and inability of politicians to address Aboriginal problems
(Creative Spirits, 2013).
There are major disparities between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous for education. Barry
O’Farrell, Premier of New South Wales, implemented Connected Communities, is a strategy
to improve Aboriginal education, he stated that “Only a third of Aboriginal children who start
Year 7 currently complete high school”(NSW Government Education, 2012). This means that
the majority of Indigenous children are not completing their education. Attendance for
Indigenous children is very low while non-Indigenous children have higher rates of
attendance. In Western Australia in 2011, Indigenous students only had 77% attendance
compared to 91% attendance from non-Indigenous (Creative Spirits, 2013). Indigenous
people have low attendance often because they are going to traditional ceremonies. The
effect of low attendance in early education is not being educated on basic skills such as
learning how to read and write, which will affect their whole future. It will also affect their
ability to understand the subjects in later education.
Non-Indigenous people have higher quality housing compared to the Indigenous people. IBA’s
Manager of Home Lending, Richard Burton says “In the major cities and regional area. 30
percent of Indigenous people are buying their own home, [against] 70 percent of non-
Indigenous people” (Thomas, 2014). This shows there is a massive gap between Indigenous
and non-Indigenous people in terms of owning their own houses. 17.8% of homes owned by
Indigenous people are overcrowded, often having more than ten people living there
compared to 3.8% of non-Indigenous houses that are crowded (Worksheet, 2013). This means
there are many Indigenous people who are unable to afford a home and the ones who do live
together are in large groups. There is still a large disparity between the Indigenous and non-
Indigenous.
“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are massively overrepresented in the criminal
justice system of Australia. Aboriginal people represent only 3% of the total population, yet
more than 28% of Australia’s prison population are Aboriginal” (Creative Spirits, 2013). This
shows there is a huge disparity as the number of Indigenous people making up the population
of Australia is tiny, but they make up a large percentage of imprisoned Australians. There is a
huge amount of Indigenous people being incarcerated regularly. In 2001, over 40% of
Indigenous males in New South Wales between the ages of 20-24 had to appear in court due
to criminal activities (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2008). This suggests that nearly
half of all young adult Indigenous men are in trouble with the law at some point in their lives.
Dr Don Weatherburn suggests that there is not an increase in crime rates for Indigenous
people, but instead it is because they are refused bail and are in prison for a longer time than
non-Indigenous people (Creative Spirits, 2013).
The Australian Constitution was written over 100 years ago and does not recognise the
Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. The organisation Recognise says “All Australians know
that our unique Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures enrich this nation, and are
crucial to our distinctive national identity. And when we write that chapter in, it will formally
become part of the shared story of every Australian” (Recognise, 2015).
In order to decrease the disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people there
needs to be an improvement in inclusivity and equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islanders.
There are many ways to improve the wellbeing of Indigenous people but Oxfam suggest that
the most effective method is to create “A well planned allocation of human resources linked
with an increased investment in health infrastructure, including primary healthcare, as well
as adequate housing and the promotion of healthy lifestyles can contribute to health equality
between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and non-Indigenous Australians” (Oxfam
Australia, 2007). More investment is required to improve the health services for Indigenous
people so they are able to receive adequate treatment. The health services need to be made
more easily accessible for Indigenous people this will help them as they will be able to use it
when they need to. Aboriginal culture and society are different and therefore the people
working there and treating their needs should be receiving better training on how to work
specifically in these areas in order to improve the standard of health care they provide.
Indigenous children and adults should be educated on maintaining a healthy life style so they
can take better care of themselves (Oxfam Australia, 2007).
Inclusivity and equality of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students within education
needs to be improved. This can be done in many ways. For example, employing elders and
Aboriginal staff (NSW Government Education, 2012). Having elders and Aboriginal teachers
in school may increase Indigenous students’ attendance because they may feel more
comfortable with someone from their own culture. By “Embedding and celebrating Aboriginal
culture and language”, this shows that the Aboriginal culture is worth learning about and is
important (NSW Government Education, 2012). Another solution that can be resulted is
through building cultural understanding among the teachers. This way the teachers will be
aware of the Indigenous culture and will have a better understanding of the Indigenous
people. Aboriginal professor Mick Dodson says “These things say to the Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander students at the school: ‘your cultures, history, past experiences and identity
are recognised and valued here. You are valued here.’ Equally importantly, they say to the
non-Indigenous students that Indigenous history, cultures, experiences and peoples are
worth valuing and learning about” (Creative Spirits, 2013). A simple and effective solution
could be displaying Aboriginal resources. For example, art works, flags and musical
instrument.
Indigenous housing is essential to improve inclusivity and equality for Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islanders. The Australian Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and
Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) has stated “Improving housing conditions is essential to
achieving improvements in Indigenous health, education and employment to help close the
gap in life outcomes between Indigenous and other Australians” (HEALTH HABBIT, 2015). The
Australian Government has invested five and a half billion dollars under the National
Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing in order to improve the significant
overcrowding, homelessness, poor housing conditions and the severe housing shortage in
remote Indigenous communities in order for Indigenous people to have the same living
conditions as non-Indigenous (HEALTH HABBIT, 2015).
There are many Indigenous people incarcerated in prisons; it is expensive to hold them in
prison and prisons are overcrowded. The improvement needed is to have less incarcerated
Indigenous people and find alternative options. Dr Tom Calma, 2009 Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Commissioner, commented “Let’s reinvest funds currently spent on
incarceration on released offenders and potential offenders, to address issues like education
programs, treating addiction as a health condition, preventing suicide, supporting
participation in employment programs and addressing the stressors that lead to family
violence” (Calma, 2009). This is known as Justice Reinvestment and suggests that the money
would be better spent on addressing the reasons why they commit crimes in the first place.
Mick Gooda, current Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner says
“Under a justice reinvestment approach, if there is a connection in a community between
crime and drug and alcohol problems, then services are established to address these
problems. If the drug and alcohol problems are symptoms of other issues like poor parenting,
or family violence, then services are established to address these problems” (Creative Spirits,
2013). Under the Justice Reinvestment system, the idea is that Indigenous crime rates will
decrease because there will be more services in place to deal with issues such as alcohol and
addiction, which are the causes of criminal activity.
Indigenous recognition is vital to improve inclusivity and equality for Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islanders. “We dream of Australia as a nation which values the heritage of Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We hope for a nation which recognises the violence of the
past and the ongoing injustices and which is committed to justice and equity for all... A vision
for an inclusive, equal, mutually supportive community that measures justice by the shape of
our community and by the treatment we afford to the most disadvantaged” (Uniting Justice
Australia, 2015).
The Apology to the stolen generations has not solved issues of the disparity for Aboriginals
and Torres Strait Islander but has acknowledged what has happened to Indigenous people
was disgraceful, hurtful and disrespectful. The improvements of inclusivity and equality for
Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islander are gradually being improved but are still a long way
away from becoming equal with non-Indigenous.
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